Shhh.... Don't tell my husband but I'm in love.
If you don't know, in my recent Getting Attention survey findings -- 2/3 of nonprofits don't track impact of their marketing. That's scary, because without tracking, you don't know if your strategies are working or not. Or, as Donor Power blogger Jeff Brooks put it, you are "trying to fail."
As I mentioned in the survey follow-up, the easiest (and cheapest) way to begin understanding your marketing impact is via Web user analysis tools (analytics). These tools, probably already built into your web site or blog tool, allow you to see what users are doing on your site, which pages are most popular, which messages resonate most deeply (if you test two pages with the same focus by seeing which one generates more gifts or registrations), and more.
Well, I've just started using the all-free, easiest-to-set-up-and-interpret Google Analytics to track usage of my blog and my NS&C Web site. It's golden, and I'm in love. Here's what I love about it:
- Easy to digest "dashboard" summarizing key stats (I have this bookmarked and review daily)
- In-depth report on visitor behavior, page review trends, where traffic comes from, etc. -- learn what keywords people are searching for when they get to your site and which pages are the most popular, and check if the path most users take through the site hits the pages you want them to see
- Can cumulate trends for any period of time you select -- for site usage, trends are more meaningful than a snapshot of a moment in time
- Is free
- Take 5 minutes to set up
Source: http://www.gettingattention.org/my_weblog/2007/06/im_in_lovewith_.html
About the Author
Nancy E. Schwartz helps nonprofits succeed through effective marketing and communications. As President of Nancy Schwartz & Company (http://www.nancyschwartz.com/), Nancy and her team provide marketing planning and implementation services to organizations as varied as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Center for Asian American Media, and Wake County (NC) Health Services.
Subscribe to her free e-newsletter "Getting Attention", (http://www.nancyschwartz.com/getting_attention.html) and read her blog at http://www.gettingattention.org/ for more insights, ideas and great tips on attracting the attention your organization deserves.
NOTE: You're welcome to "reprint" this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the copyright and "about the author" info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint.
