Monitoring

Good marketing activity needs monitoring to make sure it is getting the results we expect. As response to our campaigns slows down we may need to do something a little different to rekindle the interest, or launch a new service. This requires feedback. It is a marketing function to collect feedback not just on our service levels but also on our marketing performance.

There are a number of things we can do to monitor services. We can use a focus group, useful for new ideas too. We can collect informal feedback, so as visitors come into a centre we can ask ‘what did you think of the flyer?’ the letter, the brochure ‘did you need any more information?’ These techniques usually confirm that what you did was right and sometimes yield unexpected results – for example some services have broader interest than you may have imagined and you may find new sectors coming forward to access them.

At the end of a campaign you should be able to produce a report for your management committee that shows how many people you targeted, how many came forward, what methods you used what worked well and what didn’t and what you would do again. It is also helpful to remind your management committee about your branding: how many people are sent information using it, and what people think of it when you ask them. Ultimately that response is a good guide to the public’s perception of your reputation.

Information from the Building Resilience Resource Pack produced for the West Yorkshire Local Development Agency by: Bradford CVS, fit4funding, Voluntary Action Leeds, Social Enterprise Support Unit, Leeds Community Foundation, West Yorkshire Community Accounting Service and the Holistic Partnership Limited.