With 79% of top performing companies using marketing automation for at least two years, according to a report by Pardot, it only makes sense that this email technology would make its way to nonprofit organizations across the U.S. While much can be said about using marketing automation to drive fundraising, gain subscribers, and promote awareness, it can also remove that personal touch that is so important to a nonprofit’s membership base.
From drip campaigns to triggered emails, marketing automation is an efficient way to interact with customers and drive web traffic based on the decisions that your subscribers make. Keeping your interaction high while still maintaining personalization is of utmost importance, which is why six members of Forbes Nonprofit Council shared some ways that you can keep that personal touch when it comes to marketing automation. Here is what they had to say:
1. Always Keep It Personal
Use automated marketing tools to facilitate a communication schedule with your constituents, regardless of the medium, but keep the specifics personal. Use automation to target a specific audience, "like" comments and relevant posts on social media. It's a great way to stay top of mind and let your audience know you see and hear them. However, keep your comments personal or it becomes disingenuous. - Sallie Matthews, BSC Management
2. Stay Focused On Your Mission
Through an extensive research process with service recipients, team members, colleagues, service providers and funders, maintain your organizational individuality and identity. Through internal and external engagement, nonprofits must identify and execute a strategic marketing plan with no deviation. Always honor your organizational vision and mission, along with industry participation. - Charles A. Archer, The THRIVE Network
3. Don't Automate The Interaction Process
Marketing automation is ideal for scheduling posts on social media and handling those types of time-consuming tasks, but it is important that those areas that require the human touch, such as creating the campaign, messaging, and other interactive features, remain a human job. - Gloria Horsley, Open to Hope
4. Put Your Best Personal Touch Person In Charge Of It
You can't just assign it to someone with no imagination for how to best leverage it and still create personal touches. You need someone who is already your most detail-oriented and entrepreneurial person to manage the service. Specifically, you want someone who is already fantastic at creating traditional personal touches and have them take those principles into this new medium. - Blake Pang, United Ways Serving Linn, Benton and Lincoln Counties
5. Automate Only After You've Qualified The Target
Using simple rules such as one click, email open, page visit, etc., misses the point of automation. The best approach is to qualify audiences throughout their customer experience. Understand not only the behavioral characteristics of the customer journey but also learn the attitudes and beliefs of the user set, as well as their personal characteristics, then proceed to automate. - Dionisios Favatas, Truth Initiative
6. Mix In A Personal Message
Even though automation marketing is such a useful tool to reach people, if you are able to mix in a relevant, engaging personal message, this can help establish a tighter bond than automation and personal approach independently. - Kevin Xu, Human Heritage Project and National Rongxiang Xu foundation
