Is your marketing plan working for you? The answer is going to be a ‘yes’, a ‘no’ or an ‘I don’t know’. But the reality is that without key performance indicators in place, you won’t understand how effective it is or even where the weak spots are. Are you measuring anything or taking notes of the stats or numbers? If not, it is time to get started.

Social Media Metrics

When it comes to your social media metrics, you want to start discussions and drive your fans back to your website.

Likes, while necessary, don’t mean a lot these days especially due to the fact that less and less of your ads are being seen by your fans. The Facebook algorithms are constantly tweaked encouraging businesses to pay for their advertising. So rather than collect likes, ask your fans to share your content to reach a wider audience, whether through retweeting, reblogging or repinning.

Focus on the number of shares and the conversations. Conversations are far more valuable than likes and hearts ever will be. It tells you what they are interested in and what they want to hear more about.

Tools like Google Analytics can tell you how many people are coming from your social media pages – the higher the number, the better. This is your ultimate aim. Get them talking on social media and bring them over to your website.

Email Metrics

One of the simpler ways you can measure your marketing success is to look at your email metrics. These figures can provide a lot of helpful information about your email marketing and your content.

First, look at the open rate – this is the percentage of your email list that clicked on the email and opened it up. This information will be found in your email marketing software. The higher the number, the better it is. If prospective donors aren’t even opening your emails, then you don’t stand a chance.

Second, check the stats on your Click Through Rate (CTR). This will tell you what percentage of your subscribers clicked on a link in the email. The Click Through Rate will also demonstrate how many were engaged by what they read and wanted to learn more. Again this will be found in your software.

Another important number is the email conversion rate. How many of your readers converted their clicks into an action and donated to your cause or purchased something from your site? These statistics are very telling and will help you reshape your marketing plans in the future.

Another figure which is rarely discussed is the opt-out rate. How many people unsubscribed from your email newsletters? If it is high, then perhaps the content needs to be altered to match their expectations, or the frequency might need to be reduced. Too many emails is just as bad as too little.

Is it time to make changes?

If the stats are low, it is time to make a change? Are you giving your readers the information they want to see? Are you identifying your strengths? Are you sharing your newsletter stories in a format that makes them appealing? Look at your stats and then decide for yourself.