As mentioned in my previous blog, Why We Love Metrics (And You Should, Too!), I am back to talk more about metrics! In case you missed it, metrics can provide associations with a valuable measuring tool to gain member insight for future action and implementation. Metrics can measure progress, quality, efficiency, performances, and more. In order to group metrics and turn them into insights, a framework gives a baseline on how to do so. The framework goes as follows; awareness, participation, engagement, advocacy. This gives organizations the ability to track and nurture users and better understand how they are interacting, and therefore, how to respond in an appropriate manner.

Today more and more organizations are implementing marketing automation in order to accomplish a number of marketing tasks in a more efficient and effective way.  The infographic below explains what marketing automation is, what it does, and how it works to increase success with your marketing campaigns.

Today most associations are undergoing (or on the brink of) a digital transformation. Adopting a marketing automation system is typically the first step towards their digital revival. This investment has the ability to amp up an establishment by increasing retention and conversion rates. However, to see results the user must understand not only what their Marketing Automation platform has to offer but how to properly use it! Many individuals jump into marketing automation and begin using feature functions without understanding the technology. This leads to ineffective digital marketing, frustration, and discouragement. Here are two tips to avoid frustration and get the most out of your MA platform.

Email marketing is still a powerful tool for driving engagement and nurturing leads.  It is, however, getting more and more competitive. In addition, over time techniques evolve and best practices change.  We found an article at Hubspot, written by Sophia Bernazzani, that will bring you up to date with email marketing best practices for 2017.  The article shares some email wisdom from Hubspot Postmaster and Email Engineering Director, Tom Monaghan.  Tom spoke at Inbound last year about which email marketing strategies to keep, which to stop, and which to begin using, in order to achieve continued growth for 2017.  His set of guidelines will help you keep your email marketing efforts on track this year.

Metrics are a key component of data-driven marketing as they provide a standard and consistent way to measure, understand, and track marketing data and results. They track key performances, progress, quality, efficacy, efficiency, and more. When measuring metrics it is important to establish a baseline in order to effectively analyze the information you are gathering. In order to measure effectiveness and growth, a baseline must be in place to do so. It is also important to measure consistently. Most associations measure monthly or quarterly, looking for insights, patterns, outliers, and more. Another key part of metrics is identifying a KPI, or a key performance indicator. KPI’s demonstrate growth and opportunity, as well as success. KPI’s can reflect goals, number of views, values of data, and more.