Revive
Detroit.
The Ask
Awareness for Nonprofit Program Rebuilding Detroit Neighborhoods
Central Detroit Christian (CDC), a nonprofit HUD Counselor and faith-based organization, sought assistance in promoting a new project aimed at Detroit homeownership support. This project, funded by JP Morgan Chase Foundation, involved collaborating with the Detroit Land Bank Authority and Liberty Bank.
The Challenge
- Support Home Buyers – need to provide counseling, financing, and home repair assistance, while also rehabilitating vacant and abandoned homes and developing new ones.
- Raise awareness – not many knew about the Detroit homeownership support program and its benefits.
- Educate prospective buyers – needed community members to understand how this creates a path to home ownership.
The Solution
Initial Research and Analysis
Research was done to build audience profiles and establish digital advertising targeting. This included buyer demographics, keywords the target audience used in search, and targeting zip codes where housing demand was.
Our research looked at two groups of people – those with a desire to move to Detroit and existing residents that want to stop renting or move into a new home. In both cases, we found the desire was there but there was a lot of confusion, lack of answers, negative stories about the community development in Detroit, and a lot of red tape. They were excited about the future of Detroit, but unsure how to be a part of it and make an impact.
To address the challenge, the strategy included several key tactics:
Social Media & Digital Advertising: Leveraged both organic and paid social media to increase public awareness of the homeownership assistance programs.
Email Marketing for Nonprofits: Utilized social and digital data to grow email marketing lists and incorporate email into the strategy.
Educational Content: Created and promoted blog posts and web content to answer questions about program eligibility and to spread the program’s reach through word of mouth.
Targeted Advertising: Employed targeted Facebook advertising to educate Detroit communities about CDC programs, alongside a mix of slow organic growth and targeted promotions.
Tracking and Referrals: Combined these methods with robust tracking features to boost the number of referrals and gather data from interested individuals.
The Impact
$0.81
Facebook CPC
$0.71
Video CPC
The campaign led to several positive outcomes:
High Engagement: Targeted Facebook ads for nonprofits reached a significant audience, with 85.5% of visitors coming from Michigan. Click-thrus also included several states, indicating the message was shared beyond Michigan.
Audience Reach: Successfully reached a new audience, with the majority of site traffic being from new users.
Community Empowerment: CDC was able to activate and engage the community through social media and digital advocacy, effectively channeling funding into local neighborhoods in Detroit.
Lisa Johanon, Director for Central Detroit Christian, emphasized that the efforts helped restore hope and build community equity by providing education and affordable housing solutions.