The 3-Step Marketing Engine Every Org Should Use with Vik Harrison

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Marketing can be a very misunderstood word, but hands down, it’s a necessity if you want to create a consistent stream of lifelong donors and supporters. Do you have a strong creative strategy? Have you gotten stuck committing the dreaded “random acts of marketing”?

Today’s guest is Vik Harris, the co-creator of charity: water, a self-proclaimed marketing and branding nerd, and a nonprofit coach who helps organizations hone their leadership, marketing, and fundraising skills.

We’re about to go behind the feed and dive into some of her most provocative and powerful marketing strategies so you can walk away with tangible tips around conversions, messaging, and how to captivate someone’s “lizard brain”.

Sneak Peek:

In This Episode:

• The dangers of committing “random acts of marketing” and why charity: water intentionally plans their content 12-16 months in advance
• Vik breaks down her 3-part marketing engine, consisting of captivate, convert, and keep. Our job is to appeal to the LAZIEST person who doesn’t have time to learn about your nonprofit
• How an incredible opportunity with Saks Fifth Avenue in New York City helped charity: water capture attention with something novel and different
• Why conversion is all about simplicity, taking away friction and countering objections, plus how to ascend donors up the “donor mountain”
• The importance of finding a home in your marketing messaging for joy and lightness, no matter how deep, serious, or dark your cause is

Vik’s Ask

Vik wants us all to take marketing more seriously. It’s hard to find examples of nonprofits who are killing it on social media. In the nonprofit space, we need more of these examples, so take this call to action to heart.

Notable Quotes from Vik

“Show me something fun, show me something engaging, show me something different and quirky. That’s how we need to think about this – is that person’s brain gets a dopamine hit, when they see something novel. Novelty is the number one driver of activation. If you want to captivate somebody, you gotta think different.”

“We will shoot ourselves in the foot if we’re not bringing joy to our marketing, if we’re not bringing a sense of humor or a lightness in some way. No matter how deep or serious your cause is, there’s always a place you can find home, a place you can find light, a place you can find joy.”

Resources & Links

Learn more about Vik on her website Mission Critical and follow her on Instagram at @vikharrison. You can also join the waitlist for her course, Critical Mass, so you can learn how to master modern marketing for your rising nonprofit.

What inspires website visitors to invest in your mission? Are you providing donors with a desirable online journey that keeps them coming back? Join my virtual session at the DonorPerfect Community Conference. I’ll see you on June 6th and 7th! 

Applications for my Monthly Giving Mastermind program are now open. If you have been wanting to start a monthly giving program but haven’t had the time or the team to make it happen, this is for you. We start in July, so apply now!

Vik references the book Captivology: The Science of Capturing People’s Attention, by Ben Parr and loves Brendon Burchard’s motivational content.

Want to make Missions to Movements even better? Take a screenshot of this episode and share it on Instagram. Be sure to tag @positivequation so I can connect with you.