Mastering the measurement of your B2B community investments

Struggling to measure the impact of your B2B community investments?

You're not alone.

• Did we make a real difference?

• What was the business and social ROI?

• Was this the right investment?

Once you’ve identified your key stakeholders and decided where to focus your community contributions, whether alongside partners or within the community itself, measuring the impact becomes critical. Without clear metrics, how will you know if your efforts were worth it? More importantly, how will you report back to those stakeholders demanding answers?

Here are some simple, yet essential ways to measure the success of your community initiatives. Establishing a clear reporting system and identifying key resources within your organisation to manage this process will be invaluable. This oversight will enable you to provide specific information regarding your contributions when requested.

1. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
   Establish KPIs that align with the specific objectives of your community partnerships:

• Employee donations: Track the increase in total donations over time to measure the effectiveness of fundraising campaigns.

• Employee volunteering: Track the number of employees participating and note their preferred causes and organisations.

• Community involvement: Measure the number of activities carried out with local organisations or stakeholders.

2. Engagement Metrics
   These metrics focus on the level of involvement and satisfaction among employees and key stakeholders:

• Employee participation rates: Track how many employees engage in volunteer activities, fundraising events, or awareness campaigns.

• Feedback and satisfaction scores: Collect qualitative feedback from employees, partners, and community members about the experience and impact of engagement activities.

• Partner satisfaction: Conduct surveys with community or nonprofit partners to measure satisfaction with the collaboration and its outcomes.

3. Social Media and Brand Metrics
   Community engagement can also be tracked through brand perception, social and external media:

• Social media engagement: Monitor likes, shares, comments, and increased followers around posts linked to community partnerships or corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts.

• Brand sentiment analysis: Use sentiment analysis tools to track how community partnerships affect public perception of your brand before and after a campaign.

• Public relations impact: Measure media mentions and positive press coverage about your community programs, partnerships, or social responsibility initiatives.

4. Long-term Impact Evaluations
   Beyond immediate outcomes, companies can assess the long-term benefits of community engagement:

• Sustainability metrics: Check if community projects continue after corporate involvement ends, showing long-term impact.

• Community well-being metrics: Measure improvements in the community, such as higher education rates, more employment or better health outcomes due to the corporate partnership.

• Community surveys: Collect feedback from community members or stakeholders about how the partnership has improved their lives, skills, or opportunities.

• Local reputation: Monitor how your company’s role in achieving social goals has created a positive response to your reputation in the community.

If you’d like help with identifying and measuring your community initiatives - book a call here.