Video is one of the most essential pieces of an NGO’s marketing strategy. According to a 2019 Nonprofits Communications Trends report, when asked the responsibilities they would assign a new hire, the top responses from survey participants were social media, content creation, and video. Even YouTube recognizes the growing need for video in the nonprofit sector, which is why the channel launched YouTube Giving in August 2018.

Nonetheless, NGO video marketing faces many challenges, particularly limited resources. 45% of nonprofit communicators report that their workload is too heavy and 17% say it is “much too heavy.” The good news is that even with these limitations of manpower and budget, an effective NGO video marketing strategy is still possible. Just follow these seven tips to get started:

1. Define Your Marketing Team

You might think your NGO marketing team doesn’t have the manpower to create high-quality videos, but that’s not true. More likely than not, the talent you need is already there.

Take a look at your development team as well as the volunteers and employees who contribute to your organization on a daily basis. They can easily create effective videos as long as they’re creative and believe in your cause. Also, take another look at your dedicated marketing team, if you have one. These individuals are already all you need to create a great video because they know how to tell a powerful story, and that’s all it takes.

2. Define Your Buyer

Define your ideal donor, volunteer, or employee. This is your buyer persona and it will represent your audience. You’ll want to make separate videos for each specific audience to ensure they respond to the message appropriately.

For example, a current donor or volunteer would do best with a video that provides stats and insight into the success of your charity. On the other hand, a potential donor might be more impacted by a video that personalizes the problem that your NGO is trying to solve.

Remember, you can target more than one buyer persona per video and in more than one campaign, as long as you always keep your audience in mind.

3. Create a Content Plan

Create a content plan that outlines how many videos you’ll make, what type of videos, and where you’ll share them. This plan should include a wide variety of video types from case studies to interviews, testimonials, educational videos, etc. According to the Nonprofit Marketing Guide, “the most popular video for nonprofits is storytelling about participants or supporters with 60% of nonprofits creating them.” The second most popular videos are fundraising appeals, which one-third of nonprofits produce.

You’ll also want to create a content marketing calendar that includes relevant dates and events to consider for creating videos. Keep in mind:

• Fundraiser events
• Important dates/holidays (end of year appeal, for example)
• Relevant news stories
• Conferences

And don’t forget that a mission statement video is a must. This type of video can be sent to prospective donors and should have a prominent place on your website and social media. It’s basically a video that explains who you are, what your organization’s goals and achievements are, why you exist, and how your audience can help.

4. Remain Consistent

Keep every video consistent with your NGO brand by using your logo and storyboards to develop your own recognizable style. Just as commercial brands need to be consistent in their content, so should NGOs.

5. Tailor Your Videos

Customize your video to each platform where it will be shared, and make sure not to neglect any method of distribution. For example, according to the 2018 Global NGO Technology report, “email is the most powerful fundraising tool for NGOs, and this should continue to be an integral part of the strategy.”

Social media is also important—71% of NGOs agree that social media is effective for online fundraising—according to the same 2018 Global NGO Technology report.

• • 93% of NGOs worldwide have a Facebook page
  • 77% have a Twitter profile
  • 56% have a LinkedIn page
  • 50% have an Instagram profile

6. Assess and Adjust

Finally, assess your video marketing strategy on a regular basis and make adjustments as needed. While most nonprofit communicators consider themselves least skilled in analytics and measuring performance, that doesn’t have to stop you from using analytics to your advantage.

There are many fundraising key performance indicators (KPIs), including gifts secured, donor growth, donor retention rate, conversions by channel, and 17 more outlined on the Donorbox Nonprofit Blog. Tracking these nonprofit KPIs as well as these six social video KPIs will help you determine if your video campaigns are successful.

From there, you can figure out what works well and what doesn’t, and reevaluate your video content and plan as required. Don’t be afraid to change strategies if something isn’t working!

Conclusion

Limited resources don’t have to limit your NGO from developing and implementing an effective video marketing strategy. With the help of a video creation platform, such as Wochit, you can create most of your videos in under an hour. Simply take advantage of the platforms large media library, storyboards, simplified editing dashboard, and sharing capabilities to create fantastic videos that you can use everywhere.