Behind every successful .org website is a strong content strategy. In this webinar, we’ll share an action plan to help your nonprofit organization build a new content strategy or shape up an existing one. You’ll Learn - Tips for choosing content KPIs - How to stay on track and focus your time with a content strategy planning checklist - Improvement areas you may be overlooking

1. November 26, 2019
Planning a Content
Strategy to Grow Your
Nonprofit Website

2. | 2
Speakers
Celeste Gomez
Digital Strategist,
Mediacurrent
Megan Harris
Digital Strategist,
Mediacurrent

3. | 3
Who We Are
Mediacurrent is a full-service digital agency that
implements world class open source software
development, strategy, and design to achieve
defined goals for organizations seeking a better
return on investment.

4. | 4
Agenda
I. What is Content Strategy?
II. Why Do Nonprofits Need It?
III. Executing Your Content Strategy
IV. Measuring Success: Choosing Content KPIs
V. Best Practices Checklist
VI. Areas You May be Overlooking
VII. Resources
VIII. Q&A

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What is Content
Strategy?

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A content strategy is the approach and execution
plan for delivering your message to the right
audience at the right time.
Definition

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Content
Strategy
WorkflowStructure
Governance
Substance
Themes, narratives, messages
needing to be communicated
Process, tools and resources
needed to create & maintain
the content
How we prioritize and break
up the content
Consistency, integrity and
quality of the content
What Is
Included?

8. | 8
Content
Strategy
Development
Take inventory of all assets; identify internal
and external needs and highlight
commonalities and gaps.
2. Identify Needs, Assets &
Patterns
Using well-established digital psychology
principles, set the foundation for creating
effective experiences.
4. Utilize Web Principles of Persuasion
Identify ways to serve your audience
and organization while utilizing your
resources.
3. Align Personas To Assets &
Priorities
Keep brand messaging and
imagery consistent and
intentional across channels.
5. Create Content Themes & Key
Guidelines
Determine with key stakeholders
what your mission is about and how
you want to describe it to others.
1. Listen, Observe, & Document
Content Strategy: The Formula

9. | 9
● Device usage
● Age
● Trusted sources
● Marketing channels
● Goals
● Challenges
● Decision criteria
● Pain points
Persona Research
Includes:
Environmental
Factors
Emotional
Motivators
Demotivators Measurable
Engagements
Hopeful Outcomes
DONOR
Theresa

10. | 10
Why Do Nonprofits
Need It?

11. | 11Technical Plan Mass Task Force
THE PATH TO DONATIONS
ACHIEVE?
How will you SPEND my
MONEY?
What are you trying to

12. | 12
Usability Counts
5%
Sites able to answer a
user’s second question
on the homepage
2.6x⌃
Mission and values =
more important than
how funds were used
47%
Sites able to answer a
user’s first question on
the homepage

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Conclusion
Nonprofits need to more clearly state their mission and
how donations are used, or they miss out on donations and
may have funding shortfalls.

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Executing Your
Content Strategy

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Web Principles of Persuasion
Commitment/Consistency - People tend
to adhere to what they’ve already decided
to support
Social Proof - People trust what they see is
endorsed by others that they trust
Reciprocity - People tend to repay what they
have received from others
Authority - People are more likely to act if
they are told to do so by a trustworthy entity
or person
Scarcity - People are more drawn to things
which are exclusive or hard to find
Unity - People are drawn to be part of a family,
group or community
Liking - People are more likely to believe,
trust, or buy from people they already like1
2
4
3
A well-known researcher in the art of influence and persuasion, Psychologist Robert Cialdini established 7 principles that
influence people into agreeing to the requests of others. These are known cornerstones used by marketers for decades.
5
6
7

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What Stands in the Way of Change?
● Budget and resource constraints
● Competition for your audience’s time and money
● Content governance
● Outdated tech

17. | 17
Who Should Own
and Maintain Your
Content Strategy?

18. | 18
Pros
● More control over
messaging
● Better access to
stakeholders who have a
say in direction of
messaging
Cons
● Lack of time and
resources
● May become overlooked
over time as priorities shift
● May not be experienced
in writing for the web
Keeping Content
In-House
PROS AND CONS

19. | 19
Pros
● Easier to direct someone
else to complete larger
volume of content
● Collaborate with a
knowledgeable partner
Cons
● Need to budget
resources ahead of time
● Need to manage the
projects and provide
access when requested
Outsourcing
Content
PROS AND CONS

20. Allocating Time and Resources
for Content Strategy

21. | 21
Measuring Success:
Choosing Content
KPIs

22. | 22
A Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is a business metric used to
evaluate factors that are crucial to the success of your
organization.
What is a KPI?

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Tracking measurable goals helps evaluate the overall success of the project.
These metrics can also be used to identify areas for improvement and whether
your strategy is working or needs reevaluating.
KPIs should be:
● Reflective of what is important to the organization
● Measurable quantitatively or qualitatively
● Easy to understand
Why Are KPIs Important?
| 23

24. | 24
Measuring Content KPIs
Conversions Click-Through RatesOpen Rates
Keyword Rankings AmplificationDropoffs Help Inquiries
Transactions
How many people are
becoming donors or volunteers?
How much and how often
are people donating?
What percentage of people
are opening your emails?
What percentage of people
are taking action?
How do search results
compare with others?
At what point are users
leaving?
Are users getting lost or
confused?
What content is getting shared,
retweeted, featured or
reviewed?

25. | 25
Use Data to Drive Content Strategy
Metric Measurement Intent Data Source
Behavior Flow Where do users begin their journey, and where do they end it? How
do they navigate through the site? Percentage of users who download
a PDF vs emailing it?
Google Analytics
All Pages What content is most popular with users? How many pieces of
content are they engaging with? Is there a PDF users are downloading
more than others? Does this vary with age/demo/geo?
Google Analytics
Traffic Sources Where are users coming from? Google Analytics
Requests for
Help
What questions are people currently asking? Are those questions
represented in the FAQs?
Internal Tracking

26. | 26
Set Early Benchmarks
● Begin goal-setting and tracking metrics today to set the
starting point for your content strategy going forward.
● Establish benchmarks based on the live website traffic
you begin collecting as you move your content strategy
forward.
| 26

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Tracking KPIs

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How Can You Track Your KPIs?
Email /CRM
Software Reporting
(Mailchimp,
Salesforce, Hubspot,
Marketo)
Social Engagement
Analytics
Content
Consumption
Reporting
(Hotjar, CrazyEgg)
Keyword Tracking
Tools
(Moz, SEM Rush)
Internal Tracking
Systems for
Help Inquiries

29. | 29
Content Strategy
Checklist

30. | 30
Battle-Tested Content Strategy

31. | 31
Your organization’s mission is clearly stated in the content.
Your content is transparent about how funds are being used.
You provide a noticeable and clear button to donate to your cause.
Your content initiates an emotional response that helps users visualize
themselves as part of the solution.
You have a content style guide that helps you maintain brand
consistency and a champion to spearhead your plan.
CONTENT STRATEGY CHECKLIST

32. | 32
Your website and payment processes abide by the latest device and
security standards.
You use clear, explanatory language with recurring narratives and
messages.
You maintain and grow the relationship with your donors or
volunteers after they have engaged.
You make an effort to reduce friction for users with minimal steps,
speed/load time, and clear directions.
You collect and monitor user data to drive decision making.
CONTENT STRATEGY CHECKLIST

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Areas You May Be
Overlooking

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Audit Website Forms
300%
Increased conversions
in multi-step forms
26%
Increased conversion
rate by reducing the
number of form fields

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Fewer FieldsMobile First Donation-Ready
● Fields and mobile
layout are optimized for
easy form entries on all
devices and browsers
● Minimum number of
fields to complete
● Longer forms are split
into concise steps for
ease of use
● Trustworthy
payment system
● Minimum necessary
number of choices
for where donations
can be allocated
Form Setup
HIGH-PERFORMANCE FORMS: 5 TIPS

36. | 36
WHY CONTRAST MATTERS
12% of men have some form of
color-vision deficiency.
Color Blindness
Half of people over the age of 50
have some degree of low-vision
condition which increases with age.
Low Vision
Reading low-contrast text on a mobile
device with glare in the bright sun is
nearly impossible.
User Conditions
Audit Accessibility

37. | 37
Audit Search Engine
Optimization (SEO)
Questions to consider:
● Do your page titles accurately and uniquely describe each page?
● Do your meta descriptions describe the page while compelling users to
click on your search listing?
● Do your images have proper alt text?
● Does your website load quickly (a contributing factor to SEO)?
● Is your site optimized for mobile?
● Is your Google My Business profile up-to-date?
● Does your site contain the tasteful use of keywords that your users would
use to search for you?

38. | 38
Resources

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Resources
● Good Form: 6 Tips for a Smooth Sign-up Process - Mediacurrent Senior Director of User
Experience Cheryl Little discusses how to make your forms more user-friendly.
● Creating a Measurement Strategy - Mediacurrent Webinar
● Introduction to Emotional Design - Mediacurrent Webinar
● How To Do Keyword Research - Learn the first steps in monitoring the key terms you
rank for in search engines.
● Buyer Persona Template - Get to know your target audience.
● Editorial Calendar Template - Track your content development at a month’s glance.

40. | 40
Q&A

41. Thank you!
@Mediacurrent Mediacurrent.comFacebook.com/mediacurrent @Mediacurrent