A webinar I conducted for Blackbaud

1. SEVEN POWERFUL WAYS TO BUILD
YOUR EMAIL LIST WITH FACEBOOK

2. What we’ll talk about today
Are you clear about the role of email marketing in your communications?
The one thing you need to do before building your list
Seven incentives to drive sign-ups
Four tips for putting an opt-in form on your Facebook Page
Four tips for form design
Other useful tools
Three ways to lower unsubscribers

3. ARE YOU CLEAR ABOUT THE ROLE OF EMAIL IN
YOUR COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY?

4. Build Intimacy and Trust
E-mail is not a public channel
like Twitter or Facebook.
Opting into your list is an
agreement to enter a private
1-1 relationship with you, by
way of their inbox.
Understanding The
Role of Email

5. Identify Segments
Segmentation allows you to
send the right message to the
right people at the right time.
You can’t do this with Twitter
or Facebook.
Understanding The
Role of Email

6. Convert Donors and Volunteers
Various studies show that
Twitter and Facebook have a
3% – 6% conversion rate.
E-mail on the other hand has
a 33% conversion rate.
Understanding The
Role of Email

7. Convert Donors and Volunteers
Understanding The
Role of Email

8. Convert Donors and Volunteers
Understanding The
Role of Email

9. Become aware of your cause when friends talk about your Page
Like,comment on,and share your updates
Continue engaging and like your Page
Advocate and/or join your email list
Trust and affinity
Share their donation on
Facebook
Donate for the first time via email
Facebook ladder of
engagement

10. Become aware of your cause when friends talk about your Page
Like,comment on,and share your updates
Continue engaging and like your Page
Trust and affinity
Here’s the bridge that
connects Facebook
and fundraising!
Share their donation on
Facebook
Donate for the first time via email
Advocate and/or join your email list
Facebook ladder of
engagement

11. THE ONE THING YOU NEED TO DO BEFORE
BUILDING YOUR LIST

12. Your audiences are the various
different groups of people you reach
(or are trying to reach).
Understand Your
Audiences

13. GOALS:
• What keeps them up at night?
• What are their passions and interests?
• What are their dreams and goals?
CHALLENGES:
• What are their primary goals in life?
• How are they trying to create a meaningful life?
Understand Your
Audiences

14. Download a free eBook on personas
here: http://db.tt/7vBxrnWN
Understand Your
Audiences

15. ONCE YOU UNDERSTAND YOUR AUDIENCE,
GIVE THEM WHAT THEY WANT

16. What’s your carrot?
Be crystal clear on the value
exchange:
What value are you offering
that greatly outweights the
pain of joining your email list?

17. •Lost time filling out your form
•Perceived potential privacy breach
•The perceived potential that you’ll
gunk up their inbox
•The unknown
What pain,you ask?

18. The value they get should
greatly outweight the pain of
joining your email list.
The value exchange

19. SEVEN INCENTIVES TO DRIVE SIGN-UPS

20. eBooks
1
eBooks that offers highly specific
information or howto. eBooks (PDF) can be read on
any eReader - including iPads
and Kindles!

21. eBooks
1
Example titles:
10 Quick Recipes for New Breast Cancer Patients
How to Housebreak Your Dog in One Week
The Starter Guide to Nonprofit Video Storytelling
The Child Advocacy Tool Kit
How To Survive Homelessness
eBooks (PDF) can be read on
any eReader - including iPads
and Kindles!

22. eBook resources
1
•Use Word or Pages to create PDFs
•Use myecovermaker.com to create an
eCover (example at right)
•Use DropBox to host free download
•Use fotolia.com for images

23. Sponsor giveaway
2
Make sure the sponsor is in
alignment with your brand
•Discounts
•Free product or service

24. Sponsor giveaway
2
Check out Gifts that Give

25. Advocacy
3
Advocacy gives people the ability to
support your cause in a way that’s
meaningful, but free.
And you get a new email!

26. Advocacy
3
Advocacy gives people the ability to
support your cause in a way that’s
meaningful, but free.
And you get a new email!

27. Advocacy
3
Four great resources for starting
petitions:
•thepetitionsite.com
•change.org
•rallycongress.com
•actionsprout.com

28. Pledges
4
Pledges lets people feel
that they’re part of your movement.
Less formal than advocacy.

29. Photo contests
5
Powerful way to acquire fans (with a
like gate) and emails.
Participants can easily share your
contest.

30. Photo contests
5
Check out Shortstack

31. Action alerts
7
Perfect for orgs that provide regular
educational resources.
Brands your org with high value.

32. Action alerts
7
Perfect for orgs that provide regular
educational resources.
Brands your org with high value.

33. FOUR TIPS FOR PLACING AN OPT-IN FORM
IN A CUSTOM TAB

34. Put an opt-in form on
your Facebook Page
Use the Static HTML iframe tabs app
Don’t forget the carrot!
1

35. Make it mobile
FYI - Custom tabs are not viewable
on mobile devices.
2

36. Make it mobile
Tools like Static HTML: iframe tabs
and ShortStack have smart URLs
which display the tab on mobile.
2

37. Use Facebook login
Facebook login always people to join
your list with a single mouse click.
3

38. Use Facebook login
Most email services will help you
create a Facebook login to acquire
emails.
Aweber offers this.
MailChimp offers this.
Constant Contact offers this.
3

39. Create separate
web forms for
each location!
4
This will allow you to measure
which location works best!
List of web forms created with aweber

40. Create separate
web forms for
each location!
4
Knowing that your Facebook
Page converts better than your
website allows you to:
•Change how you direct traffic
•Improve your web page
List of web forms created with aweber

41. FOUR TIPS FOR OPT-IN FORM DESIGN

42. Point the way
Make it easy to find your form.
1

43. Use powerful images
Particularly with people
2

44. Be clear about frequency and privacy
2
•You won’t share their email.
•How often will they receive emails?

45. Redirect to a
thank you
page
3
•This allows you to more easily
measure conversions
•This allows you to encourage a
secondary action
•Finally, saying “thanks” is the
polite thing to do.

46. Redirect to a
thank you
page
3
In this example, I use
clicktotweet.com to
encourage people to share
my list.

47. Redirect to a
thank you
page
3
Which seems to work...

48. OTHER USEFUL TOOLS

49. Action Sprout
1
•Allows users to join with one click
•Allows them to share your cause

50. Action Sprout
1
•Allows users to join with one click
•Allows them to share your cause
•Export emails from Action Sprout

51. Shortstack
2
•Awesome for photo contests
•Allows them to share your app
•Export emails from Shortstack
•They have a MailChimp app

52. Static HTML app
Static HTML iframe tabs app:
•Allows you to easily add HTML
•For free
Don’t forget
the carrot!
3

53. DON'T FORGET ABOUT LOWERING
UNSUBSCRIBES

54. Building your list also
means giving people
reasons to stay subscribed!

55. Set expectations
1
•About frequency and content
•On your thank you page
•In your follow-up email

56. Segment lists
2
•Right people
•Right content
•Right time

57. Segment lists
2
•People interested in events
•People who downloaded an eBook
•People who donated
•etc.

58. Keep them interested
3
•With personalized emails
•With awesome content
•With exclusive content
•With “what’s coming”
Don’t forget
the carrot!

59. THE END

60. Founder of Inbound Zombie - a non-profit social media consultancy in Cambridge, MA
Founder of The Social Media Fundraising Club, a private learning hub for small nonprofits.
Instructor at Marketing Profs University and Charityhowto.com
Speaker: The Nonprofit Technology Conference, Social Media for Nonprofits, Blackbaud’s BBCon, New Media Expo, TechSoup, GrantSpace,
Chronical of Philanthropy, Nonprofit Webinars, NetworkForGood.
Author: Facebook Marketing for Dummies, 3rd and 4th Editions
Clients include: Habitat for Humanity, EpicChange, Share Our Strength, Environmental Defense Fund, Shriners Hospitals for Children, Boston
Medical Center, Community TechKnowledge, Scholastic, TechSoup, WaterAid America, University of Massachusetts, Community Music Center of
Boston, National Wildlife Federation, Razoo,
Who is John Haydon?