Category: Social Media

2021 Compass of Design Trends for Non-Profits & Entertainment Companies

2021 DESIGN TRENDS

As we close 2020, we wanted to take a look ahead to 2021 design trends. Remote working is now in place for nearly every company and industry. This further opens the opportunity for businesses to use outside marketing agencies for their creative services in 2021, but not all agencies are the same. Staying aware and informed of the constant changing design trends, website standards, social media formats, and brand awareness is a must, and we have your 2021 Compass of Design Trends for Non-Profits & Entertainment Companies ready for your review.

WEBSITE DESIGN

As we saw in 2020, Mobile-first designs will continue to take precedence. In 2019, 52.2% of traffic came from mobile phones, and continues to increase every year. In May, Google announced that Website load times will take a new precedent for google rankings. Page signals will be included in Google Search ranking and will measure how users perceive the experience of interacting with a web page.

?Emoji’s will continue to contribute to the mobile user experience as tech and mobile phone companies assign a symbol to nearly everything. Simple icons will continue to replace text and offer animation customization.

SOCIAL MEDIA

As all industries try to adjust to COVID-19, Live streaming will continue to be a part of daily/weekly strategies for businesses, entertainers, musicians and churches. Quality audio, video, lighting, and the streaming platforms that content-producers choose to broadcast from will start to determine how audiences engage with virtual events.

SMS marketing will become more widely used. Over the past couple of years your phone number has often been used to create user accounts, loyalty programs, and more. It’s only a matter of time until those databases are accessed for direct marketing via text messages. in 2018, SMS open rates were as high as 98%! Compared to email marketing at an open rate of only 20%, SMS marketing blows email out of the water.

The use of geometric shapes and patterns will dominate bright upbeat designs, minimalist designs will continue to rise, moving away from photo heavy elements, and textures will replace gradients. “The benefit of this trend is that it allows foreground elements such as bold typography or evocative imagery to pop against a near indiscernible background.” – 99designs.com

Over the past year we’ve watched as racial tension has risen in the US. As a result companies have taken a proactive approach on inclusion. (Diversity marketing is a marketing strategy that appeals to and includes diverse groups of consumers, including groups based on race or ethnicity, ability, gender, sexual identity, religious beliefs, age and more.) Look for a demand of further diversity in advertising materials.

Apple’s proposed policy changes announced at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) will impact your personalized ads on Facebook. Facebook Business responded saying, “The changes plan to limit your ability to effectively reach, understand and engage people on mobile devices and across the web. They will impact your ability to understand performance, control who sees your ads and make informed decisions about your advertising budgets. As these changes take effect, over time you may see an overall decrease in ad performance and personalization and an increase in cost per action.”

NONPROFITS

With travel bans limiting access to project areas, nonprofits will need to get creative in sharing new content from the areas they work in. Heavier digital presence (such as Facebook Fundraisers) due to lack of in-person events will become more vital than ever before. We will see a shift to outdoor fundraisers (golf tournaments will likely replace dinners, festivals will replace arenas, etc.) due to the ongoing pandemic. Streamlined donation processes will become necessary components of a fundraising campaign because the average consumer has now donated online through a platform like Gofundme or Facebook fundraisers, and has become used to an on-page / one click experience.

Nonprofits should use 2021 to focus on donor retention since new acquisition will be down. It will be more important than ever to retain current donors, engage them with updates, and potentially even upsell them with additional giving opportunities. This is also a great time to focus on reengaging past donors. Falloff happens even during a “normal” fiscal year, and thankfully, many nonprofits have reported that donor retention has remained steady through the pandemic, but as the unemployment rate rises and the vaccine distribution slowly rolls out, donors may have to make difficult choices with their budgets, and normally, charitable giving is one of the first items to go. With new donor acquisition opportunities not available, nonprofits will need to focus on reengaging past donors who haven’t recently made a contribution. Finally, due to a heavier push for online donations, financial transparency will be at the forefront of donors minds to make sure that who they donate to is a legitimate organization, so err on the side of trustworthiness, updates, engagement, and accountability.

GLBAL media expands to Nashville

Westminster, MD
December 7th, 2020
For Immediate Release

GLBAL media, based out of Westminster, MD plans to expand its services to Nashville, TN with the hiring of veteran non-profit strategist, Bobby Lingo as Strategic Marketing Manager.

Bobby joins an already ultra-experienced team of graphic designers, photographers, videographers, and non-profit experts lead by Creative Director and Owner, Justin Willet. GLBAL media is a creative agency serving non-profit organizations and the entertainment industry. Clients include international charities, Grammy-award winning artists, and White House officials.

Bobby Lingo is a communicator, brand/campaign developer and strategic visionary. During his almost ten years at Compassion International, Bobby was instrumental in developing or advancing many campaigns such as One Meal One Day, Water For Life, Live58, Create Compassion and Bite Back. Today, Bobby uses his communication skills as a tour speaker for Thriving Charities Advocates (TCA), where he has represented organizations such as Children International, World Vision, and ChildFund. Bobby also serves as GLBAL media’s Strategic Marketing Manager, building brands, creating campaigns, and helping non-profits, churches, and para-church ministries expand their impact and influence.

campaign development ccm child sponsorship Childfund compassion fundraising nashville nonprofit tca thriving charity advocates world vision

Social Media for Business

Using social media for business is a great way to grow your business in nonconventional ways. Social media allows you to connect with your audience without the traditional hurdle of brick and mortar stores, large tv commercial budgets or pricey print advertisements. In 2020 approximately 3.8 billion people use social media, which is more than half of the world’s population. Even though social media apps like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and more have become a large part of our daily routine they still require an ongoing strategy if you plan to leverage them for your business.

According to Broadband Search, in 2019, the average amount of time spent on social media was 144 minutes per day. This number is significant because it helps identify the fact that you are marketing to a captive audience. People are already using these social media platforms and with the right plan in place you’ll be able to position your brand in front of them.

GLBAL media has been fortunate to manage over $50,000 in ad campaigns and work with clients that have more than 3 million followers. Through these experiences we have developed a unique approach to running social media for business.

Step 1: Create your social media goals

Start by deciding your post frequency. How many times a week do you want to post? This can be a combination of articles, posts, stories, videos etc. Take in to account the amount of time needed to create each post and set a realistic number that you feel is instantly attainable. Hubspot recently shared that:

“Companies with less than 10,000 followers that post more than twice a day receive 60% fewer clicks per post than those companies that post 5 or fewer times a month. Pages with over 10,000 followers were the only ones for whom posting more often increased the number of clicks per post.”

Step 2: Identify your audience

Now that you’ve created your post goals it’s time to identify who you’re talking to. Before you start creating content it’s important to understand the type of followers you’re hoping to attract. Most likely these will be potential clients so start by looking at your current clients and their interests. Once you’ve narrowed down if it’s business owners, entrepreneurs, students, etc. it’s time to start creating.

Step 3: Develop creative content and messaging

Before opening Photoshop, Canva or any other design programs we recommend starting with a list of ideas. These can be as basic as:

Client review
Photo from a recent job
Video tour of the office
Holiday post

Once you have your list of “big ideas” you can start designing the media elements and messaging to accompany them. Try to avoid including links with ever post. Social media platforms reward organic material that starts a conversation. The algorithm typically punishes posts with outbound content.

Step 4: Plan and schedule your posts

Your final step is to create your social media calendar. We recommend using a tool like Loomly to schedule all of your content which will allow you to map out your content a week or month at a time without having to remember to post each day. Although scheduling can effect your post performance it’s better to be consistent than not post at all. This is also a good time to evaluate whether or not you will boost any of your scheduled posts as most platforms will allow you to do this ahead of time.

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How to start your own business

Learning how to start your own business can seem like an overwhelming task. In many ways coming up with the idea will be the easiest part then there’s the legal aspects, the accounting, the design, the launch, the day to day and the risk factors. You may be looking for a way to make some extra money on the side or maybe you’re tired of the 9-5 and are ready to leave the corporate desk and seek something new and exciting. I’ve been starting businesses since I was 16 and whatever your reason for starting a business, I believe the 7 Steps below are crucial in helping your dream become a reality.

Step 1: Your business idea

The first step in starting a successful business is coming up with an idea for something that hasn’t been done before or a service that will help make peoples lives better. You should also focus on narrowing your messaging and making sure that you can accurately describe what you will offer to others.

Step 2: File proper legal paperwork

I don’t pretend to be an expert when it comes to filing incorporation paperwork or setting up your business accounts, however these are necessary steps and in most cases should be left up to a professional to make sure it is done right. (More on this later)

Things to consider:

Do I need a trademark for my company name, slogan or idea?
What type of business will best suit my needs long term?
What state should I file my company in?

Step 3: Be social

Now that you’ve started the process to create a legal business you should pursue securing the proper domain(s) and social media accounts for your company.

Step 4: Creating your brand

When you’re learning how to start your own business you will need to find a designer who is capable of creating a powerful logo and imaging that will accurately represent your company and help set you apart from your competition. Again, this an area best left to a professional. Working with the right graphic designer will ensure your logo is formatted properly, helps you stand out, will stand the test of time, and is easily recognizable.

I recommend hiring an all in one digital marketing agency who is willing to work with you on several projects instead of outsourcing every single project to someone different. By working with a single designer you are more likely to create a consistent style and accurately create your brand. Services you should consider are:

Having a logo designed
Creating a website
Creating business cards, brochures and company apparel (as applicable)

Step 5: Owning your systems

Now that you have the initial idea for your business and have started to create content it’s important to understand your systems. You may be thinking “what systems?” This will vary depending on what your company is but you will most likely need a platform to accept payments, invoice others and keep track of client data. Having the backbone in place prior to going public will help make sure you have a successful launch. Gaining leads for your business is only valuable if you have a strategy to turn inquires into clients.

Step 6: Create your strategy

While you prepare for your launch you should consider creating a social media strategy or hiring a company to manage your newly created social media accounts. Knowing when and how to advertise will be critical in getting your business in front of the right clients.

Step 7: Launch

After all of your hard work to learn how to start your own business it’s time to finally go live and share it with the world. I believe that by following the steps above you will be well prepared to launch.

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