Tuesday 13 January 2015

Measuring Success in your Marketing & Communications

In November 2014, a number of marketing-communications professionals gathered in downtown Ottawa to discuss analytics and measurement challenges facing non-profits and associations.  The discussion was led by CSAE member Joe Boughner, the Director of Communications at the Association of Canadian Financial Officers and also an analytics instructor at Algonquin College.

The key takeaways for participants were to ensure first that marcomm (marketing-communications) efforts align both organizational goals and to the needs of your members at every stage of the life-cycle.  In so doing, Boughner argued, you allow yourself to align your marketing KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) with your overall corporate objectives.  He recommended that all organizations create detailed journey maps for their key persona's to help all stakeholders, not just marketing and communications people, understand the member experience better.  He also advised the group to ensure that there is a straight line between organizational and marketing objectives.

By way of example, the group brainstormed a model for an association that is looking to increase membership revenue.  First, the participants boiled it down to a measurable goal - to increase new members (as opposed to looking at retention, for example).  Then they concluded that marketing analytics could then align to this goal, such as click through rates on ads geared for new members; form completion rates on the sign up form, etc.

Moving forward, this focus on member needs and organizational objectives can make measurement easier, which ensures ongoing buy-in for your marcomm efforts.

This post was written by Joe Boughner, Association of Canadian Financial Officers, and originally featured in the OG CSAE Winter Executive.

Image courtesy of Keerati at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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