How do you compare your outreach results to others?

1 Define your goals and metrics

Before you can compare your outreach results to others, it is essential to have a clear understanding of your desired outcomes and how you will track progress. Depending on your outreach strategy, the goals and metrics may differ, but some common ones include reach, engagement, conversion, and impact. Reach measures the number of people exposed to your message or brand, while engagement measures the number of people interacting with your content or activities. Conversion assesses the number of people taking a desired action, such as donating or buying something. Impact evaluates how your outreach has affected the attitudes, behaviors, or outcomes of your audience or community. To measure these metrics, you can use surveys, analytics, feedback forms, or social media insights.

2 Choose your comparison group

Once you have your goals and metrics defined, you should decide who to compare your outreach results to. This will help you understand how well you are performing in relation to your competitors, peers, or industry standards. The comparison group can be chosen based on size, sector, location, and mission. You can use online platforms, databases, or reports to access relevant data from the comparison group. For example, Google Trends, SimilarWeb, and Social Blade can be used to compare your online presence and reach.

3 Analyze your strengths and weaknesses

Once you have collected and organized your data, it's time to analyze it and identify your strengths and weaknesses. You can use various techniques and tools, such as SWOT analysis, gap analysis, and benchmarking. SWOT analysis helps you evaluate internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as external opportunities and threats. Gap analysis compares your current performance to your desired performance, while benchmarking allows you to learn from the best practices of a comparison group. To visualize and communicate your analysis and findings, you can use spreadsheets, charts, or dashboards.

4 Set your improvement plan

The final step is to use your analysis and insights to set your improvement plan. This will help you prioritize your actions, allocate your resources, and monitor your results. Your improvement plan should include SMART goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound; strategies such as creating content, launching campaigns, or partnering with other organizations; tactics like posting on social media, sending newsletters, or hosting events; and evaluation tools such as surveys, analytics, feedback forms, or social media insights. You can use project management software, calendars, or checklists to plan and track your improvement plan.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?