A strategic marketing plan aligns marketing goals and strategies across all of an organization’s marketing channels, including digital marketing channels, direct mail, advertising purchases, earned media through public relations (PR), and more. I work with nonprofit organizations and social enterprises to create and help implement their strategic marketing plans.
“Jenni has been an absolute jewel to work with. Her knowledge of marketing strategy and tactics was very helpful to me and I’ve learned a lot of new things. She was always available, coaching and teaching, thinking outside the box and making things relevant for me. There was no “cookie cutter” approach and Jenni was able to quickly diagnose some issues, solve some challenges and encourage some new thought. If you are a nonprofit looking for marketing help, she’s your gal!”
TO DEVELOP A strategic marketing plan:
I first work to understand the goals of the organization — Who do you want to reach? What do you want your audience(s) to do as a result of engaging with your organization?
Next, I analyze data about the organization to understand who is engaging with their organization, how, and why.
Then I work collaboratively with the organization to create a strategic marketing plan with specific action items. I prioritize action items based on the difficulty and budget needed to implement to help nonprofits achieve the “low hanging fruit” before focusing on long-term strategic goals.
Finally, I work with the organization to periodically evaluate KPIs to track progress toward the organization’s goals. A strategic marketing plan is a living, breathing document, so I work with each client to tweak the strategy as needed over time.
“I am a new(ish) Executive Director for a non profit in the midst of great change. Jenni came along side us at a critical moment in this change. There were so many new and interesting challenges that were made easier by Jenni’s expertise and knowledge. She has gone above and beyond to create a marketing plan, train a new inexperienced board, create a new mission statement and name, give access to fundraising channels and ideas for raising money, connect us with other organizations and skills that we were lacking, and support for our team. She is professional, helpful, full of information, more than giving with her time, supportive, accessible, a true connector of people, ideas, and skills. We would not have progressed so far in such a short amount of time without Jenni’s diligent help. I have zero hesitation in recommending Jenni and her many skills to any nonprofit or small business leader. She is a rock star in our industry!”
Sample from a strategic marketing plan:
Below, you’ll find an excerpt from a strategic marketing plan I created for a client organization which serves families. The mission of the organization is to end generational trauma by educating families and communities about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs).
Key Marketing Messages
Every nonprofit organization has a story to tell, but most people don’t have time or the attention span to listen to a long epic novel. Every staff member and board member should memorize some key marketing messages, which are like cliff notes for the organization’s full length story. If the general public can only remember a few key takeaways about your nonprofit, what do you want to make sure they know?
Your organization will attract donors, volunteers, and other community members who want to share your story. If they can’t quickly and easily grasp your story, they won't be able to repeat an accurate version to others.
Every staff member should keep a copy of these key statements in their office to guide their communications.
Mission & Vision Statements
The organization’s mission and vision statements help all stakeholders understand why NAME REDACTED exists.
Internally, these statements should drive every action NAME REDACTED takes in all areas of the organization. Externally, these statements should easily convey the organization’s purpose to people who are learning about NAME REDACTED for the first time.
Mission statement: Breaking multigenerational cycles of child abuse, neglect, & trauma.
Vision statement: A resilient community where all children thrive.
Examples of when to use these statements:
Answering the question, “What is NAME REDACTED?”
Educating new stakeholders about the organization’s purpose, such as new board members and funders
On documents which provide need-to-know information about NAME REDACTED, such as the website and grant applications
Tagline
A tagline helps the community at large better understand the organization’s mission statement through a short memorable phrase.
Tagline: Changing lives, changing families, changing futures
When to use the tagline:
In marketing materials facing the general public, such as brochures and social media profile pages
Impact Summary
NAME REDACTED should have one concise statement which clearly communicates the organization’s impact on the community and which is very easy to memorize.
An impact summary is different from a description of services. Anyone can provide services, but NAME REDACTED is mission-driven in order to create a lasting impact on its clients.
Draft impact summary: NAME REDACTED breaks multigenerational cycles of trauma.
Examples of when to use the impact summary:
Answering the question, “What does NAME REDACTED do?”
[Note: The impact statement shouldn’t actually explain NAME REDACTED’s services or functions as an organization. Rather, the impact statement is a better answer than a statement about the organization’s services because it’s more inspiring and engaging than a list of functions.]During every fundraising initiative
At the beginning of every meeting led by the President and CEO to inspire and guide staff, board members, volunteers, and other stakeholders
Key Awareness Messages
These short statements expand upon the impact statement to help stakeholders understand the problem the organization addresses, the solution the organization presents, and why or how the solution works. I recommend developing no more than five statements to focus on—the more messages you have, the more difficult it is for your audience to retain the information.
Every marketing piece the organization produces should point back to at least one of these key awareness messages.
These key awareness messages will not answer every question about an organization or its theory of change. When crafting your key awareness messages, try to answer the question, “If a community member can only remember five key facts about our mission, what do they absolutely need to know?”
Key awareness messages:
ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) can harm a person’s physical, mental, and social and emotional health for the rest of their life.
Trauma caused by ACEs literally damages a child’s brain and future resilience.
The trauma a person experienced in their childhood will influence the way they parent their own children—unless they are taught how to break the cycle.
NAME REDACTED teaches parents and community organizations about ACEs so we can break multigenerational cycles of child abuse, neglect, and trauma.
When we break multigenerational cycles of child abuse, neglect, and trauma, our community is more resilient.
Examples of when to use key awareness messages:
Answering the question, “Why does NAME REDACTED focus on trauma?”
Beginning a conversation where you hope to raise general awareness about trauma, the organization, NAME REDACTED’s services, etc.
As a method of ensuring all marketing messages point back to the primary messages NAME REDACTED wants to spread in the community.