The holiday season brings lots of opportunities to give back to your community. Hosting a toy drive for collecting and donating stuffed animals, games, and other toys for needy kids in your local area is one of the best ways to support the kids in your society.
Good intentions are one thing, though. A successful toy drive is another. If you want your toy drive to get tons of traffic and build up a big toy stockpile, you need to know how to promote your event. Let’s take a look at five strategies you can use to promote your toy drive event online.
Start with Social Media
Any successful toy drive starts with a social media push. Create pages for the upcoming toy drive event on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Once that’s done, be sure to make regular countdown posts that let people know when the toy drive event will occur. That’s the best way to build anticipation and urgency for the event and get people to show up.
Social media marketing is also important since it lets you answer questions, interact with potential attendees, and recruit volunteers for the toy drive. Some platforms, like Facebook, may even let you make an RSVP list – that’s perfect for confirming who plans to show up and who has decided to pass.
Make an Engaging Website & Countdown Page
At the same time, it could be wise to make a specific website or blog page for the toy drive event. This can include more information, like who will be there, details about the premises, and what kinds of toys donors and volunteers should bring.
That same website could be the perfect hosting location for another countdown page or even a second-by-second clock. Make a good website with a free site builder, and you can include the hyperlink to that site in your marketing emails, on your social media pages, and even on physical posters you decide to put up around town.
Launch a Comprehensive Email Marketing Campaign
Modern marketing for any event, especially a community event that relies on engagement from lots of people, like a toy drive, should take advantage of email marketing. When done properly, a good email marketing campaign will bring tons of people to your toy drive event, drum up anticipation ahead of time, and ensure everyone knows where to go and what to bring when the big day finally arrives.
However, a good email marketing campaign includes several moving parts you should keep in mind.
- To start, get a list of people to email, either through reaching out on social media or by requiring email addresses for people who visit your site/shop at your online store (if applicable). You can also reach out to friends, family members, and coworkers for email addresses of people they know
- Then whip up some email templates so you can send lots of emails to everyone on your list. You can make great-looking email templates or toy drive email templates using free tools like PosterMyWall, which will help keep your marketing budget low
- Next, make some great-looking emails that provide just enough information to pique the interest of visitors. Don’t stuff emails with too much info; tell people what’s happening, when it’s happening, and what they need to bring to the toy drive for it to be a success
- Then send out your emails as soon as possible!
You can and should send emails throughout your marketing campaign. Send emails for:
- Boosting awareness of the upcoming toy drive event
- Counting down the days until the toy drive so people know how long they have to collect or donate toys
- Reminding people who RSVP’d that the toy drive is coming up
- And more
A good email marketing campaign will make a major difference in toy drive turnout. Don’t ignore this marketing strategy!
Create Rewards or Incentives
Want to promote your toy drive successfully? Create a reward or incentive. This doesn’t have to be cash (and in fact cash is the worst incentive to provide to volunteers or toy donors).
Instead, think of things like hot chocolate, gingerbread cookies, or other goodies that give people an excuse to do something special for the holiday season. Depending on where you host the toy drive, people can drop off toys, grab a holiday-themed snack, and socialize. It’s a good opportunity to help the community connect and bring everyone together during this chilly season.
YouTube Videos and Candid Ads
YouTube is a fantastic marketing vector, and one you shouldn’t ignore for any upcoming toy drive event. Make some YouTube videos about the toy drive, even if they are basic ads with the time, date, and place, or put up some candid videos from last year’s toy drive showing just how happy kids are to receive toys from donors.
YouTube videos and candid content like this pull on people’s heartstrings and make them feel inspired to participate in the toy drive. Plus, you can put up fresh video content on the toy drive channel on the day of the event, leading us to one final tip…
Bonus Tip – Market the Event On the Day Of
Last but not least, don’t forget to continue promoting your toy drive event on the day of! For example, you can record some people dropping off toys as the event continues, then post that video footage to social media. People on the fence might be inspired to drive by and drop off a few presents of their own once they see others have already started the event.
Conclusion
Ultimately, promoting your toy drive event online is a matter of using all the tools at your disposal, including email marketing, YouTube videos, and social media marketing. With a little luck, and with the right plan from the get-go, your toy drive will be a fantastic success and you’ll bring joy to kids all around your local community. Happy holidays!