Archive for the ‘New Technology’ Category

Are mobile devices impacting your planned giving marketing plans?

Monday, December 3rd, 2012

Phyllis Freedman’s recent blog post pointed out that many nonprofit’s websites do not work on mobile devices.  I knew she was right.  But so what?  Does it matter?

That led me to take a look at some of the websites we developed for our clients.  I reviewed a few and gathered the Google Analytics data from a total of 2,066 planned giving site visitors in the past two months.  Now, keep in mind that a lot of our clients go with our recommendations.  That means that we drive a lot of folks to their planned giving websites using digital marketing (such as emails).  So I think our results are a bit skewed.  In any case, here’s what I found:

  • 12.83% of the visitors used mobile devices
  • Most of the mobile devices were either iPhones or iPads

Are planned giving prospects on the Internet?

Monday, August 27th, 2012

I think it’s safe to say that the argument is over— seniors and all other planned giving prospects are on the Internet.

Planned giving prospects on Internet

Here are some findings from the recent Pew Research Center’s study (released in June 2012):

  • Half of adults age 65 and older are online.
  • As of April 2012, 53% of American adults age 65 and older use the internet or email.  Still less likely than all other age groups to use the internet, the latest data represent the first time that half of seniors are going online. After several years of very little growth among this group, these gains are significant.
  • Once online, most seniors make internet use a regular part of their lives.
  • For most online seniors, internet use is a daily fixture in their lives. Among internet users age 65 and older, 70% use the internet on a typical day. (Overall, 82% of all adult internet users go online on an average day.)
  • After age 75, internet and broadband use drops off significantly.
  • Internet usage is much less prevalent among members the “G.I. Generation” (adults who are currently age 76 and older)1 than among other age groups. As of April 2012, internet adoption among this group has only reached 34%, while home broadband use has inched up to 21%.   SmartGiftmaker believes that many of these folks have already made their decision anyway.  According to the National Committee on Planned Giving (Indianapolis, Indiana), only 15% of those who set up gifts to charities in their wills were over 75.  Forty-three percent were under 55.  Forty-two percent were between 55 and 75.
  • Seven in ten seniors own a cell phone, up from 57% two years ago.
  • Even among those currently age 76 and older, 56% report owning a cell phone of some kind, up from 47% of this generation in 2010.
  • One in three online seniors uses social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn.

By comparison, email use continues to be the bedrock of online communications for seniors.

  • 86% of internet users age 65 and older use email, with 48% doing so on a typical day. Among all adult internet users, 91% use email, with 59% doing so on a typical day.

What is a QR code and how can you use one for marketing?

Thursday, January 13th, 2011

A QR code is a “quick response” code.  They are easy to create (there are dozens of free tools available online).  And they simply drive people to a website or landing page using a QR Reader (a simple app available on any smart phone).

www.imarketsmart.com QR code
MarketSmart’s QR code

Our QR code is to the right.  Of course we customized it a bit to include an element from our logo (we couldn’t resist).

So if you haven’t done so already…. pull out your phone, download the app (search for “QR code reader”) and focus on the image to the right.  You’ll see that your phone will instantly take you to the www.imarketsmart.com website.

But the big question is… how can you use this neat technology?  Hmm… let’s start listing some ways.

1- Museums could post them near artwork so you can go to a web page to get a complete historical reference about a particular work of art.

2- Train stations could use them so people could download train schedules.

3- Exhibitors with trade show booths at conferences could use them so attendees could quickly and easily download their informational brochures (instead of filling up those goofy bags with brochures that end up in the trash).

4- Advertisers (print, tv, billboards, etc.) could use them so respondents can get to a website or landing page easily.

5- Direct mailers could do the same.

The options are endless.

Plus, at MarketSmart, we like to tie QR codes to our unique personalized URL engine.  That way, we could create (for instance) 10,000 unique landing pages tied to 10,000 QR codes.  Then we could send out 10,000 unique, personalized direct mailers to 10,000 prospects.  And, as respondents use their codes, we’d be able to track precisely who is using the code to get to your landing page…. even if the respondent doesn’t fill out a form.  You’d get notified the moment the log off.  Neat, huh?

If you have more ideas for QR codes, let me know.  I love ‘em!