In the association world we need to begin collecting and using more behavioral data about our members and consumers at large.  Data that will give us better infomation about the consumer and what they want.  Data that will help us figure out who are targeted population should be and how to best build relationships with them.  We need to learn what we can do to move these consumers to take the desired action that we want them to take.  Ultimately, we are attempting to get to the world of predictive analysis.  Digital educational programs give us the opportunity to not only collect more behavioral data, but to also experiment with ways of collecting that data, in order to better understand these consumers.  This week's webinar, "Measuring: Promoting Online Education & Certification", presented by Suzanne Carawan CMO of HighRoad Solution, is now available On-Demand.  Join us at HighRoadU for the third part in the series, Promoting Online Education & Certification, and learn the best practices for collecting and analyzing behavioral data.

We've just gotten this new video infographic from our partners at Demand Metric who captured the key  takeaway messages from our 2015 State of Digital Marketing in Associations study in this video:

Passive income is highly appealing but very difficult to obtain. The world doesn't generally allow for passive income unless you are an investor and have already obtained wealth. The idea of receiving an income with little to no effort required seems like just another get rich quick scheme. However, passive income is by no means fake, nor is it unearned. Once a passive income strategy is in place, it may take little effort to maintain but it certainly took everything you had to build. Passive income strategies rely on inbound marketing methdologies to work.

Membership marketing is an ideal way to build passive income. This is because memberships typically revolve around some form of content, such as a guide or video series. Memberships can also grant the subscriber access to products or services but generally, these are hands-off services that can be provided passively such as access to online knowledge libraries, content, resources or journals that have been made available for members. There may be a need to provide support and you are sure to encounter other complications along the way, but membership marketing is a very passive income source for most organizations.

There's nothing scarier than being a marketer without revenue-based metrics to account for your salary, spend and (seemingly) subjective decision-making!

Following our popular 2014 SDMA study which set the baseline from which to measure, we're delighted to announce the release of the 2015 report. Announced at ASAE's Annual Conference in Detroit, the study continues to try and understand how organizations are grappling with a changing member landscape that requires digital. The study looks to understand more than who uses Twitter and looks at additional factors such as: