• by Vicky Hastings , December 24, 2012

Blurred lines between marketing disciplines and communications channels can create chaos in today’s digital world. But leveraged correctly, this convergence of paid, earned and owned media can create tremendous upside. It’s possible for all channels to work together so your travel brand can connect with consumers no matter what platform, medium or device they’re using. 

Creating, managing and measuring your blogs, social media, website updates, email marketing, videos, audiocasts and online promotions can be challenging yet rewarding. Our three-part article series has provided tips for making the task easier. The first post shared tips for prioritizing niche audiences and the second recommended targeting online media to reach those consumers. Evaluating program success is the last topic in this roadmap designed to help you develop a results-focused media plan for 2013.

It’s easy to get inundated with all the data you can measure. So I turned to digital strategist Jessica Columbo for guidance. Jessica recommends picking one or two key metrics and building a story around it. As outlined in the FreeThink blog, Jessica suggests the following to avoid getting lost in facts and trivia:

• Quantifying online media is not about awarding gold stars; it’s about recognizing what worked and what didn’t work, and then improving upon your efforts in the next go ’round.
  
  
• It’s not about how many you reached; it’s about how many responded.
  What content did readers click on the most? Was your post so insightful that consumers shared it with ten friends? 
  
  
• Sound measurement has two parts: transparency and replicability.
  As with any piece of research, the results aren’t valid unless you’re up front about how you’re measuring variables and you’re able to measure them in the same way over and over again. Be clear about what constitutes success (e.g., click through rates, Facebook ad connections) and stay consistent in your campaign evaluation.
  
  
• Continually analyze results, celebrating success and optimizing what works best.

A quick summary of this article series can be found here. With these tips in mind, you’ll be off to a good start in the New Year.