A big part of what drives me and our team here at Masterworks is figuring out how to do even more to inspire generosity in the donors who support our ministry clients. And to do it better, faster and cheaper.
The nonprofit marketing landscape is undergoing what I can only call a seismic shift — a massive upending, driven largely by the influence of new technology and a new generation of donors: the Baby Boomers.
The question today is, How, within this dramatic upheaval, do we truly inspire donors to give of their time, talent and treasure?
One increasingly promising opportunity for reaching these donors is “autonomous media buying.” If you aren’t familiar with how this approach to buying media can help you and your organization, I encourage you to read on…
But first, a little background will be helpful.
Media buying today includes not only traditional channels like television, radio and space ads, but also multiple digital channels. And it’s getting more and more complex.
Back in the day, however, it all worked differently.
Early in my career, I had responsibility for World Vision’s $10 million television budget. Here’s how it worked:
— Our agency had a media buyer who worked with individual television stations around the country. The media buyer kept a database of the past results from each buy on that television station.
— For each station, the agency would send me a hard copy “avail” for each buy for a particular time slot that previously had worked well. The “avail” also included the current cost of the buy.
— I literally approved each “avail” by reviewing the history of that television station. I made a yes or no decision about the buy — $10 million dollars’ worth over the course of the year.
Fast forward to today, and the rapidly changing digital media buying landscape is very different…
Artificial intelligence (AI) is making it possible for machines to do the buying for you. A platform like this takes most of the human element out of the equation. By using predictive analytics and proprietary algorithms, autonomous media buying systems can detect patterns, and make adjustments to achieve predetermined results like ROI.
At Masterworks, we’re pioneering the use of autonomous media buying with our clients right now. It’s a new day — one that absolutely requires us to create best-of-breed strategies to acquire more donors who are inspired to support your cause.
And to do it better, faster and cheaper!
That’s what I call inspiring!