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A well-placed stat will add weight to your writing—particularly when it’s referenced with a credible source. When working with numbers, all care must
(Not in that way). Do you ever find yourself staring at your screen, wishing the thing you are trying to write was done
Don’t wait for supporter fatigue to set in before creating a plan to mitigate it. Nice idea, right? Most of us only recognize
Does this sound familiar? Back up your position with facts; the more reasons you can offer, the more persuasive your argument. Right?
It doesn’t matter if you’re writing an email, a blog post, or a tweet—the full gamut of attention-seeking and attention-keeping tactics apply. Social
On-page videos can be your best friend and your worst enemy. At the same time. Know the pros and cons so you
Cognitive biases are powerful mental distortions that affect the way we think and behave. They are so powerful that they can lead
Sometimes, the purpose of an email can be simply to inform. But often, we’re trying to get someone somewhere. An action page. A
What’s the magic number of emails you need to send to maximize supporter engagement and minimize fatigue?The answer is “five”. Kidding. It would
There are plenty of reasons people struggle to complete online actions. Poor page layouts, confusing language, onerous forms, and too many (or too
Here’s how the internal dialog usually goes: “We’re torn. We see other organizations sending from individual people but how do we know if
Don’t undercut a great email by hiding it behind a poor subject line. These few words have the power to make or
Take your time. In the pursuit of saying more with less, I’ll admit—not every big idea can be reduced to a snappy soundbite.
When you hear of organizations that have amassed millions of online supporters, the first question that often comes to mind is: where
Most of us have a hard time keeping on top of emails from people we do know, to let alone give a second
Don’t wait for supporter fatigue to set in before creating a plan to mitigate it. Nice idea, right? Most of us only recognize the threat of supporter fatigue after it’s infected our list. By that time, campaign, outreach, and fundraising potential has already taken a hit...
Shift to a proactive mindset. It should be possible to give your supporters a good experience from day one and build a rewarding, sustainable pattern of engagement. Having a solid retention strategy isn’t only good for you, it’s good for all of us. Most supporters subscribe to multiple lists—and fatigue is contagious. Poor engagement in one organization can harm the whole movement. Let’s fix this!
Your digital strategy shouldn’t only be designed to meet your needs; it needs to meet your supporters’ needs, too. If your supporters are switching off, that could be a sign that their needs are not being met. This symptom is pointing you to an underlying problem:
The content you send, and the frequency you send it, will either mitigate or exacerbate these problems.
Engagement patterns—good or bad—take time to establish. Trying to course-correct them can feel a bit like steering a cruise ship with a kayak paddle. Be prepared for the need to make shifts in your digital communications strategy from an organization-centric mindset to a supporter-centric mindset. Less ‘take, more ‘give’. You’ll need to embed a near-obsessive level of empathy for your supporters’ experience into every digital touchpoint. A fatigued audience can be revived—but results will require consistency and a bucketload of patience.
Okay, now that I’ve sufficiently dampened your enthusiasm and calibrated your expectations, let’s get to work. Here are 14 time-tested strategies that will boost long-term engagement.
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how incredible your retention strategy is, some people are just going to outgrow you. That’s okay. If all attempts to bring them back fail, let them go.
Put thought into your unsubscribe journey. Make it simple, but gracious (the quality of this interaction can increase chances that your supporter will re-join in future). Seek optional feedback from exiting subscribers to calibrate your assumptions. Pro-actively purge the ‘dead’ parts of your list to cut digital waste, safeguard deliverability, and maintain accurate engagement metrics. A solid list-building strategy will more than make up for the loss.
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