Overview
Founded in 1866 by Thomas John Barnardo, Barnardo’s has grown to become the UK’s largest children’s charity in terms of charitable expenditure. In their mission to enhance their digital footprint and community engagement, Barnardo’s partnered with PinMeTo to leverage tools like Listings, Posts, and Conversations.
This case study explores how PinMeTo’s suite of services revolutionized Barnardo’s approach to digital marketing for nonprofits, significantly boosting their local visibility and improving operational processes across their 600+ charity retail stores in the UK.
Barnardo’s Stores’ Google Metrics 6 Months After PinMeTo Onboarding
The Challenge
Enhancing Customer Journey and Local Visibility:
Barnardo’s key challenge naturally was to make their charity stores easily discoverable online. They needed to maintain a strong online presence and maximize local reach.
Achieving Unified Data Management:
With more than 600 locations, managing the location data across various networks, especially Facebook, was challenging, with issues like unclaimed pages and inconsistent naming.
Prior to this, we didn’t have Facebook for our stores. The idea of launching it without onboarding PinMeTo was extremely daunting. We wondered how we could possibly manage all of this effectively.
Leigh O’ Mahony, Senior Content and Social Media Executive | Barnardo’s
Engaging Community at a Local Level:
Community connection has long been known as a key aspect of digital marketing for nonprofits, and Barnardo’s wanted to boost local engagement and find a centralized solution for handling online interactions coming from all platforms.
It’s amazing that it’s all consolidated in one place while being so user-friendly. It enables us to jump right in and provide assistance on any page, adding that extra layer of support for our store staff.
Leigh O’ Mahony, Senior Content and Social Media Executive | Barnardo’s
The Solution
Streamlining Listings Management:
Barnardo’s implemented PinMeTo Listings to gain control over their location data, resolving issues with unclaimed pages and inconsistencies. This helped in aligning their online presence with their brand and mission and gave them full control over their location data.
Fixing FB Location Pages:
Through PinMeTo Listings, Barnardo’s was also able to claim and manage Local Facebook pages for their numerous stores.
Facebook is amazing when it comes to connecting with our community, it caters to the specific needs and interests of people in localized areas. Facebook for our stores allows us to offer relevant local content, which greatly enhances their experience. It was a large onboarding process but with the help of PinMeTo, setting up all the listings was a breeze.
Leigh O’ Mahony, Senior Content and Social Media Executive | Barnardo’s
Localising Content:
Barnardo’s also implemented PinMeTo Posts to streamline their social media marketing efforts. The tool’s unified dashboard allowed the team to schedule, post and distribute localized content on all local pages with a few clicks.
On Instagram, Barnardo’s retail page engaged users with a fashion-forward approach, showcasing second-hand finds and influencer collaborations. This platform is specifically used to spark interest in sustainable fashion and encourage a younger demographic to embrace charity retail.
In contrast, Facebook became a pivotal platform for Barnardo’s to foster local community ties. Here, they share compelling stories, highlight volunteer efforts, and promote cause-led initiatives.
Centralising Reputation Management:
The Conversations tool significantly eased the process of managing community interactions and overseeing the right brand voice throughout all online interactions.
Features like Saved Replies, templates for bulk responses, location search filters helped them provide personalized, timely responses nurturing their local community even further.
We oversee the community management of our 600+ stores. PinMeTo has made this task so much easier for us by streamlining everything on one platform. It has definitely made our mornings smoother.
Leigh O’ Mahony, Senior Content and Social Media Executive | Barnardo’s
3 Months After Onboarding Facebook Metrics Skyrocketed:
Organic views x3,5
Likes x10
Organic reach x6
What Comes Next
Barnardo’s journey with PinMeTo shows how tailored local marketing tactics can lead to significant improvements in visibility, customer engagement, and operational efficiency in digital marketing for nonprofits.
Leigh sums it up: “It’s been a journey, but one that we’re really proud of as Facebook for Retail has been something we’ve wanted to launch for so long. We’re now there and it’s very exciting.”
As Barnardo’s keeps expanding, we are committed to keep delivering quality service and innovative features to support their great cause every step of the way.
