Happy Friday!
March Madness is in the air, and if you’re a huge college basketball fan like me, you’re most likely gearing up for some bracketology this Sunday night. For those who consider the task a science rather than an art, there ought to be some number-crunching done in the next few days following Selection Sunday.
Now if only organizations were as meticulous with their data… As a data-phile, I often cringe when non-profits (and some for-profits) have no clue about their database outside of how many e-mail addresses are in it or about the traffic to their Web site.
Okay, okay, so data alone shouldn’t drive an effective online campaign strategy, but it should help guide us to the right path, right? Especially in a Web 2.0 world, it is best that even with limited resources, organization acquaint themselves with basic data-crunching on every platform they use (from e-mail marketing to social networking).
I’ve compiled some good resources on what is (or should be) driving data management these days:
- Mark Rovner of Sea Change Strategies and Katya Andresen of Network for Good break down Flint McLaughlin’s formula for e-mail campaign effectiveness. Katya also passed along some great data milestones for e-mail communications.
- Believe it or not, widgets are a god-send to organizations that own platforms without reporting capabilities. Heidi Cohen recently wrote a good intro on these blog blings, and Steve Bridger at NFP 2.0 featured some great case studies on widget uses.
- Testing, testing, testing. I can’t emphasize enough the value of good testing. MarketingSherpa recently release a case study on best tests.
External data management is another aspect of online marketing that is often overlooked. I’ve had some cringe-worthy moments where clients have placed ads in sites that are completely wrong for their target audience. This becomes more important as advertising crosses over to the social networking space. eMarketer released a breakdown on where you can find college kids in the social networking sphere these days.
