How much do you really know about your target audience? And how effectively are you reaching them in a sea of competing interests? This session will provide insight into the creative positioning, marketing strategy, research and planning that every educational institution must consider for their annual giving initiatives. Featuring learnings from two major California universities (CSULA and National University], we will discuss the importance of target audience definition (e.g., who are the most active donors and what is their cumulative impact over time), competitive analysis and using innovative engagement tactics (e.g., social media) to create a lasting bond. From there, we will share various successful interactive marketing strategies which the Annual Giving Professionals audience can use.

1. Creative Positioning & Interactive Marketing Best Practices Presented at Annual Giving Professionals Network

2. e-storm’s Focus – Holistic Marketing SWOT ANALYSIS COMPETITIVE RESEARCH MARKET SIZING & SEGMENTATION BRANDING & POSITIONING STRATEGY RESEARCH INTERNAL & EXTERNAL RESEARCH GO-TO-MARKET STRATEGY CREATIVE DEV’T EXECUTION MEASUREMENT ONLINE ADVERTISING MARKETING ANALYTICS SEO PPC SOCIAL MEDIA OFFLINE MARKETING INT’L MKTG.

3. Clients: 10 Years – 100 Organizations Worldwide

4. Positioning & Interactive Marketing Strategies to Help Annual Giving Fine Tune Your Marketing Target audience Understand the competitive landscape Develop “differentiated” messaging to market yourself Case study – Cal State LA by Interactive Go To Market Strategies Social media Centralize analytics & attribution Search engine marketing

5. Walk before you run – Strategy fine tuning

6. How to differentiate your annual giving efforts? Walk before you run These steps leading to a focused, simple annual giving strategy

7. How to research & differentiate?

8. Look for genuine insights

9. Development of Strategy Look for naturally inter-locking pieces that, together, form an unassailable advantage

10. Development of Strategy Develop and test several positioning concepts to express these ideas

11. Case Study – Cal State LA

12. CONCEPT MAP

13. Creative Theme To inspire both immediate online giving and gift planning, the creative direction/theme aims to: Establish a strong, vibrant sense of place. Make it feel personal and real. Promote inclusion. Creative Theme = Be a part of it.

14. Creative Theme

15. Creative Theme

16. What is IT? To Be a part of it, potential donors must first know/feel what IT is. CSULA is a… Dynamic, architecturally interesting campus. Populated by motivated, personable students and faculty. And supported by active, progressive alumni and donors.

17. Prove IT. How do we make it dynamic? The black-and-yellow challenge. Invite interaction and exploration. How do we make it personable? The use of story. Compelling characters. Goal=Engage, Form Emotional Connection

19. The use of story.

20. How can you be a part of it? Both messaging and navigation answer this question. Get Involved = Attend an Event; Join a Group Annual Giving Designated Giving = Give to Your Passion Planned Giving At any level = Make a difference.

21. Four Stages of Giving

22. Four Stages of Giving

23. Four Stages of Giving

24. Four Stages of Giving

25. How do we keep them coming back? Renewable Content Events filtered by interest. Relevant stories. Develop Marketing Campaign in line with Creative Theme/Messaging

26. With Clear Positioning, Differentiator – Can Social Media Help?

27. What About Social Media?

28. Why should you care about Social Media

29. Are consumers really using social media?

30. Are consumers really using social media?

31. Are other professionals or donors really using social media…? You bet Professionals http://doteduguru.com http://www.bloghighed.org/ http://www.annualgivingexchange.com/ http://www.bizbabble.org http://philanthropy.com/ Alumni/Donors: http://financialfellow.com/2009/01/16/poll-do-you-donate-to-your-alma-mater/ http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x491120 http://www.wisebread.com/it-pays-to-be-true-to-your-school-5-ways-your-alma-mater-can-save-you-money

32. Are other professionals or donors really using social media…? How can you start & get better with social media? Use trackur, google alerts, radian6, google/yahoo/bing blog search to understand: Who is talking about: Your university Your competitors Tax issues Giver’s needs Etc Listen, then engage Measure against benchmarks

33. Understanding and Reaching Out to Donors Social media is a perfect way for many organizations to: Learn from customers first hand what they want & expect from you Before launching any campaign – check with your end customers - donors Make “consumable” content available – let donors spread the word Develop relationship with alumni/donors, instill trust – annual giving will follow Lower cost per acquisition – increase conversions

34. Central Analytics – Key To Marketing Optimization

35. Centralize Analytics – Multichannel Optimization

36. Centralize Analytics – Multichannel Optimization – Simple Steps Use Google Analytics, Yahoo Analytics, Omniture, or WebTrends to “centrally” track: SEO Paid search Emails Surveys Direct mail – use “info.universityX.edu” to track “offline” results Social media – use Bit.ly & Google Tracker Other offline campaigns – lead them to landing pages Then run attribution Example of findings: 20-30% of paid search “credit” comes from other marketing “Offline doesn’t work” – Not true – tracking is usually at fault! Save 30-40% on marketing & re-invest

37. SEO and Paid Search

39. Paid search - PPC

40. Geo-targeted

41. Related search – competitors, advocacy

43. Search – Leveling the playing field

44. Mobile Search & Micropayments

45. Is History Repeating Itself?

47. Encourage sharing of content (videos, podcast, etc.) through mobile platforms

49. Buzz through social networks about your efforst

50. Generate traffic to mobile landing pages

52. Use Mobile Marketing to Generate Micropayments? Sponsor all relevant keywords: “Like Cal State – LA? Can’t give big, consider a simple $5 donation!” Resources: http://www.singletouch.net/index.php http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micropayment http://www.mobileaccord.com/ http://www.sonicmobile.com/case_studies/ http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/01/15/haiti-text-donations-to-red-cross-pass-5m/

53. Thank You! e-storm international William Gaultier Tel.: +1-415-352-1214 william@e-storm.com www.e-storm.com twitter.com/wgaultier linkedin.com/in/williamgaultier beyondform Melinda Maerker Principal Beyondform.com Tel: 323.667.3366