121. SPN: Recycle♻️ to improve ad effectiveness
7 tips to drive incremental fundraising dollars; Why the best form of targeting is your creative; and, Jobs
A very warm welcome to all the new subscribers. I’m thrilled to have you as readers and truly appreciate your feedback and support.
“What is the perfect donation amount to ask for”?
Historical data is great, but behavioral data is more indicative of how a donor will respond.
Fundraise Up uses AI to understand your donor at this exact moment, and optimize touch points across the entire donation experience so that you ask the right amount at the right time.
Game changer? It is for me.
In this week’s SPN:
♻️ to improve ad effectiveness:
What is it that makes creative perform so well?
7 tips to drive incremental fund raising dollars
Some rules for AD copywriting I try stick to
Jobs that took my fancy this week
It’s a longer one today, let’s jump in!
Improving Ad Effectiveness
Amazon’s latest bit of kit for our marketing and fund raising toolboxes is a big deal. So is what ITV just did in the UK. I’m watching AI video develop week by week, but use cases are still mainly experimental.
It’s the first time I’ve seen any major broadcaster use GenAI Ad production tech for its paying SME advertisers - even using System1 measurement to prove effectiveness. Which I LOVE!
Check these out: a Welsh Travel Agent and a Northern Irish Sofa retailer. They’re not at all bad. And the tech is improving every day.
Even if I have to take remnant space I’m dying to try this approach!
Surely any brand running in the same breaks as these AI ads must be asking themselves why they’re paying $ hundreds of thousands with their traditional this is how we’ve always done it-type approach.
Dramatically reducing production costs changes the economics of TV. In fact it changes the economics of your ad mix period.
What worked last EOY? Do you need an entirely new campaign this year?
I came across this line from John Hegarty (founder of the superb creative agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty): “Great ideas have more mileage than most people realize. They capture new audiences, and revive old brands.” Hallelujah. If you needed permission this is it - there’s another way to improve ad effectiveness: Recycle old - proven - ad ideas.
Most forms of culture get recycled. Great songs get recorded and remixed. Sampling gives them a new lease of life. Movies get remade and sequels (and prequels) extend the IP. TV shows are constantly remade - I saw that Big Brother is back and that a production firm is even working on a UK version of Cheers.
Why don’t ad ideas get recycled?
If you sell product why haven’t you tried having a model wear an eyepatch? Maybe a joke although it worked for David Ogilvy and Hathaway (fun story) - might it work for you?
What inspiration could your EOY campaign take from the Cinzano ads? There’s no end of great ads that could be reinterpreted. I just finished reading The Howard Gossage Show - written by ad legends Steve Harrison and Dave Dye - totally recommend it as a place to start - I found it full of smart thinking and great ads, which could be inspiration - or more.
Like Picasso said: Good artists copy, great artists steal.
Controversial? Hardly. Look at the new Levis ad; a remake of the 1985 Launderette ad - with Beyonce replacing both Nick Kamen and Marvin Gaye.
The back story makes a remake obvious - when one of the top artists writes a song about your brand you have to lean in. The music industry knows it’s a remake but did I? No. And if a Millennial Beyoncé fan in Sausalito tracks down the original, that’s good for the brand too ;)
Jobs & Opps 🛠️
Change.org: Director, Marketing & Comms ($230,000)
Scouting America, Greater New York Councils: Chief Program Officer ($165,000 - $175,000)
Connecticut Children's Hospital: Vice President, Foundation Marketing and Community Engagement
National Cherry Blossom Festival: Director of Marketing and Communications ($90,000 - $110,000)
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America: Director, Corporate Engagement
Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation: Director of Fundraising (£100,000)
GIGA, UNICEF: Technical Expert, Connectivity Credits
TOMS: Director, Digital Marketing ($150,000 - $180,000)
—> 🥳 Many more jobs can be found on SPN’s sister site, PLEDGR (a person who pledges to donate monthly).
Making Better Creative
My favorite takeaway from this week is that you don’t need a $100k piece of creative to start running TV (see above). Technology aside, you also need to make sure you have a good story, a solid hook, and a compelling call to action.
From conversations I’ve had with media buyers and also just buying media myself, one thing is clear: the best form of targeting is your creative. The angle and messaging in your creative will determine who sees it.
I saw UNICEF leverage an eye-catching new ad format this week and it prompted me to check out their Ad library. These libraries are treasure troves. It’s telling what’s working for brands when you see lots of ads all lined up next to each other.
Check out some the Ad libraries here:
LinkedIn (go to an Org’s LinkedIn Page > Post > Ads)
What Is It That Makes Creative Perform So Well?
Create ads that YOU would screenshot or share. If it won’t perform well organically, don’t make it into an ad. You might remember my post about the Content Playbook of Sorts from SPN #33: create content, test it organically, and then push it into paid. Content that won’t get shared into the group chat, isn’t content worth putting out.
Let the data help you decide. There’s nothing worse than a CMO saying “That’s not on brand,” and then having their “On brand” creative perform 10 times worse. Until you’re doing $50M in digital fundraising revenue, your “brand” is built by getting your mission into the heads and hands of donors who can become recurring donors and advocates for your Org.
Hire actual creators to make your content. Want amazing video creative? Go search for creators who do this for a living and contract them. If they’ve built their own audience online making content like the ads that you want to see, they can make strong creative for your Org. If you work with content creators, don’t try to tell them exactly what to do either - you hired them, let them do their job.
Experiment with all mediums and formats. You absolutely should be doing a “media mix” of stats, videos, studio shot, donor-generated-content, comparisons, testimonials, story based creative, ads that are emotion-driven, ads that are education-driven, founder stories for younger nonprofits, fully animated ads, advertorials, articles, Holiday-themed creative, influencer creative and more… to see what works best for your Org. The learnings from testing all of these formats will be worth their weight in gold.
Build a “creative reference bank.” Every time I see an eye-catching ad from another brand or creator online, I take a screenshot or save the link. Obviously I don’t want to copy the ads directly. What I’m doing though is building creative references that can help inspire agencies and teams with elements for future campaigns. Maybe you like a color, font, hook, or something else. Save it to spark ideas for future ads.
H/T to an SPN reader who shared that their team created an Instagram DM group for Ads inspo. Whenever someone sees something good they send it in there with 1 sentence on why and what they like about it. Inspired!
Match Ad creative to your landing page. One of the fastest ways to boost CVR is to match your ad creative to your landing page. Real example: I was served an ad asking me to donate money to purchase a blue watering can and when I clicked it I was sent to a homepage that featured 10 other unrelated products.
There’s simply no reason to do this in 2024. If you feature a blue water can in your ad, send your prospective donors to an LP with a blue water can featured front and center. This will make the full donor journey feel frictionless and reduce unnecessary clicks.
Focus on the hook. With video ads, the first 1-2 seconds are really what matters most. How can you grab a donor’s attention and hook them with the right setup, shot, or leading question? Test more hooks than anything else.
Repurpose your top performers. Recycling is SPN 121’s vibe today! Once you’ve tested multiple concepts, start doubling down on the top 5 highest performing ads. Make 5-10 new variations of your top performers. Try a different opening shot, different music, capital letters instead of lowercase, different overlays, etc.
There are nearly endless ways that you can continuously remix your top performing creative. Follow the data and keep tweaking your winners to see if you can continue to improve CPMs and CPAs.
Focus on clear, concise, compelling copy. The copywriting in an ad can make or break its performance. You typically only have a second or two to catch a donor’s attention and get them hooked to want to learn more.
Here are some of my rules for AD copywriting:
• Present the ask first (i.e don’t bury the lead!)
• Speak in terms of benefits and value props
• Use copy to explain how someone/thing’s life will change for the better after donating to your Org
• Use CAPITALS, emojis, punctuation, line breaks, etc., when necessary to highlight key points
• Explain concepts like speaking to a 5 year old
• Avoid using big words
• Keep editing until you feel like you can’t remove any more words
• Then edit one more time
Low-fi ads work! You don’t need a fancy camera or a high-production value commercial. Some of the highest performing ads I’ve ever seen were shot on an iPhone, selfie style. Don’t overthink it; just shoot, add text, and publish.
What did I miss that you’d add?
Explore: Build Your Tech Stack (link)
Searching for new tools or trying to trim down your tech stack? Play around in this infographic. I add to it most weeks.
Drive Incremental Fund Raising $$$s
My goal in writing this post is that you can read it in less than 5 minutes, take a nugget or two back to your team, and make (at least) an extra $100,000 this Giving Season. Let’s get down to business!
#SMS
With the influx of site traffic in Q4, double-check your SMS flows going out and ensure you’re not set up to overspend.
Most SMS vendors will charge you for replies and for emoji usage (2-3x the credit of SMS). Don’t put yourself in a place where you’re scratching your head, wondering how your text bill tripled when donation attributed didn’t! Also, if your provider offers it ensure you have onsite opt-in enabled - it’s a no-brainer.
#New Channels
Test into any new channels you can before peak holiday time.
One of the most overlooked but well-performing channels is Taboola (and Outbrain - both are digital advertising platforms that help connect content creators with their target audiences). Taboola lets you reach millions of users across the open web in what I think is a highly engaging format. You can run ads on legitimate publishers like VOGUE; everything is performance-based.
#Who/What/Why/When/How
Every FAQ section, landing page, pre-donation welcome flow, and ad creative must answer the following questions:
1. What is your Org’s mission? 2. Who does it benefit, and how? 3. Why should I trust you (show me the impact you’re driving, show me donor and beneficiary testimonials)? 4. How does it compare to other Org’s in the market? 5. What happens if I don’t support/donate?
#Copywriting
Be smart with your copywriting, don’t be fancy.
You can be on-brand and deliver a frictionless donation experience, while getting to the point. People are on their phones, they have notifications popping up, they have things to do... don’t make someone have to think about what they’re reading.
#Web Compliance
Double-check your ADA compliance.
Make sure all your emails, landing pages, and website pages are compliant from an ADA standpoint. An Org shared a horror story about getting slapped with lawsuits for ADA. Do everything you can to make sure you’re compliant and have documentation that you are compliant. Check out WAVE and Google Lighthouse as a starting point.
#Double Check
Beware of sneaky Meta Advantage+ creative enhancements.
There’s nothing worse than cut-off ads for an Org during peak donation time. I see it with high quality ecomm brands too. Make sure you check each ad’s automatic enhancements. Meta is trying to create as much weird ad inventory in order to keep us spending, but don’t get suckered into a bad spot when you can avoid it.
#Supporter Comms
Let supporters know you have an upcoming campaign ahead of time.
With the average Holiday shopping purse size of $2,400, it’s not a bad idea to tell supporters you have a Match campaign or donation drive coming up. You can push this to your SMS subscribers who’ve donated before, too.
Ok, if I missed something juicy you thought of, reply to this email with it.
That’s all for today!
If you enjoyed this SPN, please consider sharing with your network. Thank you to those that do.
If a friend sent this to you, get the next edition of SPN by signing up below.
And huge thanks to this Quarter’s sponsor Fundraise Up for creating a new standard for online giving.
Reads From My Week
How a Google breakup could reshape digital marketing (5 strategies to consider) - AdAge
Amazon Ads launches a new AI Video generator - here’s your first look at the beta - Amazon
Shiv Gupta of U of Digital on Trade Desk, Disney and Cookies - Shiv Gupta
ISBA launches next phase of media measurement tool to address ‘huge gap’ - ISBA
Trend Report 2025 - OK COOL
Strategies To Beat the AI Bots - FT
Snapchat Publishers Fear It’s the End of an Era for Their Businesses - Threads/Business Insider
I Am Tired of AI - Bas Dijkstra
A Recovery of Olympic Proportions - GroupM
It’s Hard to Write Code For Computers, But It’s Even Harder to Write Code for Humans - Erik Bernhardsson
The Tricky Strategy Behind the Addictive Sports Betting Boom - Fast Company