What should I outsource to a digital specialist to best set me up for success?
"When's the best time in our growth to start outsourcing to a digital specialist?" I was asked recently by a client at a smallish charity. My answer was to outsource when you reach the stage where you don't have the expertise in-house to get results or to scale your activities. But I think the best question to ask here isn't 'when' but 'what'.
For a small to medium sized charity with limited resources, what are the key projects to outsource to a specialist that will best equip you for success and save you the most time (and headspace) going forwards? Here's where I think smaller charities can benefit the most from one-off specialist support, based on where they are in their digital growth...
If you answer the question 'who is your ideal supporter?' with 'anyone': ask for an ideal supporter deep-dive. If you aren't super familiar with who your ideal supporter is and why they support you, this is job number one to ask for specialist help with. Your ideal supporter is a fictional description of a typical supporter, and the person all your comms (website, blogs, social media) should be directed to. Understanding their pain points and what drives them makes creating content they will respond to 1000% easier and will help you reach and build familiarity with the 'right' people. It also makes life significantly easier when you're planning your hashtag use and paid ad targeting and stops you trying to target everyone and anyone (and thereby no-one) and wasting your time talking to the wrong people.
If you're clear on your ideal supporter but are struggling to know what to post to nurture them: ask for a social media content strategy. If you find yourself either posting whatever comes to mind on the day, or planning a few weeks in advance and hoping for the best, this is for you. A solid content strategy will build on your understanding of who you want to talk to and leave you with a plan of the channels to focus on, the topics you should be covering (with loads of post and blog inspiration examples), how often to post and the hashtags to use. This means that whenever you sit down to plan your content, you're never starting from scratch because you know exactly what to focus your efforts on, saving you time and energy.
If your socials are working well, and it's time to put budget behind your content to reach more people: ask for paid ad consultancy. Starting running paid ads can feel like a big step, and realistically if you don't have the budget to pay a professional to build and run your campaigns, you're going to be adding it to your own to-do list. Training from an expert, getting their eyes on your plans and being able to ask all the questions takes the pressure off you (or your team), and makes sure that you have all your bases covered before you part with your hard-earned budget.
These are all one-off investments, which can feel scary. But they will pay dividends in the long run in helping your non profit reach and nurture your ideal audience, as well as helping you avoid costly ads mistakes and streamlining your processes. Most importantly, they can help free you up to focus on the parts of your role you can really add value in. Win-win!