Many brands have diverse sales partnerships in which businesses and consumers purchase their products or services. It’s estimated that more than 75% of the worldwide trade (WTO) flows through some kind if indirect sales or distribution channel reselling the product and/or services of a primary brand.

In the post-pandemic business world, many businesses are struggling to keep up with consumer and commercial demands. During much of 2020 and the first half of 2021, consumers’ disposable income and online shopping habits placed major strains on supply chains across all industries. Nowhere was this more apparent than in the retail world. E-commerce has grown two to five times faster in the past 18 months than in the year preceding the pandemic. Warehouses and fulfillment centers across the country struggle to re-fill shelves with consumer goods in high demand. 

Recently, Mark Gaskill, our vice president of research and marketing solutions, had the chance to sit down and chat with WJR’s Vanessa Denha Garmo. They discussed marketing strategy for nonprofits: how to make the most of your organization’s unique story, and how you can make your donors long-term partners in your organization’s mission. Below are some highlights from Mark and Vanessa’s conversation. 

As the coronavirus wears on worldwide, the conditions it has created is changing our behavior. The world has gone increasingly digital: conferences and meetings are now held virtually, grocery stores offer an increasing array of contact-free purchasing, and our favorite businesses and non-profits have faced an abrupt drop in revenue. Although data are still being released, early studies can tell marketers quite a lot already about the shift in consumer behavior, both in retail and fundraising spheres. 

Study after study makes it clear that personalization is the reigning king of marketing. Organizations of all kinds are racing to develop the customer insights they need to single out individuals and create better, more personal user experiences. Non-profits can learn from these organizations and do the same to make their fundraising experiences more relevant to donors.

Our EVP of Marketing, Mark Gaskill, sat down with Sherri Welch from Crain’s Detroit Business for a Q&A on how nonprofits can strengthen relationships with donors to help recoup the loss of postponed or cancelled events because of the COVID-19 virus.  Mark’s recommendations:

A fully engaged customer or donor who feels emotionally connected to your organization is key to increased revenue. You need to know who your audience is and what will motivate them to engage. The insights for building those emotional connections that drive loyalty and advocacy for your organization or brand may be hidden in your database, or you could need research.  How do you know?

Most fundraisers are familiar with the idea that it’s less expensive to keep a donor than to find a new one. And many are aware about how to retain donors: they need to build strong connections between the charity and the donor. In the past, charities have focused on the importance of making rational, deliberate appeals on the assumption that donors made rational, deliberate decisions when giving. 

There’s a lot of conversation around behavior science and how emotion influences the decision to buy, donate or join in the marketing blogosphere these days. Many of those conversations cite the work of Nobel Prize winner and psychologist, Daniel Kahneman. In his 2011 book, “Thinking, Fast and Slow,” Kahneman argues that the mind incorporates two systems for decision-making: one that works quickly making decisions more on intuition and emotion, and a second that works more slowly to rationalize the decision. Because it takes less effort, we’re more likely to rely on the first system.

The secrets revealed by virtue of the responses, and qualitative research we conducted, allow PSF to gain immediate traction from their marketing spend with confidence.