5 Predictions for Nonprofit Fundraising Social Media and Content Marketing in 2014

As I have written in our social media series, 2013 has been a year in which social media and content marketing cemented itself as a central component of nonprofit fundraising and engagement strategies. These initiatives continue to evolve and throughout the year I have written a variety of related posts like 5 Management Tools to Measure Twitter Analytics for Optimal Nonprofit Fundraising and Engagement, 5 Tips to Creating Social Media Campaigns for Successful Supporter Engagement & Nonprofit Fundraising and 4 Facebook Changes to Help Strengthen Nonprofit Fundraising and Engagement Efforts. As we approach 2014 it’s important for nonprofits to anticipate the trends that may develop in the coming year to tailor strategies so they remain ahead of the curve and the following 5 predictions will lend some insight into those trends:

1. Investments – Organizations will be increasing their social media and content marketing budgets as they continue to see the resulting benefits of these mediums. This will include hiring specifically for these roles and creating departments that are dedicated to creating original content and sharing through the various networks they have a presence in. There will be an increased need for more Community Managers, Social Media Specialists and Directors of Content. Investments will also be assigned to brand and community monitoring through third party platforms.
2. Platform Diversification – More and more organizations will expand the number of platforms they have a presence on and, in turn, further expand their reach. There will be integration of apps or platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, Google+, Vine Videos and Tumblr which will help raise visibility. Google+ in particular will grow in importance as +1 gets integrated with Google search rankings and provides users more personalized searches, effectively changing SEO strategies previously used.
3. Content Evolves – As the online and social media landscape gets busier and more crowded, content creators and digital marketers will adapt to meet the needs of their communities. This will be creating shorter “snackable” content that is more personalized and timely in relevance to their specific needs and often about what is currently happening. To stand out there will be an increase in videos and photos to attract attention.
4. Going Mobile – In the past couple of years there has been continuous warnings that mobile devices would surpass desktop online usage. As early as March 2012 I provided 4 Reasons to Incorporate Mobile Marketing into Overall Nonprofit Fundraising and Outreach Plans and earlier this year I wrote that Key Mobile Utilization Data Can Help Optimize Nonprofit Fundraising & Engagement. 2014 may be the year in which mobile devices will dominate internet access so optimizing all digital content will become common practice to ensure it is accessible through smart phones and tablets as it will be critical to an organization’s overall success.
5. Calculating ROI – As more time and money is being invested into social media and content marketing it will be important for decision makers and stakeholders to better understand how to calculate the return on their investment. Predictably 2014 will see an increase in third-party platforms that will help organizations understand various metrics and the impact made by their investments. As each initiative and action cannot be measured independently, it’s important that measurements are calculated overall and for longer periods.

2014 should be an interesting year in which the evolution of social media and content marketing will continue and nonprofits need to remain up-to-date on these changes to best serve their online communities. What trends do you see emerging in the New Year? Share your predictions in the comments below.

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Miratel Solutions is a Toronto call centre, eBusiness, and letter shop mail house specializing in professional fundraising services including telephone fundraising, online fundraising, lottery services, donation caging, donation processing and other donor management services. We are committed to our CSR business values in all contact centre services and mail house operations and advancing the missions of the nonprofits we proudly serve.