The Situation…
Net Impact had led to many social impact and sustainability movements and had become well known by legacy players in those spaces. But times changed and they faced two a major challenge:
The rise of new generations who cared deeply about social impact and sustainability, but did not know who Net Impact was.
Net Impact struggled to capture this rising tide of new interest and to translate their in-person event expertise to online-only channels. They decided to revamp their marketing efforts to fix these problems, but they faced big hurdles towards doing so. Net Impact:
- Lacked bandwidth. They had limited marketing resources and devoted most of what they had to promote partner projects — instead of their own.
- Lacked a consistent brand voice. Their messaging and identity were always intertwined with the partner projects they were promoting.
- Lacked a baseline brand marketing strategy. They struggled to both develop a lasting approach and to execute the ideas they did generate.
- Lacked online traffic and engagement. They created good content, but they weren’t getting enough people to consume and engage with it.
- Lacked a clear story. They did not reliably communicate who they were at their core and confused their new potential audience members.
These were big problems, and Net Impact knew they couldn’t overcome them alone.
The Search for a Partner: Selecting BCentrico
Net Impact operated a lean team. They couldn’t hire multiple new marketing employees to fill the gaps in their current capabilities and to focus entirely on their own brand marketing.
Instead, they sought an external partner who could fill the gaps in their relevant marketing capabilities, help them with their brand marketing strategy, and understand their values and voice with minimal guidance.
To find this partner, they turned to agencies they had worked with before.
Net Impact had previously engaged BCentrico to drive ticket sales for their large annual conference. During that experience, BCentrico proved to be:
- Effective. BCentrico delivered meaningful results with minimal oversight.
- Mindful. BCentrico is a B-Corp, which naturally aligned with Net Impact’s mission.
- Marketing Experts. BCentrico has niche knowledge about marketing NGOs.
Net Impact felt BCentrico was the right partner to execute a consistent brand marketing strategy.
Net Impact and BCentrico: A Successful Partnership
Net Impact set three goals for their broader partnership with BCentrico:
- To fill gaps in their internal marketing capabilities. They asked BCentrico to perform tasks including SEO, Paid Advertising, Email Automation, Web Optimization, and Social Media, among others.
- To hand off their own core brand marketing work. They asked BCentrico to replicate the voice, brand, and mission for both the Net Impact brand and for their secondary brand — Up to Us.
- To deliver the tangible results that Net Impact needed. They asked BCentrico to increase Net Impact’s traffic, improve their name recognition, and drive greater value for their stakeholders.
To drive towards these goals, BCentrico delivered a wide range of services:
- Strategy and Oversight. BCentrico designed digital marketing strategies to meet Net Impact’s ever-changing organizational needs.
- Digital Ad Management. BCentrico managed Net Impact’s digital ad channels (Facebook, Instagram, Google, SnapChat, and LinkedIn).
- Marketing Automation. BCentrico managed Net Impact’s email marketing campaigns and audience data through Salesforce Pardot.
- SEO and Content Marketing. BCentrico ensured that Net Impact’s content ranked and was shared through social media channels.
- Graphic Design and Visual Branding. BCentrico made sure all of Net Impact’s marketing materials looked professional and congruent.
- Ad Hoc Items. BCentrico gave Net Impact a set number of “points” every month that could be redeemed for out-of-scope marketing work.
To date, the partnership has been a success. By partnering with BCentrico, Net Impact has:
- Delivered a consistent brand marketing strategy. They have published content with the right voice, the right cadence, and the right distribution to engage and grow their audience.
- Derived more value from their efforts. They have made better use of their email marketing and automation tools, and have upgraded their SEO to rank their content for the right topics.
- Done more with less. They have achieved their brand’s marketing goals with fewer resources, and in a hands-off manner that freed their CMO to focus on bigger, broader, and more strategic projects.
Most importantly, they have generated measurable, meaningful results. By partnering with BCentrico, Net Impact:
- Increased new and existing user traffic by over 35% during the first semester of 2020 compared to the same time frame in 2019.
- Increased traffic from their Google Ads Grant by more than 10,000% during the first semester of 2020 compared to the same time frame in 2019.
- Increased new chapter creation by 74% from 2019 to 2020.
Thanks to these positive results Net Impact renewed their annual contract with BCentrico.
Bring These Results to Your Company
At BCentrico, we provide a wide range of marketing services.
If you are looking for a partner who can fill the gaps in your marketing capabilities, drive your brand marketing, and share your story with the world — reach out today. Schedule a free, no-obligation discovery call. We will uncover the concrete steps you can take to find, tap, and magnify the potential for growth hiding in your company.
