Client Overview
Client Name: Write the World
Industry: Not-for-Proft, E-Learning Providers
Company Size: Approximately 50 employees
Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Project Duration: 3-month contract
Services Provided:
- Social media management
- Email marketing (HubSpot)
- Writing and editing blog posts
- Graphic design
The Challenge
Background
Write the World, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving student educational outcomes, sought to maintain and build on its communication and donor initiatives while temporarily down a staff member. The organization needed an organized, process-oriented, and entrepreneurial thinker with a passion for education to jump in and boost its marketing efforts. The goal was clear: enhance donor solicitation and conversion through strategic marketing campaigns.
Key Challenges
- Awareness: Despite having an employee on leave, WtW needed to keep offering valuable educational products to potential donors, educators, and corporate partners.
- Consistent Messaging Across Various Platforms: They risked delivering inconsistent communication across various platforms, diluting the organization’s mission and value proposition.
- Necessary Channels: To effectively engage the target audience, existing tools like the educator, donor newsletters, and resources page were needed.
The Approach
To tackle these challenges, Write the World hired marketing strategist Rob Huff to collaborate closely with key marketing team members to ensure alignment and timely delivery of initiatives.
Key actions included:
Crafting Compelling Marketing Assets and Materials
- Developed engaging social posts, reels, carousels and stories across Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook that encouraged engagement by students through the organization’s competitive and creative and writing opportunities.
- Created compelling calls-to-action that encouraged educators to enroll students in the organization’s monthly writing competitions.
- Tailored messaging to resonate with individual donors, and not-for-profit funders, emphasizing the impact of their contributions.
Email Marketing to Drive Engagement
- Refreshed quarterly educator and donor newsletters, featuring success stories, new product features, and resource highlights.
- Developed email marketing report to track key performance indicators such as open rate, click/click-through rates, and unsubscribes.
Leveraging Technology Tools
- Utilized platforms like Airtable for project management, Canva for designing marketing materials, and HubSpot for tracking donor interactions.
Work Samples
The Outcome
The concerted efforts led to significant achievements:
- Increased Donor Engagement: The email performance comparison for donor newsletters from Q1 to Q3 of 2024 shows overall improvement. The open rate for Q3 (32.71%) is the highest, indicating an increased engagement compared to Q2 (26.95%) and Q1 (27.38%).
- Increased Writing Competition Entries: The Spooky Stories Competition received 757 entries. 46% of newly-registered entrants were referred by their teacher, which is comparatively high and similar to last month’s science writing competition percentage of referred students (44%).
- Growth in Teacher Referrals: Teacher referrals grew significantly this month from 147 to 582! This is the most teacher referrals in a month since October 2021. Teacher referrals in general have been strong this year, at 2540 (already surpassing last year at 1665).
Conclusion
By bringing in Rob Huff, a dedicated marketing professional with a passion for education and expertise in the not-for-profit sector, the organization was able to maintain and grow its marketing and communications initiatives. The strategic approach to marketing and donor engagement not only met but exceeded the organization’s goals, demonstrating the power of aligned messaging and targeted campaigns in the not-for-profit educational landscape.
Don't take my word for it...
“Rob was incredibly proactive throughout and a lifesaver when we needed immediate support for our marketing team. He quickly got up to speed and dove into our materials, aligning with branding toward teens and educators (which is not easy) while also thinking creatively about improving collateral. I would absolutely work with Rob again and would recommend him to anyone!”
Gabrielle Lieberman-Miller
Write the World