Nonprofits—Strengthen Your Cause’s Voice Via Connected TV

7 Min Read

What do you think of when you hear “TV advertising”? Maybe well-known beverage companies who promise a taste of the mountains or beach come to mind… Or, the term could invoke thoughts of tech heavyweights announcing the latest version of their best-selling computer, phone or tablet. So where do nonprofit organizations (NPOs) fit into this conversation? NPOs might not be immediately associated with TV advertising, but there is a huge opportunity for these organizations to highlight their mission on television screens far and wide—all while measuring the impact and results of their messaging.

Up until recently, advertising on TV was only attainable for a select number of (mostly high profile) brands. However, with the rise of Connected TV (CTV), a wider variety of advertisers have the chance to run ads on TV with total control over their campaigns. In addition, CTV allows brands to see detailed, real time results from their advertising efforts, making it easier than ever to develop campaigns that ensure viewers take action.

If you’re in charge of advertising for an NPO, we know that you have a lot on your plate. Running TV ad campaigns might seem daunting or out of reach for your organization, but advertising on CTV is simpler than you think. Let’s take a look at how CTV advertising can support your NPO and how you can best utilize the channel to champion your cause.

Utilize TV Screens to Tell a Story and Convey Emotion

Is your NPO struggling to see a strong return on ad spend (ROAS)? You’re not alone. Advertising is a tall order for NPOs—over the course of one ad, you need to both “sell” your cause (aka tell your audience why it’s important) and make it clear how people can make a difference. This can be very difficult, if not impossible, to do via a static advertisement. Video advertising is a great solution to this predicament, particularly when served on TV screens. As mentioned above, CTV advertising has made it possible for brands of all shapes and sizes to do this. CTV offers the prestige associated with traditional TV advertising, but with more flexibility and insights for advertisers.

CTV can serve as an engaging platform for you to tell a meaningful story. With a CTV ad, you can explain your cause, tell the audience why it’s important, express who or what is affected by the issue and give instructions on how viewers can take action, all in one easily consumable TV commercial. In this type of ad, as opposed to static, you are able to convey emotion and drive urgency at the same time. For instance, if your organization champions wildlife conservation, you could create an ad that tells the story of a certain endangered species, why your audience should care about tribulations of said species and how your organization is helping to address the problem.

Looking for support with the creation of CTV ads? QuickFrame by MNTN can help you develop high-performing video built for every channel, audience and objective.

CTV is a Great Addition to Your Performance Marketing Strategy

While we obviously think CTV is a pretty awesome advertising channel, we’re not here to tell you to turn off your paid social or banner campaigns. If you’ve seen success with these channels in the past, continue to utilize them in conjunction with CTV ads as a part of a cohesive full-funnel marketing strategy. MNTN Performance TV is a powerful demand generation tool, that works in conjunction with paid search and social to capture that demand. In fact, adding CTV to your other performance channels will create a halo effect and drive greater results for paid search, social, and even email.

Target the Right Audience

Traditional TV can be a great advertising channel for driving impressions, but it’s difficult to get hyper-targeted with audience segmentation. Meaning, if you advertise on linear TV, your ad might not be seen by viewers who will actually take action. Most NPOs need to appeal to niche audiences in order to be successful.

No matter who your NPO is trying to reach, CTV can help you to build and then target your ideal audience. CTV allows you to target people in many ways—use demographics to hone in on viewers by age or geographic location, or, you can target viewers by interests and behaviors. Remove some of the guess work in audience building by utilizing MNTN Performance TV. Our platform features pre-built audience segments that align well with NPOs’ goals, such as: charitable donors, those likely to donate, frequent donors and donors for specific verticals.

Ramp Up For Holiday Fundraising

While CTV is a useful performance channel for running evergreen campaigns throughout the year, we know that many advertisers (especially NPOs) experience an increase in engagement and conversions around the winter holidays. The last quarter of the year is a great time for fundraising—around 31% of donations are made in December alone and 12% come in the final three days of the calendar year. Here are some ways to leverage CTV ad campaign data to ensure strong Q4 performance and throughout the year:

• Experiment with different audiences: You likely know who your ideal audience is, but with the extensive targeting options CTV advertising offers, it’s wise to keep an open mind when it comes to audience building. By targeting a variety of audience groups, you will be able to see which viewers respond best to your ads and in turn actually take action to support your cause. Impressions are great, but when you have aggressive fundraising goals to meet, audience engagement is paramount.
• Test different ad creative: As with email, paid social or banner ad campaigns, you can (and should) conduct A/B testing on CTV. Testing different versions of your ad creative can help you to determine which messaging and/or visuals best resonate with your audience. The results of these tests can be utilized to guide your strategy for future ad campaigns.
• Start seeding messaging to support Q4 Goals: If you haven’t yet, you should already be developing an advertising plan for Q4. That said, there is no need to bombard customers with holiday or end-of-year focused ads just yet—instead, start seeding messaging that will tie in to what you’ll want to accomplish in Q4. For example, if you have a fundraising goal that you need to accomplish by the close of the year, create ads that speak to the “why” behind your cause in order to evoke an emotional response in viewers. Next, analyze your campaign data to understand how these ads performed. You can then use these insights to build a robust Q4 advertising plan that will ensure your organization closes out the year strong.

Give Your Cause a Boost With CTV

Gone are the days when only mega brands could advertise on TV. CTV has opened the door for advertisers from all industries to get their message out to the masses and NPOs are no exception. Now is a great time for NPOs to give CTV advertising a try! Leverage CTV as a performance channel in order to tell your cause’s story and reach engaged audiences who will take action.