Gordon DymowskiBuilding a Marketing PlanNovember 24, 2013

• 50% of respondents have budgets under $1 million/year

• Five questions on Survey Monkey

• Distributed via social networks

› Lack of Organizational Support

› Lack of Internal Resources

› Inadequate Time to Learn

› Lack of Budget

› “Too Many Consultants”

IDENTIFIED BARRIERS

› Marketing/Communications Strategy

› Search Engine Optimization

› Public Relations

› Copywriting/Blogging

› Social Media Strategy

IDENTIFIED SERVICE NEEDS

Current market for non-profit marketing consultants may be oversaturated, resulting in need to identify untapped markets

› Governor Quinn – Task Force on social entrepreneurship as economic engine

› Increasing trend– 137 L3Cs in Illinois (10/31/2013)– 20 Benefit Corporations in Illinois– Legislation – Approved B Corporations

as Legal Entity in Illinois (04/2013)

› Estimated 6,000 social enterprises throughout state

SOCIAL ENTERPRISES

› Ranging from neighborhood storefronts to smaller community groups

› May not have formal 501c3 status

› Lack marketing, technology & resources

› Funding focus on maintenance rather than growth

COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS

› Social Enterprise Alliance: An organization or venture that achieves its primary social or environmental mission through business means

› Dependent on how mission is executed & how revenue is generated

› Examples of social ventures– Inspiration Kitchens (Chicago)– Kazuzu (Chicago)– Consolare (St. Louis)

› Dual focus on social impact and business growth

› Non-profits have greater exposure and professional interest

› High emphasis on results-driven metrics and analytics

› Traditional marketing may not see community impact outside of cause marketing/corporate social responsibility initiatives

› L3C which focuses on marketing, public relations, and strategic communication for social impact initiatives

› Provides several marketing “packages” (CORE, BREV Report)

› Highly involved in social enterprise community

› Creates sustainable growth for passionate companies

› Focus on brand strategy, marketing, and strategic communications

› One of the first structured Benefit Corporations in Illinois

›

› STRENGTHS– Formal offering of specific packages

for businesses– Strong background in social impact

and social marketing

› WEAKNESSES– Exclusive focus on larger

brands/focusing their impact

› STRENGTHS– Leader in Benefit Corporation

Community– Focused emphasis on fostering

development of mission-driven businesses

› WEAKNESSES– Focus exclusively on B Corporations– Marketing is secondary to strategic

communications

› OPPORTUNITIES– IL adopts Benefit Corporation

structure means greater # of potential clients

– Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives may provide opportunity for client engagement

› THREATS– Great need for education about

benefit corporations– Greater sophistication about

marketing and communication needs

› OPPORTUNITIES– Greater corporate/business emphasis

on social responsibility initiatives– State Task Force on Social Innovation

working to locate “hot areas” of activity

› THREATS– Potential perception as “another

marketing agency”– Audience tendencies towards thinking

“non-profit” rather than “social enterprise”

› Mission: “Help social enterprises and other mission-driven organizations build communities one cause at a time”

› Package of consulting services– Social Media/Online Outreach– Marketing/Public Relations Strategy– Capacity Building Efforts for Agency/Business

› Impact/results-driven marketing– Move supporters from awareness to advocacy to

activity– Provide data for business/agency development

Lack of experience in other realms of digital marketing (e.g. paid search, graphic design)

Possible Brand Dilution with Blogging/Online Focus on Popular Culture

Heavily reliant on “bootstrapping” for startup phase

Narrow client niche and focus – potential risk of “mission creep”

WEAKNESSES

Experience working with mission-driven organizations

Strong professional focus on Marketing and Community Engagement, Grassroots Public Relations

Connected to various professional networks (Illinois Task Force, Net Tuesday)

Familiar with startup culture, social business realm, and non-profit/community organizations

Graduate of Integrated Marketing Communications program, DePaul Kellstadt Graduate School of Business

STRENGTHS

High level of professional competition with other “consultants”

For small/medium sized organizations, payment & funding will be issue

Moving Businesses Towards Self-Sufficiency Vs. Potential Agency/Business “Entitlement”

Matching clients to needs (e.g., Web Development, Graphic Design, etc) that cannot provide Refer externallyExpertise in open source equivalents

(WordPress, Gimp)

THREATS

Recognition of need for strategic marketing services in mission-focused field

Increasing adoption of B Corporation and L3C stats as business models

State Government facilitating social businesses as engine of economic growth

Non-Profits & Social Ventures Are Increasingly Resembling Each Other

Greater advocacy for integrating tech and formal marketing into mission-driven organizations

OPPORTUNITIES

› Works with social enterprises and mission-driven organizations on driving organic word-of-mouth online and offline

› Collaborates with businesses on developing appropriate strategies that drive mission and impact

› Develops analytics & metrics to measure business and social impact of marketing strategy

› Provides down-to-earth, personalized guidance and consultation to foster business growth

› Offers limited services to various related entities

› Social Enterprises

› Benefit Corporations

› Social Entrepreneurial Startups

› Small/Community Businesses

› Community Organizations

› Non-Profits

› Online Marketing Strategy– Social Media– Content Creation & Curation– Limited Guidance on Special Topics (SEO,

Paid Search)

› Public Relations– Media Relations– Blogger Identification/Outreach– Copywriting

› Other Consultation Services– Event Planning– Training/Professional Development Curriculum

› Metrics and analytics driven – “Measurement matters”

› Digital Excellence/Digital Literacy

› Open Source Solutions

› Collaboration and Communication

› Grassroots/community focus

› Activists vs. slacktivists

OUR VALUES› Integrated word-of-mouth approach

› Active participant in social entrepreneurship networks

› Move clients towards self-sufficiency

› Providing measurable value

› Social enterprises/small businesses drive economic growth

› “Plain English”/Pop Culture literate

OUR PHILOSOPHY

› Penetration Strategy– “Ramp up” Trial Period– Project Management Packages

› Goal: Provide Range of Services for Underserved Social Businesses

› Work Within Existing Budgets

› Reduced Rates for Community Organizations/Non-Profits– Sliding Scale (based on budget)– Select service packages– Very selective

› OneCauseConsulting.com– Search Optimized – Built on Wordpress.org– Reciprocal Linking

› Content Creation– Chicago Now One Cause At A Time– White Papers/Guest Posts– Social Media Branding

› Social Media– Facebook Page– Linked In Company Page

One Cause Consulting is active in many community and professional organizations

› Informal Survey of Peers Via Survey Monkey– Question 1 – 0 Answers for “Community Organization” (other self-select

option– Question 4 – Several Options had 0 answers, and were not included.

These options were› Tasks Seem Daunting› Don’t Know Players› Too Technical› Not Confident I Can Implement› Don’t See A Problem

› Information Re: Social Ventures via Marc Lane, Chairman of Illinois Task Force on Social Innovation