ANALYTICS IN A DIGITAL AGE: Using Data to Drive Strategy for Marketing and Communications #datacom #Comnetwork12
Data and Analytics Action Plan What is your goal? Examples: • Evaluate the success of my communications efforts • Weave together a story about my organization’s presence in the media • Learn more about my audiences • Get my audiences to take a specific action • Strengthen the content of my marketing materials • Improve my organization’s brand reputation Who is your target audience? What data do we already collect? What information do you need (or what information do you want to know) that will help you achieve your goal? What tools or resources can I use to track/obtain this information? • Consider your timeline and (human, financial) resources when selecting which tool is best for you • Refer to our tools and resources list to help get you started [Do it! Use the tool and get the data] Evaluate the data you’ve gathered in the context of your communications strategy. What have you learned? What new insights does this data tell you that impact your strategy? • Does the data confirm that you are on the right track? • What changes to your strategy will you make based on this data? • Do any new, creative approaches begin to surface as a result of these new insights? • How can you test these new ideas or put your knowledge into action? • How can you make data easier to share and more relevant? (Consider internal plans and processes, as well as external materials and messaging) Join the conversation: @FdnCenter @ThePattersonFdn #datacom #Comnetwork12
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TOOLS & RESOURCES There are many resources available to help with data analysis – too many to share all of them here. This carefully curated list includes most – if not all – tools we’ve used in programs of our own.
Social Media • Facebook Insights – From post reach to engagement, this free tool is great for informing adjustments or goals related to content strategy, audience and more. (Free) • Hoot Suite and TweetDeck – Besides enabling you to be more efficient with Twitter posts and conversations, these social media dashboards offer analytics reports that can showcase everything from follower growth to mentions by influencers. (Free version available) • PinReach – This showcases trending pins on Pinterest, those with highest reach, and more. (Free) • YouTube Analytics – Interesting features of YouTube analytics include tracking which devices people are using to watch content and audience retention during video views. (Free)
Web • Google Analytics – Customize reports in a few clicks and measure your progress against your goals. This tool is a great place to begin getting various team members up to speed on analytics. (Free) • CrazyEgg – This pay-for-play tool allows you to build heat maps so you can understand the difference between where you want your users to click and where they actually click. (Paid)
Data Visualization and Infographics • Visual.ly – An online community with resources to create infographics that tell stories with your data. (Free and Paid Resources) • Wordle – While unpopular with designers, this site lets you create fast, simple word clouds. (Free) • Sparkwise – Free, cloud-based and open source, Sparkwise lets you compare and add context to “all kinds of data in all kinds of ways.” You can create a master dashboard or group of dashboards with your Google Analytics, Facebook, Twitter and other sets of data. (Free)
Engagement and Information Gathering • SurveyMonkey – For projects and campaigns big and small, SurveyMonkey makes it easy to create online surveys in a few simple steps. (Free and Paid Resources) • FluidSurveys – Similar to SurveyMonkey, this site offers paid and free versions of online research tools and offers an easy drag and drop editor to customize surveys. (Paid and Free Resources)