The marketing KPIs to start tracking now, according to data scientists

Most marketers intuitively understand that marketing is both an art and science.

Trying to motivate human behavior, creating a look and feel for your brand, crafting messages that resonate and compel – these constitute the “art.”

But even the most artful and creative efforts need the science of data and analytics to show if they are moving the needle.

Marketers are often under pressure to measure results and demonstrate ROI. But traditional credit union KPIs don’t necessarily directly reflect the impact of the marketing team. If your deposits are up next month, is it the fabulous CD promotion that marketing designed, or were local economic factors the driving force?

Marketers need KPIs they can own, effectively track, and report on consistently quarter after quarter and year after year. I spend my days with data scientists who live and breathe methodology, metrics and analysis. So, what are the key areas of brand equity they think marketers should be measuring?

1. Performance. This metric quantifies and measures the strengths and weaknesses of your key brand attributes. From this you can better understand why members choose your credit union, or where you may be losing ground to the competition.

2. Knowledge. There’s a lot of choices out there for financial services. Knowledge is a gauge for how familiar target audiences are with your brand, and if they understand what differentiates you from the rest.

3. Recognition. This measures how top-of-mind your brand is with stakeholders who matter most. It can tell you how effectively your marketing campaigns are penetrating the market. If you want to be a financial consumer’s first choice, make sure this number stays high.

4.Loyalty. Acquiring new members is part of any good marketing strategy, but savvy marketers never lose sight of how valuable current members are. Loyalty assesses how much love your brand inspires, which can impact almost every other important business metric.

The composite of these four metrics is your Brand Health Score, which offers an insightful window into the strength and sustainability of your credit union. Marketers often have strong instincts when it comes to brand health and marketing strategy, but the ability to calculate precisely where your brand is strong and weak will make every effort more targeted and effective.

Measuring instincts and proving hypotheses can be murky waters. It can be tough to know where to start and what to track. Today, innovations in artificial intelligence and machine-learning give marketers powerful tools to produce an accurate and detailed look at the four aspects of brand health and how they evolve over time. Algorithms can perform the work of a team of professional researchers to factor how consumers think and feel, how their impressions change, and what a certain market is prioritizing at any given time.

It’s time for marketers to turn gut-feelings into scientific data. Armed with the right metrics, they can blend intuition with information, and invest time and resources confidently in the highest impact marketing strategies for your credit union.

Alyssa Nolte

Alyssa Nolte

Alyssa Nolte is Chief Development Officer for Discida (de-see-da), a national research science firm that serves a wide range of organizations, including credit unions. Discida data scientists developed the Brand ... Web: www.discida.com Details