For those of you who use Google Analytics to track your web traffic – good news! Google has just released a new set of analytics to incorporate social data. According to Social Times:

The tool focuses on measuring whether visitors that come to a given site actually engage in a specific action — it’s not just about measuring whether people are showing up at the door through social networks.  The tool will be rolling out over the next month.

This can really help nonprofits and associations make better, more informed decisions when it comes to social. If you’ve ever wondered what Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to track within social, or wondered how social media really benefits your organization with regards to ROI, Google is trying to help!

Google’s main goals are:

• Identify the full value of traffic coming from social sites and measure how they lead to direct conversions or assist in future conversions
• Understand social activities happening both on and off of your site to help you optimize user engagement and increase social key performance indicators (KPIs)
• Make better, more efficient data-driven decisions in your social media marketing programs

The overview report will contain a view of “social performance at a glance” and how social conversation impacted conversions. Deeper reports will focus on conversions, social sources, social plugins and activity stream.

Does your small staff association use Google Analytics? How will this update impact your strategic social decisions?

Take a look at the below outlining the growth mobile commerce is expected to have in just three short years. Eighty-seven percent of the world’s population uses mobile devices, and having the ability to shop using our phones is both convenient and easy! Do you think your members would register for events using their mobile devices – or have they already done so?!

I think one of the biggest trends with mobile is location-based searches. I can’t tell you how often I’ve been in a new neighborhood or area and wanted to find a certain type of restaurant. Mobile (and location-based mobile) searches are growing, and commerce seems to be following in those footsteps.

Choosing an AMS for your organization can be difficult — there’s a lot of technology jargon involved and quite a few options for you to choose from. To make sure you find the AMS that best fits your organization, we’ve compiled a handy step-by-step guide.

1. Who’s involved? Which staff members will be using the product regularly? These people should be involved in the decision.

2. How long will it take? Define a timeline for evaluating, implementing and launching the new system. Be sure to take any upcoming events, membership drives or renewal periods.

3. What do you need? What, specifically, should the AMS address? Message boards, event registration, dues payment and renewal — consult with the organization’s adminsitrators to determine what your must-have and wish-list items are.

4. What can you afford? The right AMS can save you money in the long-term, and be sure to take into account the new revenue streams — such as sponsorship or job board revenue — a new AMS can provide.

5. Who’s out there? Learn about the different vendors and the products each one offers. Consult with ASAE for a vendor list or buyer’s guide, or just run an online search. Some keywords are “membership management software” or “association management software.”

6. Talk to the vendors. Reach out via phone or e-mail to different providers to discuss your needs and options.

7. See it in action. Most providers provide online demos so you can see the product for yourself. Be sure to include the people in your organization who will be using the software directly.

8. Ask the right questions. Some sample questions for each vendor:
- What is included in the setup?
- What does the implementation process entail, and how long does it take?
- Are product updates included or must you upgrade the software to receive updated features?
- How often is the product updated?
- What technical support and training is included and what are those charges?
- How secure and reliable is the software?
- What additional hardware or software is needed for installation?
- How many admin licenses are included?
- Who hosts the software?
- Who owns the data and website, the client or the vendor?
- What are the vendor’s terms of cancellation?
- If you’re looking at web design as part of the AMS solution, does the vendor use stock templates or is the website custom-designed?
- How does the vendor handle payment processing?

Regardless of whether MemberClicks is the right solution for your organization, we hope you take the time to ask each of these important questions and get the best possible service.

We’ve all heard how awesome video is and how associations can use it to promote their meetings, events and the organization itself. But there’s nothing like an awesome case study to really get the mind churning with new ideas.

ASAE has a great case study from the National Community Pharmacists Association. They sent Flip cams to event speakers to create promotional videos. Speakers were asked to create short videos before the event, and then the clips were edited together to create one awesome promotional video that was sent to attendees before the event.

Here are a few ways your small staff association could integrate video into its event:

- Do you have members who are bloggers? Give them cameras during the event.

- Designate an official staff reporter to interview attendees and speakers

- Mount a camera in the tradeshow area to get a bird’s eye view of the tradeshow floor. Speeding the footage up will make a fun time lapse video you can use as B-roll.

- Interview new members or first-time attendees to get a new perspective

How has your association used videos at events?

Happy Friday! It’s been an awesome weekend here at MemberClicks and we’re psyched for Friday fun and relaxing weekends.

Don’t forget to check out five of our fave association-related blog posts across a variety of topics from the past week!

1. The Lenten season started this week, and Elizabeth Engel advocated examining one’s habits whether you’re religious or not. The 40 days before Easter is typically a season of abstinence and self-reflection, and no matter what your religious beliefs, we think everyone would benefit from examining their habits and determining whether they’re good or bad.

2. Aaron Wolowiec paints a common picture for association execs: your annual conference is almost behind you, you’re exhausted, your staff is exhausted and all you want to do is eat a real meal. But – Aaron shares why it’s so important to work smarter so you don’t get stuck in the vicious cycle so familiar to meeting professionals. There are also some great comments here too…

3. What is the real point of measurement – social or otherwise? Jamie Notter responds to a post by Mark Shaefer and asserts that you shouldn’t measure just for the sake of measurement. Tons and tons of metrics will do you no good unless you know what they mean and can make sense of them.

4. At the Midcourse Corrections blog, Dave Lutz shares six conference committee improvements your association could make. The big one in our minds? Walk in the attendees’ shoes. Embrace a blind review process. As an attendee, which sessions would you attend and why?

5. Eric Lanke praises Jeffrey Cufaude’s “Facilitation Friday” series, and asks – whose job is it to be the facilitator?. Should the CEO or the CGO be responsible for helping the group achieve consensus and choosing the right paths? Eric put a lot of thought into this and there are many questions here worth asking yourself.