Metrics for the Marketing Plan

Update to Communication Objective

The marketing plan I am putting together for SADD will have a communications objective of basic awareness. This is a new campaign that SADD is launching and will most likely succeed if we are focusing on basic awareness of the target audience to changing their drinking behaviors to be more responsible. Once SADD has created a base level of awareness they can look at an informational awareness program or even a behavioral program, but the focus at first needs to be base awareness.

Metrics

Once a marketing plan is in place, we need to identify ways to measure the progress of the campaign and ultimately how successful it was at achieving the stated goal. For this plan we will be focusing on using surveys (both qualitative and quantitative) to help keep track of how well the marketing plan is progressing at getting students to follow responsible drinking behaviors. Below are a list of the different surveys to be performed:

1. Baseline Surveys - Before the campaign takes place, SADD would need to take baseline surveys to help identify the current state prior to the effect of marketing. SADD could do this with quantitative surveys (e.g. how many nights a week do you drink? how many drinks per night?) and qualitative surveys (e.g. Do you believe 5 drinks in one sitting are to much? Why or why not?) I would also suggest that SADD perform focus group meetings / interviews with students as another way to identify their drinking behaviors and views on drinking.
2. Regular surveys throughout the time frame of the marketing plan - Again similar to the baseline surveys, but now we would be asking questions about whether the respondent has been exposed to the SADD marketing message. We could also contact respondents to the initial baseline survey to see if their particular views and habits have changed.
3. Surveys at the end of the plan - Again, qualitative and quantitative surveys will be needed to see how well the program is, though here we would have SADD focus both on surveying the target audience in general, but also focus on contacting respondents to prior surveys to see how the behaviors of specific data points has changed throughout the marketing plan.
4. Miscellaneous Data - Although our primary source of data will be through surveys, we need to also look at other data sources. For example, SADD could look at incidences of emergency room visits for alcohol poisoning or similar diagnosis at campus medical facilities or hospitals. The same could be done by looking at incidences of arrests for DUI, minor in possession or public drunkenness involving members of the target audience. Lastly, SADD could conduct focus group like meetings with students to identify their current attitudes towards drinking.

Please let me know what you think of the different metrics I have listed above or if you have any suggestions of other metrics or collection methods I should consider using. I appreciate all your feedback!