Guest post by Drew Danboise
Julie Niehoff, regional development director for Constant Contact, spoke about social media and marketing at Action Camp on Oct. 28. The conference at the Courtyard Marriott, off Wiseman Boulevard, focused on social media to help non-profit organizations and small business in the San Antonio and surrounding areas.
“New tools have changed the game,” Niehoff said when explaining how social media and email have changed the face of marketing, which involves both small businesses and non-profits.
In her position at Constant Contact, Niehoff specializes in helping companies marketing their product or service with social media sites and especially email. With advances in technology, there is a whole new playing field in the marketing world.
Niehoff stressed a key point, which was to remember to market your people more than your brand, that people respond to people. This will help the advertisement or the email have a more personal connection.
“Leverage your human-ness,” said Niehoff, in describing the human connection.
Niehoff offered a personal example of making her work email have a more personal connection by adding a picture of her newborn baby, when she was explaining her maternity leave to her coworkers.
Organizations using email for marketing have approximately two seconds with about two words to catch the reader’s attention, according to Niehoff. Will they continue to read it, read it later, or never read it? Great email campaigns will get read, others might not.
Niehoff offered a four step process for engaging more people with an email marketing campaign. Once you acquire someone, you will connect with them, engage them in your cause, and they will help you grow.
In marketing you need to use people you know, and people you know who care. When people care about something, they will do all they can do to help it grow, and get the word out about their cause. Having a whole team that cares, helps to spread the word, especially for nonprofits.
Action Camp was a great conference helping many people whether they were from a non-profit organization, a small business or a student. Marketing is a key component in any small business or non-profit organization, and when you have the skills, you can be successful and grow.
Drew Danboise is a Communications student at UTSA.
