A chief marketing officer (CMO) can measure brand building in a nonprofit association in several ways. Here are a few key metrics to consider:

Brand awareness: Measuring brand awareness can help the CMO understand how well the association's brand is recognized by its target audience. This can be measured through surveys, social media engagement, website traffic, and other metrics.

One place I like to embed brand metrics is the annual membership survey. At my last association, I used our value proposition as a statement that the respondent could agree or disagree with, strongly or not, as well as a net promoter score question. These two measures were embedded for years in the surveys, so we could get a sense for how our brand fared over time. I’ve also conducted biannual brand surveys for awareness in the general market, asking nonmembers various questions. These too can yield longitudinal data.

Engagement: Measuring engagement can help the CMO understand how well the association's brand is resonating with its target audience. This can be measured through social media engagement, website traffic, event attendance, and other metrics.

I like to look at the percent of new versus returning website visitors year over year, along with the bounce rate and engagement rates. This gives me a sense over time of whether engagement is up or down, and among which visitors. I also download social media statistics monthly and get a sense for whether engagement is growing or declining.

Donations: Measuring donations can help the CMO understand how well the association's brand is inspiring people to support its mission. For charitable organizations, there are many ways to evaluate brand as it is expressed via donations. You can use the number of donations, the average donation size, and the total amount raised, for example.

Membership growth: Measuring membership growth can help the CMO understand how well the association's brand is attracting and retaining members. This can be measured through membership metrics, such as the number of members, the retention rate, and the growth rate.

Reputation: Measuring the association's reputation can help the CMO understand how well the association's brand is perceived by its stakeholders, including members, donors, volunteers, and the general public. This can be measured through surveys, reviews, and other metrics.

Overall, the CMO should focus on measuring the impact of brand building on the association's key objectives, such as fundraising, membership growth, and mission impact. By tracking these metrics over time, the CMO can assess the effectiveness of the association's brand building efforts and make adjustments as needed.

Note: This blog post was written with the assistance of ChatGPT.