We think PAR’s association partners do some pretty great work! In our “PARtners at Work” series, we highlight the different ways they are impacting our association communities. Feathr is a digital marketing company that has helped more than 1,200 associations and nonprofits tap into the same digital mindset corporations utilize to increase their customers and grow their revenue.

Where consumers go, marketers follow – and in 2022, both groups are increasingly spending more time and money online. The digital advertising industry grew by a record 35% last year as companies focused on reaching target audiences who are now spending on-average 7-hours a day online.

For-profit companies are driving the digital boom, but there’s a place – and a need – for associations to jump onboard. That’s the philosophy of Feathr, a digital marketing company that has helped more than 1,200 associations and nonprofits tap into the same digital mindset corporations utilize to increase their customers and grow their revenue.

“Thinking like a business can help you advance the mission of your nonprofit,” says Kimberly Bottom, an Associate Director of Sales at Feathr and recent PAR Virtual Workshop presenter. “The tools that Feathr has that allow our clients to grow are tools that for-profit consumer companies have been using for decades; we are just making them accessible for the association space.”

A strategic digital marketing and advertising campaign can help associations acquire new members, engage existing ones, promote events and connect sponsors to their target audiences. Still, knowing where to reach an audience is different from understanding how to successfully engage them. In-house multi-channel marketing campaigns require time to develop, skills to implement, employees to interpret the data, and a financial investment to get started. It can be a complex process for short-staffed associations operating under an already accounted for budget and a “we’ve always done it this way” mindset.

“Thinking like a business can help you advance the mission of your nonprofit."

“Feathr understands that every dollar that you do not spend on your mission needs to be carefully accounted for,” Bottom says. “If you are going to invest in something, you need to find out what you’re getting out of it.”

To take the guess work out of association ad spending, Feathr has templates and recommendations built into their platform, from ad sizes and messaging to campaign duration and ad spend. These are all based on best practices and success stories from their nonprofit clients. Once a marketing campaign begins, associations and their sponsors then have access to a dashboard that tracks detailed analytics like clicks, conversions, CPA   based on actual conversions. It’s a tool that data-driven sponsors find particularly beneficial.

“We have all the tools to be able to show sponsors the exposure they are getting digitally – so, why not give them access to that information to show the value of that sponsorship?”

Feathr utilizes more than a dozen digital tools to find, nurture and convert online prospects. From techniques like geofencing - which finds net-new people based on geographic locations – to website retargeting, which serves specific messages to people based on what they clicked on when they visited an organization’s website.

The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) worked with Feathr to promote their virtual conference. A retargeting campaign combined with email mapping, keyword search and lookalike audiences produced a return on ad spending of 4,303% - an initial investment of $1,678 dollars generated $72,207 in revenue from SWE event registrations.

Society of Women Engineers ROI from Feathr Ad Campaign

Total Ad Spend:

$1,678

Revenue Generated:

$72,207

Return on Ad Spend:

4,303%

At a time when associations rely on data to justify upfront costs, Feathr says they begin each new potential client meeting with a strategy session and transparent data on how Feathr can fit into the association’s growth plans.

“Even if we then figure out that maybe it’s not the best time for your association to utilize Feathr, we are going to share some digital marketing best practices and part ways as friends.”

To find out more about how Feathr may fit into your association’s digital marketing plans, visit their website.

kim

Kimberly Bottom
Associate Director of Sales, Feathr

Kimberly Bottom is a 10+ year digital professional, with 6+ years experience working with associations. Like many in the association space, the path to her current role was anything but a straight line. A degree in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Central Florida… led to producing the prime-time newscast at Orlando’s #1 rated news station… then on to managing teams of video professionals to create digital content for associations and trade shows… and now, creating digital marketing strategies for associations and nonprofits. In her current role as Associate Director of Sales at Feathr, Kimberly consults with associations and nonprofits on the most effective and efficient ways to do their best digital marketing. Outside of the (home) office, Kimberly loves the outdoors, from the beach to back-country backpacking… and equally loves relaxing with friends, her husband and her 2 hyperactive-yet-adorable labradors.