Frequently Asked Questions: Marketing
Q. Why is marketing important to my Church organization?
A. Marketing is one of the most important aspects of growing your nonprofit organization and is an investment that will pay for itself over and over again. It is important to establish a presence in the community you serve in order to recruit clients and, perhaps more importantly, donors.
Q. Does every company have to brand itself and/or its products?
A. This depends on whether or not you want customers to identify your product with something they will remember. (Most usually do) Brands are nothing more than a set of associations that, if properly communicated, will result in potential customers associating a message with the product; which in turn results in more sales.
Q. How many social networking sites should my Church organization use to start out with?
A. While there are hundreds, if not thousands, of social media sites out there, it's impossible to use them all. Generally, it's more effective to use a small number at first and be active on those sites. You don’t want to take on more than you can handle; social networking sites are only as effective as you make them. If you can devote enough time, we would suggest using 5, but if your time is limited, we would suggest starting with only 1. Both our package of 1 and 5 social networking sites include training.
Q. What are the best ways to market/promote my special event or grand opening?
A. There are a variety of ways you can market a special event or a grand opening, some of these include: a press release, an email newsletter for your subscribers, social networking event announcements, postcards, flyers and more.
Q. Why is my press release limited to 400 words?
A. 400 words for the maximum length of a press release is the standard limit for many newswires and is often the preference for members of the associated press. Since press releases focus primarily on the most important information and little "fluff', it is not a problem to write a complete, newsworthy release with all the facts in under 400 words. Therefore, we recommend not exceeding 400 words. Should you have a ground-breaking event or huge announcement, we can write an extended release for an additional charge.
Q. Am I able to make revisions to my design?
A. Most clients provide us with some text and general information about what they want. The designer will select appropriate pictures, colors and layouts. Once a sample is created, the designer will forward a copy to you for approval or revisions.
Q. Do you sell opt-in email lists with the email campaigns that you create?
A. No, we do not sell "opt-in" email lists. Sending any bulk email to a purchased "opt-in" list is guaranteed to get you in trouble for spamming. Since none of the addresses on the purchased list consented to receive bulk emails from you, it is technically never an "opt-in" list that you are purchasing.
Q. What is the difference between a Sponsored Listing and a Free Listing on Google and how do I use them?
A. Google will list two different type of results. The first results you see are usually the sponsored listings, people who have paid for the top spots for those keywords. Sponsored listings can be achieved through a Google AdWords PPC campaign. After that, the free listings are shown. These websites have been listed here by relevancy, page rank and traffic determined by the search engines. Getting listed in the free listings requires Search Engine Optimization of your website.
Q. How long does it take to see results for the internet marketing and SEO campaigns I will purchase?
A. Measuring the success of any internet marketing campaign can take time and patience. As with most marketing campaigns, you should engage in activity at all times and monitor that activity.