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Nonprofit eCommerce stores: Seven proven strategies to improve your online presence

Group of Candid staff and partners walking around inside a library

The Internet and social media are the most potent tools available today that can help anyone gain visibility today. As a nonprofit eCommerce store, a strong online presence is probably what you need at the moment, and it is crucial that you take a strategic approach toward building it.

With tons of other eCommerce stores fighting to gain users’ attention, it is easy for nonprofit stores to get lost in the crowd. In this article, let’s look at some proven ways to improve your online presence and increase the sales of your nonprofit store.

1. Start with a powerful website and blog.

Your nonprofit’s website will be the central hub for building your online presence. Apart from housing your organization’s programs and products, your website will also act as a space where people will come to understand your mission, your work, your beneficiaries, etc. Hence, the first step to improving your online presence is to audit your website and revamp it if necessary.

Audit your website, and check if it has all the necessary information that your audience, including current and potential supporters, might be interested in. To start, ensure that your website clearly explains your mission statement, details on your programs, your story, and the evidence of how you are helping out your beneficiaries.

Your website should also have other details such as contact information and a page that introduces your team. You can also include an FAQs page that states information about your services. For example, if you offer an efficient courier service in your location, then make sure that you mention all about it somewhere on your website.

Maintaining a blog can be one of the best ways to drive organic traffic to your website. Search engines such as Google boost websites that put consistent content that is valuable to users. So, if you want to come up on organic Google searches, then creating consistent blog posts must be one of your top priorities.

2. Set up your nonprofit’s social media accounts.

If you didn’t know about this already, most social media platforms offer special features if you sign up as a nonprofit. You get some added bonuses such as donate buttons, the ability to run fundraising campaigns, dedicated support, and other tools that can be of immense help for your nonprofit store.

So, make sure that you check out the nonprofit programs run by social media platforms before signing up. These include platforms like YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter.

3. Create a content calendar.

Be it a blog or social media channels, consistency is the key to building a strong online presence. By putting out consistent content, you can constantly engage your audience, grab the attention of new users, and make sure that more and more people visit your nonprofit store.

For consistency, creating a content calendar can be of immense help. A content calendar can be a simple spreadsheet that lists down all the content pieces you plan to publish in any given month and the target publish dates. 

You can also include target keywords, target buyer personas, and other crucial information in your content calendar. Creating a content calendar and sticking to it will definitely bring you some great results in the long-run.

4. Appreciate your donors.

Putting your donors and valuable customers in the spotlight can help you come to the notice of potential users who may be interested in your nonprofit store. You can thank your donors for their support and give shout-outs to them individually.

This approach helps you express gratitude towards your donors, and this way, you can build strong relationships with them. Moreover, creating appreciation posts will lead to word-of-mouth referrals, and this way, you can immensely improve your nonprofit store’s online awareness.

5. Engage with your audience.

Simply putting out content, whether it’s on your website or social media channels, will not be as effective for improving your nonprofit eCommerce store’s online presence. You also have to put in the effort to engage with your audience every single day. Every like, share, and comment you receive on your posts is valuable. All these users have taken out their time for you. Hence, it is just fair to value their time and actively engage with them.

By consistently engaging with your audience on blog posts, YouTube videos, or other social media posts, you turn your followers into a loyal community. Such a community will back you up and stay with you for a long time, leading to some amazing results for your nonprofit store.

6. Develop your digital public relations (PR) strategy.

In the past few years, the press has also predominantly evolved online. Hence, digital PR should also be one of your top priorities for improving your online presence. Connections with news outlets and journalists can lead to better exposure for your nonprofit store.

You should start by developing a digital PR strategy for your nonprofit store. You can begin by determining the people you want to reach and the channels or outlets that you should use to reach them. 

Connecting with writers, journalists, and press on social media or reaching out to them through emails can help. Make sure that your press releases are compelling and impactful and they reach the right people. Talking about your mission and the story behind your nonprofit store can be impactful.

7. Communicate the evidence of impact.

Be it your website, blog, press releases, or social media posts, make sure that you communicate the evidence of the impact to your nonprofit’s beneficiaries and online community. When you paint a picture of how you are doing greater good in the world, you have better chances of attracting new donors to your nonprofit store.

Think about how your nonprofit store connects to the tangible impact you are achieving. For example, if sales from your store help fund your on-the-ground work, make sure your users know this. Try to paint a vivid picture of your impact with the help of images and videos, so you have the best possible impression on users who visit your website.

Final thoughts

As a nonprofit eCommerce store with limited resources and funds to spend generously on advertising, you might be struggling to improve your online presence and have the right kind of impact on your audience. The tricks and strategies mentioned in this article will help you devise a plan to improve your online presence and get closer to your goals.

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