Social Media for Nonprofits: Top Tips From BGCGW’s Director of Donor Relations “Whether you have a full-time staff member responsible for social media or someone that posts occasionally, I highly recommend having some kind of social presence — whatever that looks like.” This advice comes from Terri Johnson, Director of Donor Relations & Special Events at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington (BGCGW).  Johnson’s team wears many hats (as many nonprofit employees do), and that includes managing BGCGW’s social media strategy. I thought she’d be the perfect person to ask how nonprofit organizations can tap into the power of social. Let’s take a look at her top tips. Table of Contents Why Social Media Matters for Nonprofits Social Media Best Practices for Nonprofits Why Social Media Matters for Nonprofits Before we dive into the how, let’s talk about the why — why is it important for your nonprofit organization to be on social media? For starters, we can look at the data: 55% of people who engage with nonprofits on social media end up taking some sort of action. This includes donating money, volunteering, or participating in community events. I can actually speak to this personally. I’m a big animal lover. I recently came across a post from The Humane Society on Instagram, and started scrolling through their feed. Image Source Wow, they really do such great work for all types of animals, I thought to myself. So great in...

The Best Grammar Checkers that Make Content Editing Easier Whether you’re sending out cold emails all day or drafting up campaigns and proposals, it’s tedious to spend time pouring over grammar. You can waste precious time deciding if you’re supposed to be using ‘affect’ or ‘effect’ or if you’ve used the word ‘very’ too many times. Instead, finding the best grammar checker for your work can automate this task and boost your productivity. These days, there are many grammar checkers out there that all claim to be the best. Here are some of the best grammar checkers used and trusted by thousands of users every day. Some grammar checkers may automatically edit content as you write, while others will flag incorrect spellings or awkward phrases for you to review. Many editors will even take you line by line to identify passive sentences, overly long paragraphs, or other complex errors that even keen human eyes may miss. Using a grammar checker can give you some peace of mind when you’re writing a lot of content daily. Never again will you accidentally and embarrassingly leave off the ‘o’ at the end of ‘hello’ or misspell a simple word on a huge event poster. This software can help automate editing, so you can focus on getting your thoughts written down and submitted by the deadline. What are the best functions of a grammar checker? Some grammar checkers may just check the basics, like spelling and punctuation. More advanced programs can identify...

Is Blogging Too Saturated? Here’s How To Avoid Failure Want to start a blog but worried that blogging is an oversaturated market? You may be wondering how your blog will stand out amongst numerous ones in the same industry. You may even fear that your blog won’t be successful because you’re unsure how to create a blogging strategy that will make you stand out. You may have even started your blog and are frustrated that you’re not seeing the results you want. In this article, we’re going to break down what you should consider about starting a blog, how to tell if a market is too competitive, and other ways to make your blog stand out. Considerations for Starting a Blog in 2021 Starting a blog may feel like a daunting task. There are many questions around whether your blog will gain traffic and how to put your content in front of your desired audience. The benefits of blogging, however, is a long-term game. Posting to your blog consistently is a fundamental first step. The second step is centering your blog around a specific topic or theme. According to Website Setup, the number of blogs on the internet has reached over 600 million. If you’re looking to start a blog and worry that this number indicates that the blogging market is oversaturated, don’t panic. While blogging may be competitive, there’s a lot of context to consider that can give you an...

How HubSpot's Blog Team Comes Up With High-Performing Post Ideas When I used to work at a marketing agency, I would read expert industry blogs, such as HubSpot, Marketing Brew, and Backlinko (to name a few). One of my main questions every day was, "How do these brands do it? How do they constantly come up with brilliant blog ideas?" Now, obviously, I work at HubSpot and I know what a blog strategy looks like at a big company with a recognizable brand. By taking the time to do solid research and idea brainstorming, you can come up with blog topics that drive thousands of readers, like me, in -- while boosting traffic, authority, and credibility. Today, I want to pull the curtain back for you. We'll discuss how the HubSpot blog continuously comes up with high-performing blog ideas. How the HubSpot Blog Comes Up With Ideas Before we get started, it's important to know that when the HubSpot team comes up with blog ideas, several teams are involved (SEO, blog, and lead generation). Because of this, we divide our brainstorming process into two parts: trend research and SEO topic research. We then combine these efforts in our Insights Report on a quarterly basis (which you can download a copy of below). Featured Resource: Search Insights Report Template Let's dive into both those processes below. How the HubSpot Blog Generates Trend-Responsive Blog Post Ideas Blog topics that relate to trends, research, or thought leadership yield bursts in...

How to Monetize Your Brand's Blog, According to HubSpot's Blog Leaders Whether you're running a personal blog or managing the official blog on your company's website, monetizing your work is entirely possible -- it just takes a good amount of time and effort. While there's no exact formula to start making money, there are some tried and true strategies you can start experimenting with to see what works best for your content, your business model, and your audience. Below, we'll dive into some of these monetization ideas and get advice from HubSpot's own blog leaders. How Do Blogs Make Money? Before we dive into the monetization strategies, you might be wondering, "How will my blog make money?" Well, your blog can make money in several ways including lead generation, affiliate marketing, brand partnerships, collaborations, or advertising. To find out more, you can learn about the types of blogs that make money and see which strategy would work best for your blog. Now that we know a few ways that blogs can make money, let's dive into the top monetization strategies for your blog. 1. Map blog posts to specific conversion points. As a company, you can use your blog to drive leads and conversions. AJ Beltis, a marketing manager on HubSpot's channel monetization team, says, "Conversion is the foundation of blog monetization. Whether it's an ecommerce purchase, a demo request, or a content offer download, it's imperative to have your blog posts point to an intentional, related next...

How to Leverage Sensory Language in Your Blog Posts Check this out: "You're sitting in the creaky, mesh-backed, black ergonomic desk chair you bought at a discount off Amazon — hunched over, eyes reluctantly wide open, staring intently at a dimly lit laptop screen bearing a blank document. It's 4:45 PM. For most of the day, you've heard hardly anything except for the occasional click-clack of keys to commit some fruitless inspiration to your blog post and the intermittent spells of grating silence that came after deleting everything you jotted down. The lasting taste of the coffee you drank about two hours earlier has gone sour but still coats your tongue and the roof of your mouth. And you can feel the effects of the caffeine slowly waning. Subtle muscle fatigue is setting in. Your eyelids are heavy and it's a struggle in and of itself to keep them from covering your aching, weary eyes. Your mind has gone stagnant — trapped in the clutches of what's most commonly known as writer's block." Now, I like to think that passage was vivid and immersive, and that's mostly a credit to the kind of language I used and the personal sensations I played on — specifically how it described the sensory experiences of the subject matter. That language is most commonly known as sensory language, and it's a powerful resource for any writer to understand and apply. Here, we'll cover what sensory language is, review some of the data...

How to Create a Successful Blog Strategy: A Step-by-Step Guide Did you know that 55% of marketers say blogging is their top inbound marketing priority? Did you also know that these marketers are 13x more likely to see positive ROI than marketers who don't invest in blogging? Over the last decade or so, businesses have increased revenue, improved brand awareness, and boosted conversions with valuable written content published for their target audience and customers. The key here is that their blog content is valuable — it isn't enough to simply have a blog; there has to be a purpose or reason for its existence. So, how can you create and maintain a successful blog that provides your target audience worthwhile, high-quality content — all while building your business's reputation as an industry thought-leader and expert? The answer is with a blog marketing strategy. Before we review the steps to your blog marketing strategy, let's take a look at how to start a successful blog. We'll also include examples of successful blog sites to illustrate some of these steps. 1. Choose your blog topic and purpose. The first part of developing your blogging strategy is to clearly define your blog's topic and purpose. Your blog topic should be broad enough so you can write hundreds of articles about it but also specific enough to relate to your business niche and area(s) of expertise. When thinking about your blog's purpose, ask yourself, "Why does this blog exist?" You...

The Beginner's Guide to Setting Up a Blog Did you know that there are more than 600 million blogs on the internet, and that 77% of web-surfers read blogs regularly? Blogging has exploded since its humble beginnings in the 1990s, and many people today interact with blogs frequently if not daily. By setting up a blog, you have the opportunity to make meaningful connections with other people, whether you want to share your recipes, talk about your lifestyle, or sell products and services. Whatever the topic, blogging serves as an outlet that can even become profitable. But before you see dollar signs, you'll need to set up a blog, which involves choosing a content management system (CMS), deciding on themes and color schemes, and reaching your target audience. This guide will help you navigate the process of setting up a blog successfully across various platforms. But before you set up a blog, you'll need to choose a CMS. Let's dive into that, first. How to Choose a CMS You can't have a blog without a CMS, or a content management system. As the name suggests, this is a system that manages your content. While you could certainly build a blog from scratch with savvy coding skills, a CMS does the hard work for you. This software makes it nearly effortless to switch up your blog's font styles, colors, and overall theme. It also means you can generate content much easier, simply clicking a few buttons to add photos and...

Why Blogs Fail — And How to Make Sure Yours Doesn't Of the 1.7 billion websites in the world, 600 million are blogs. And the number of US bloggers is set to reach 31.7 million in 2020. Clearly, blogging is competitive. You're constantly vying for people's precious online attention, which is around 15 seconds for more than half of readers. But for many, the benefits of running a blog outweigh the time, cost, and effort involved. That's because in 2019, marketers who prioritized blogging received 13X more ROI than companies that put it at the bottom of the stack. Beyond revenue, blogs are a great way to raise brand awareness, share engaging articles, and bring in new customers. Seems like an easy marketing win, right? Not quite. Before you hit 'publish' on that first piece, it's important to consider why blogs fail. To figure out what causes blogs to flop, let's look at a handful of blog statistics — and simple ways to make sure yours is a success. But first, let’s answer that nagging question in the back of your brain: So, we know what percentage of marketers feel their blogs aren’t successful, but what might have contributed to this failure? And how do you avoid these mistakes? Let’s take a look. Why Blogs Fail 1. The blog lacks a content strategy. Do you know why your blog exists? If so, does your content support that raison d'être? One of the main reasons why blogs fail is...

Blog vs. Podcast: Which Is the Best Choice for Your Business? Blogs and podcasts are both powerhouse marketing tools. Company blogs are well-established inbound marketing channels, while business podcasts are the up-and-comers garnering a lot of excitement in the industry. A few stats in the blog corner: 59% of marketers find business blogging valuable. (DemandMetric) Prioritizing blogging gave companies 13X the ROI compared with companies that did not prioritize their blogs. (HubSpot) About 70 million new blog posts are published each month on WordPress alone, with 77 million comments added per month. (WordPress) And in the podcast corner: 37% of Americans ages 12 and older listened to a podcast in the previous month. (Edison Research) Podcast listening is more prevalent among younger Americans. 49% of people aged 12 to 34 listened to a podcast in the previous month, followed by 40% of people ages 35 to 54, and 22% of people aged 55 and above. (Edison Research) The heaviest podcasts users listen while they are away from home; often while at work. (Nielson) Both blogs and podcasts nurture customer relationships, validate expertise, deepen brand loyalty, capture search, and generate leads. But each tool has benefits and drawbacks, and you probably wonder which will offer your business the most significant ROI. Let’s take a closer look at the pros and cons of blogs and podcasts, the audiences for each — and when offering both is best. Podcast Benefits and Drawbacks The Pros of Podcasting 1....