At Mighty Citizen, we recommend that the associations we work with prioritize research and data. And we follow our own advice by making data the foundation of everything we do. That's why we recently released our 2024 Marketing Benchmarks for Mission-Driven Organizations—and this year, we developed an edition specifically for associations. It’s based on responses from associations who took The Mighty GPS™, a self-assessment for measuring marketing maturity for mission-driven organizations.

What we found is that research, SEO, UX, tech, branding, and collaboration are the building blocks to better marketing success. Here are the key takeaways from this year’s report, with suggestions for improvement.

1. Prioritize research.

A shockingly low number of associations are using data and analytics to inform their marketing decisions. How can your association improve in this area?

Quick wins: Your research doesn’t always have to follow a super-strict plan—in fact, that pressure is what prevents many associations from doing research in the first place. Consider gathering information where your audiences already are. Look at what your members are saying on social media or your association’s own online community. Better yet, get involved in person at conferences and marketing events, and collect some casual qualitative data.

Invest in success: Too many associations base marketing decisions on guesses or blanket best practices that don’t work for their unique audience. Create audience surveys and hold in-person interviews or focus groups. Then, use these findings to build out personas. When you take the time to learn your audience better than anyone, you can stop playing the guessing game.

2. Establish specific and measurable goals for every marketing campaign.

We found marketing and SEO efforts among associations were on the upswing, but there’s still plenty of room for associations to improve the way they document their social media strategies, establish measurable goals, and design campaigns.

Quick wins: Jump into Google Search Console to see which pages on your site get the most traffic. Once you have that bit of knowledge, you can decide how to pivot your marketing goals: Do you need more buttons to a preferred page? Are members getting lost in their journey to the preferred action you want them to take? Then, establish a goal and a plan to increase conversions.

Invest in success: If you can make the time for it, it’s best to think through an omnichannel strategy—so not just the website, but also emails, chatbots, apps, signage, social, etc. Write down your plan and how you’re going to get there. Plus, doing an SEO audit and prioritizing keyword search to guide your content can’t hurt when setting ‌clear goals.

3. Don’t sleep on content: Plan it out.

Broadly, associations have a strong understanding of how UX design and great content support their success. Accessibility has also become increasingly valued both for its support of equity and business goals. Where can associations improve in this area? Content governance and content management are big opportunities.

Quick wins: Are you holding regular meetings to discuss upcoming content? Have you looked at your ALT text lately? These are two quick additions to your calendar to ensure your content and accessibility levels up.

Invest in success: In addition to hiring an experienced writer to craft your content, it’s a good idea to create an inventory and audit of your website content and create a comprehensive plan for content governance. Laying the groundwork now can lead to greater reward in the future.

4. Take a closer look at your tech.

Associations are making gains in the technology space, too. Most associations are comfortable with their data privacy and security practices, and for the most part have reliable data in their systems. However, many associations that report using a marketing automation platform (MAP) aren’t‌ maximizing its use.

Quick wins: Audit and clean your association management system (AMS) biannually to ensure data integrity. And if you can, start taking courses your MAP offers and become an expert. Prioritize time for learning about ways to maximize the platforms you already pay for.

Invest in success: To be effective, you need your current and prospective members to have a seamless and consistent online experience across all your platforms. Conducting a marketing tech stack audit is a great way to start to ensure all your tech is humming along nicely together. Associations can also look into more fully customizable content management systems (CMS), like Craft, use advanced analytics platforms, or start to master GA4.

5. Create collaboration stations.

Team dynamics is the strongest category for associations. Broadly, teams are doing well in project execution and varied skillsets. But marketing teams often lack the budget they need to do their best work.

Quick wins: Working in silos leads to miscommunication, duplicate work, and other errors. Be sure to set up cross-department committees whose sole focus is to break down silos and get everyone on the same page.

Invest in success: Leadership needs to invest in marketing, plain and simple. Create and track a marketing and communications budget, and test, test, test. Evaluate your marketing department's skills. Having funds is one thing, but investing in the right people to get the job done is another.

What Now?

Associations have improved, but there’s room to step up your game. Take a hard look at your current marketing efforts by taking The Mighty GPS, and reading through the 2024 Marketing Benchmarks for Associations to see where you’re ahead, align, or fall short compared to your peers. Pinpoint what’s lacking and gear up for significant improvements, positioning yourself for success well into 2025 and beyond.