American Birding Association Digital Marketing Analysis Report

American Birding Association
Digital Marketing Analysis
Naveen Jindal School of Management | The University of Texas at Dallas
MKT 6321 Interactive and Digital Marketing Group 6
Demin Wang; Jazmin Cabrera; Portia Ballard; Ragon Owings; Si Han
1

TABLE OF CONTENTS
2
Part A
Executive Summary ....................................................... 3
Market Research ........................................................... 5
Marketing Strategy ......................................................... 12
Web Usability ............................................................... 16
Search Engine Optimization ............................................. 20
Summary ............................................................... 25
Display Strategy.......................................................... 26
Social Media ............................................................ 33
Mobile Strategy ......................................................... 37
Metrics and Testing ..................................................... 43
Reference.................................................................... 47
Appendix .................................................................... 48

CURRENT POSITION
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The American Birding Association (ABA) is the premier organization in North
America dedicated to recreational birding. The association has set the standard
for trans-generational pastimes such as bird identification and bird finding. The
target markets of this industry are increasing as the activities of ecotourism and
optics are on the rise. However, they do have a number of different competitors,
such as Bird Watchers Digest, The National Audubon Society (and regional
affiliates), and The Cornell Lab of Ornithology (eBird). The website is currently
undergoing a re-design and is expected to have a new look and feel upon
completion. Over the next few years, the ABA would like to consider new
strategies for increasing the awareness of it’s products and services.
OBJECTIVES
• Influence membership activity. (Grow membership, retain and extend current
memberships.)
• Increase awareness about the ABA’s many free resources for all birders, and
encourage non-members to support the ABA (preferably by becoming a member)
• Increase use of site to create more value for our online advertisers and sponsors.
3

RECOMMENDATIONS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
4
Although the company would like to minimize the amount of risk that they would take in their marketing
efforts, they have expressed an interest in reaching different markets that they have not targeted
before. Because of the preponderance of groups that are beginning to become more interested in
recreation and activities rather than acquiring different goods and services, a campaign that is geared
towards increasing brand awareness could prove to be beneficial. Channels that should be most targeted
are memberships, magazines, logo wear and gear, and websites. The current brand and methods of
branding should be taken under heavy scrutiny. The consideration of targeting a more diverse market, or
developing different products does not come without significant risks. Because of these factors, the
recommendation is for the ABA to begin to take certain steps to begin targeting a market that is already
both mature and saturated.

DEMOGRAPHY OF BIRDERS
MARKET RESEARCH
Segments U.S. Population Number of Birders Participation Rate
U.S. Average -- -- 20%
(Age) 55 plus 76,586 22,840 30%
(Income) $50,000 to $74,999 33,850 8,432 25%
(Education) College Graduate 70,740 20,089 28%
(Race) White 182,872 43,323 24%
Table 1. Majority Segments of U.S. Birders Numbers and Participation Rate (by 1,000)
The following analysis results are based on the 2011 National of
Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation Survey:
• The Birder can be defined as an individual, must have either taken
a trip one mile or more from home for the primary purpose of
observing birds and/or closely observed or tried to identify birds
around the home.
• Total 47 million birders (U.S.), 16 years of age and older.
• The general profile for most common birders would be 53+ years
old, female, above average income, high educated and white.
• Although the average birder’s participation rate of U.S. is about
20%, this rate for majority segments would be larger.
• The higher the income and education, the higher probability of a
person to become a birder.
https://www.fws.gov/southeast/economicimpact/pdf/2011-birdingreport--final.pdf 5

GEOGRAPHY OF BIRDERS
MARKET RESEARCH
Figure Birding Participation Rates by State Residents
(Population 16 years of age and older.)
• Residents of sparse populated areas
were most likely to be birders
• States like Vermont, Wisconsin, West
Virginia and Wyoming had high
participation by birders
• There were more participants in the
South (34%) The Midwest had the
second highest participation at 24%.
The West and Northeast had lower
participation of 22% and 20%
• People usually travel out of states to
watch birds. Hawaii(73%),
Alaska(69%), Wyoming(69%),
Maine(63%), New Hampshire(45%),
Montana(40%)
6

BEHAVIOR OF BIRDERS
MARKET RESEARCH
Hard Core Birder
• Highly dedicated
• Prefers small group size
• Satisfied by the experience of observing birds in nature
• Willing to spend more money on sophisticated
equipment
• Smaller of the three segments
Enthusiastic Birder
• Broad-based nature lovers
• Comfortable with a larger group
• Satisfaction comes both from observing birds and from
social interactions
• Desires a large and diverse bird list
• Likes to travel at their own pace
• Makes up about 50% of birding tourists
Casual Birder / Ecotourism
• Birding may be an add-on to outdoor activities
• Stay in areas accessible by road and close to home
• Satisfied by the superficial interaction with nature
• Makes up about 30% of birding tourists
2006 2011 Percent Change
Total-Birders 47,693 46,741 –2%
Around-the-home 41,821 41,346 –1%
Away-from-home 19,860 17,818 –10%
Total-Days 5,473,398 5,161,909 –6%
Around-the-home 5,202,536 4,923,873 –5%
Away-from-home 270,861 238,036 –12%
Table 2.Birder and total watching day divided by method
• Of total birders, 88% are back-yard birders and 38%
are away-from home birders, willing to travel .
• Birders around the home (mean at 119 days in 2011)
spent 9 times as many days watching birds as did
people who traveled (mean at 13 days in 2011) more
than a mile from home to bird watch.
• Birding Avidity is varied across the country, the
average watching days in Mississippi is around 155
days and only 30 days for Hawaii and Alaska.
• Waterfowl like ducks and geese are mostly viewed by
away-from-home birders followed by birds of prey
such as eagles and hawks.
7

ECONOMICS OF BIRDERS
MARKET RESEARCH
Title Numbers
Birders 46,741,000
Total Expenditures $40,942,680,000
Trip-Related $14,868,424,740
Equipment $26,074,255,293
Total Output $106,977,730,000
Jobs 666,000
Employment Income $31,391,977,000
State Tax Revenues $6,000,203,000
Federal Tax Revenues $7,089,387,000
Birders spend money on a variety of goods and
services for their trip-related and equipment-related
purchases. However, The effect on the economy in
excess of direct expenditures is known as the
multiplier effect which would be benefits for
manufacture, retailers, and government
• Trip-related expenditures include food, lodging,
transportation, and other incidental expenses
• Other trip-related costs such as guide fees,
pack trip or package fees, public and private
land use access fees
• Equipment expenditures consist of binoculars,
cameras, camping equipment, and other costs
• Auxiliary equipment includes tents, tarps,
frame packs, and backpacking equipment
• Special equipment such as boats and boat
accessories, campers, trucks, and cabins
• Other Items: land leasing, membership dues
and contributions, magazine books and DVDs
8

MAJOR KEYWORD TRENDS OF BIRDERS
MARKET RESEARCH
Keyword popularity data can be
downloaded on the Google
trends website. There are more
keywords and correlated
keywords in the Appendix.
• Peak times for searching
happen two times a year –
around December and
around May. The searching
peak in May is generally
broader than the peak in
December. This can be
explained by the spring
migration of many birds.
• Of the five, ‘Birdwatching’
is the most popular keyword,
and the trends of the other
keywords are similar.
9

COMPETITORS KEYWORDS
MARKET RESEARCH
Only 4 major competitors search
trend data are included with the
results. Birdwatching Daily and Bird
Watchers Digest both have lower
search volume than aba.
• The peaks of associated
keywords search are similar to
the peaks of birding keywords –
both occur in December and May.
• Generally, the keyword‘ABA’ is
not very popular.
• eBird is the most popular of the
search keywords within all of the
different competitors. This
correlation could be investigated.
• During the last year, the National
Audubon Societies keywords
‘Birds’ and ‘Blooms’ reached
similar levels. Useful insights
could be obtained by studying
the marketing strategies of NAS.
10

COMPANY ANALYSIS
MARKETING STRATEGY
The Porter Generic Strategies could be helpful to
show the possible methods for achieving sustainable
competitive advantage.
ABA has product/service uniqueness
• ABA is the benchmark for quality information on
bird identification and bird finding. Also ABA is an
authority organization in North America.
Target market of ABA is broad
• ABA targets at all the wild bird enthusiasts and
also nature lovers, educators, ornithologists and
those looking to connect more with the natural
world.
• ABA should make use of a differentiation strategy
to improve its products and services and its brand
image.
However, the ABA should also consider the focus
strategy.
• The majority of birders are baby boomers,
Caucasian, educated ,and from the middle or upper
class.
• The younger generation of students is another
segment that should be targeted.
• The ABA could create a separate campaign for
these segment of birders.
Before developing the marketing plan and implementing the objectives, it is first necessary to
analyze the marketing strategy not only for the ABA, but also for the different competitors in the
marketplace. It is also important to understand the nature ecotourism and birding in the first place.
Ansoff’s Matrix could be useful to consider the different
options for market and product development strategies. The
following will summarize the optimal strategies based on the
different products that the ABA offers and the markets it
serves.
Birding information, including bird identification,
publication, news etc.
• Market Penetration Strategy- ABA should use existing
products and services in conjunction with new marketing
strategies to target their current segments.
Events, including regular ABA events and summer camps.
• Increase awareness of their website, products and
services using market development.
• Increase visitors to their social media pages and website
who are interested in ecotourism.
Community, including membership, listings etc.
• Product Development- The internet has enabled ABA to
reach a more diverse target market that could benefit
from the expansion of the products that they offer.
Current Offerings
• Recreation related commodities, including cameras,
birding wear and gear.
• E-commerce services which are new and for which the
market is expected to grow.
11

SWOT
MARKETING STRATEGY
Strengths
• Qualifies as a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the
Internal Revenue Code
• Company has been in existence for 48 years
• Website has been in existence for 22 years
• Diverse variety of goods and services offered, including publications
and magazines, birding events and trips, logo wear and gear, and
membership.
• Premier organization in North America dedicated to recreational
birding
• Talented and knowledgeable online marketing personnel
Weaknesses:
• High debt structure, expenses
exceeding revenue
• Mature market, declining profits
due to increased competition
• Saturated market, cost of reaching
new participants greater that the
average returns
• No concise definition of which
industry is being served
• Mission may be too wide-ranging
Opportunities:
• Can create multiple campaigns for a variety of different target markets
• Re-finance current short term high interest debt with longer term lower
interest debt
• Optics and ecotourism (two big ad customer categories) both seem
healthy and growing
• Disposable income among major demographics (i.e. retiring baby
boomers) is healthy
• Significant growth time for hobbies and activities related to birding
• Technology advances allow for an extended reach to a variety of
potential customers
Threats:
• Optics retailers as well as tour
operators and lodges are trying to
reach the same target markets
• Other entities will have the
opportunity to reach markets that are
currently targeted by ABA
12

OBJECTIVES
MARKETING STRATEGY
The general goals of the ABA can be summarized in order to better reveal a deeper meaning. The ABA wants to encourage people
to enjoy recreation and ecotourism which is what they believe reflects the undeniably traditionalist aspects of their subculture and
community.
1. Influence membership activity. (Grow membership, retain and extend current memberships.)
2. Increase awareness about the ABA’s many free resources for all birders, and encourage non-members to support the ABA (preferably by becoming a member)
3. Increase use of site to create more value for our online advertisers and sponsors
Details can be split into more general concepts which should be easier to understand.
Branding
The requirement actually has two different meanings:
increase the brand awareness and enforce the ABA
brand image, which are the salience of brand equity.
According to the Customer-Based Brand Equity model,
the higher the level of brand equity—customer
judgments and resonance—would also help to
influence membership activity. Furthermore, the
perfect brand is an important resource that the
advertisers and sponsors want to use to leverage
their own brand equity.
Detail Objects
• Brand awareness (Brand recall and recognize)
• Brand image
• Brand positioning
• brand credibility
• brand feeling
• brand community
• brand engagement
Website Performance
The website performance can be discussed as a
different topic such as number of visits and
conversion rates. Increasing the website
performance could increase the chance that new
users clicks through and that they sign up for
membership. Good customer experience ratings
would be likely to increase member retention
rate. Also, when the number of visitors increases,
the impressions increase, which advertisers and
sponsors would like to see.
Detail Objects:
• traffic
• conversion
• Bounce Rate
• Keyword ranking
• Media consumption
• Transaction / goal conversion
Product Performance
For ABA, the products includes four major types:
birding information, events, community and physical
commodities. Product is the core of a company and
the salience of brand and web performance. Some of
ABA products are internet based, such as birding
news and ABA blog, which are the reason for
registering members and members that return to
the ABA website. The product is also the inducement
for sponsors. For example, the gear sales on ABA
would attract the birding product manufactures and
retailers.
Detail Objects:
• Improve the existing product/services
• Develop new product / services
• Extend to new market segment
13

DIGITAL MARKETING TACTICS
MARKETING STRATEGY
Strategies Objectives
Focus Strategy Differentiation Market Penetration Product Development Branding Website Perform Product Perform
Web Usability Analysis ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Search Engine Optimization ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Pay-Per-Click Campaigns ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Social Media Marketing ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Mobile Marketing ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
How does the digital marketing campaign align with the client's business?
The following reports will discuss these topics one by one
14

UX ANALYSIS
WEB USABILITY
The purpose of this report is to use different metrics and studies to determine the most expeditious and effective ways to
ensure the highest levels of usability and best practices for the ABA website. The ABA site has links to different
publications and member areas on their home page as well as hosting a number of advertisers. It is clear that one of the
primary objectives of the website is to target a market that consists of bird enthusiasts and those that are looking to get
more connected with nature.
Overall, the site already fulfills many of the goals and objectives of the
members of the board of the ABA. Also, it seems that in its current
state that the site reflects the basic needs of its clients and visitors.
However, there are still a number of other issues.
Best practice is to create a hierarchy of information that facilitates ease
of use and navigation for the association's visitors and clients. To
facilitate this, it is suggested that several variations be made to the
architecture of the website. These variants include:
• Organizing the information hierarchy of the landing pages so that the
more important information is above the fold.
• Defining a navigational format that is consistent throughout the
website.
• Designing the webpage responsively so that it displays correctly in any
size browser.
15

TESTING
WEB USABILITY
The report is based partially on findings from a usability testing from a panel of 10 random subjects (see Appendix). An
independent review was also performed using criteria that was provided specifically for this project. The report is based
primarily on web functionality, branding, content, and navigation. Many of the recipients provided similar results,
although there were also a number of differences. This information indicates that a number of factors should be
evaluated concerning the dynamics of the website. Issues concerning the sites navigation affect it’s SEO rankings which in
turn impact how much traffic it gets from users searching for their products and services on the web.
Key Areas that Need Improvement
• The font size used on the homepage is too small, the font
color is too light, or medium text color against a medium
background color.
• No clear link to company mission or “about us” menu not
informative enough.
• Many people found it difficult to find different items or did
not know that the website sold items.
• No “contact us” link on every page or the link button is too
small.
• Eight participants in the survey couldn’t find the search
box at all.
• Too many links at the top, or too cluttered above the fold.
• Sitemap is not easily locatable on any of the web pages.
16
Decreased Traffic
• The traffic to ABA.org has decreased compared to the
traffic to other sites.
• Many times when people can’t find the information they
are looking for on a website they go somewhere else.
Other reasons:
• Unpredictable reasons such as seasonality or search
trend change.
• Website does not contain not enough topical
relevance between different pages.
• Website has indexing issues, does not having a
sufficient sitemap, or has other crawling errors.

TESTING
WEB USABILITY
Recommendations
• All pages should be designed with a clear hierarchy of information.
• Colors, typography and line spacing should be used to effectively augment
legibility and readability of the content.
• Create Landing pages that are contextually relevant to keywords and that
include strong calls to action.
• Develop drop down menus using styling that is consistent with the rest of
the web site.
• Ensure that indexing is not impeded by drop down menus that have too
many links.
• A significant amount of content should be removed from the homepage
and positioned on other appropriate pages within the website.
• Each page should have a footer that contains relevant and helpful
information.
17
Positive Findings
• Some users reported that for the most part the site uses contrast well,
and has a good combination of colors.
• Most participants felt that the ‘About Us’ link had a variety of
different pages of information which were able to answer their
questions.
• Some said that they thought that the process of adding an item to a
cart and the process of check out was smooth and professional.
https://www.totera.com/about

NAVIGATION & MOBILE
WEB USABILITY
Navigation and Links
Visitors have a tendency to stay longer and return to sites that are well architected in terms
of navigation and links. Information can only be found on the web if it is well indexed by
search engine spiders. The use of well-constructed and distinctive section headers can
improve usability and search engine rankings as well. Adhering to this and other best
practices decreases bounce rates and encourages visitors to return to the website.
Other standard designs strategies should include:
18
Responsive Design
Responsive web design has become more important, especially since mobile traffic now
accounts for more than half of total internet traffic. Because of this, website owners are
now being forced to make decisions about whether or not to re-design their websites
responsively. Not re-designing could have a variety of implications for ABA, such as:
ABA home page
ABA Exchange page
• Not being able to navigate between different devices comfortably.
• Lack of functionality could cause users not to return the site.
• ABA might have no other choice but to create a separate site for mobile.
• Breadcrumbs that backtrack to all pages that were already visited.
• Http links that open in the same window, and non-http links that open in a new tab.
• Links that contain keywords that are relevant to the page that they link to.
• Three or fewer clicks should be required to reach every page within the site.

BEST PRACTICES
WEB USABILITY
Best Practices
The ABA.org website is a significant source of information for the
birding community and also for the general public. Regular users of
the site are likely to be familiar with its link structure and
navigability. However, the site should be designed for all types of
users. Pages should adhere to the following conventions:
• Visitors should be able to find what they are looking for within a
short period of time.
• Pages should be relevant, engaging and include concise content
that is easy to understand.
• Each page should have a search box that is readily visible,
above the fold, and that allows for refinement of search terms
• Merchandise items that are out of stock should remain on the
relevant merchandise results page.
• Images should be evaluated for sizing capability, and in the
case of pixilation should be replaced.
• Links to CMS and informational and historical data should be
readily available and easy to find.
• Pages that can be viewed comfortably on a number of different
devices with different sized screens.
19
Images should display for out of stock items
Example of pixilation and poor resolution

SEO STRATEGY
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
Traffic
According to Alexa.com, the traffic to the ABA.org site peaks in April and May. This
trend indicates that ABA website is highly correlated with springtime migration. This
also equates to a number of SEO advantages for the ABA.
• During the bird migration season, around December or May, ABA should focus on
high rates of birding activity. For example, ABA should optimize its keywords and
birding information content and for the most common birds observed during that
season.
• During the other times, ABA ‘s focus should be on general birding or other birding
related activity. For example, ABA could increase the frequency of keywords to
target general birding events and education or birding gear and optics. Another
alternative would be to optimize keywords based on analytics.
Traffic Sources
According to the search traffic percentage chart around 20% of ABA visitors come from
search engines, and 8% come from other birding related websites . Around 5% of visitors
come from social media sites such as facebook.com
• Organic search results provide the largest number of visitors to the ABA site and
should be optimized and tested using benchmarks.
• Second priority should be to create more related content for their social media
sites which accounts for around 15 percent of their traffic.
• Other techniques could be used to assist search engine spiders to locate and index
files so that ABA’s SEO rankings might increase.
• These strategies could also influence the rankings for direct and advertising traffic.
20
Alexa Traffic Ranks
Search Traffic Percentage
https://clicky.com/stats/?site_id=32020&date=2016-10-14

SERP ANALYSIS
The search engine result page for
‘American birding association’ ranks well.
• The structured data zone looks good
and aba has an established google+ site.
• Top 3 of 4 organic results are ABA
related websites: the aba home page,
Facebook and Wikipedia.
• The structured Data Testing Tool, that
is used to test the html code, has good
results also.
• However, the site does not contain any
rich snippets concerning the contents
or events of the aba site.
21

KEYWORDS ANALYSIS
Current Keyword cloud
The details of the keyword cloud can be seen on the left hand side of the page (also see Appendix) . The
most common keyword in the keyword cloud is birding. As you can see in the figure (bottom left), the
Google SERP results for the keyword ‘birding’ are excellent. However, the most of other results have little
or no affiliation with the ABA website. The consensus is that ABA is not using a wide enough range of
keywords and phrases to begin targeting an alternative audience. Searches related to their goods and
services or to ecotourism result in SERP’s that do not contain the ABA website at all.
Generate New Keywords
When people search, they tend to do it using different approaches. ABA needs to choose new keywords
based on the same logic. Choosing to use a variety of more specific short tail keywords and long tail
phrases is more likely to generate less traffic and more conversions.
Ineffective Short Tail Key Phrases
• How to find birds, what particular birds look like, when and where to watch birds
• Bird finding, bird identify, birding travel advice, birding news, bird image, birding trip guide
More Effective Long Tail Keywords
• Blue bird in Texas, red bird in Oklahoma, exotic birds of Hawaii, ecotourism in Arizona
It’s important to know that the popular keywords change all the time. ABA has to deploy new keywords
using the strategies have been mentioned in previous slides.
Keywords Tool
There are some SEO tools on the market can analyze your website and will that generate the most popular
keywords. (There are results from Google Adwords in the Appendix). However, there are many important
key words that computers cannot generate because they might be related to a niche segment of your
website. Birder exchange and blog are two important functions of aba.org. ABA should develop more
relevant keywords that would have the potential bring more visitors to other less popular pages of their
site.
22

LINKS & LOCALIZATION
Site Page
1 nytimes.com http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/04/07/us/a-tempest-over-the-duck-stamp-could-an-oriole-help-raise-more-money.html
2 sourceforge.net http://noahhodosy.sourceforge.net/afeytwerjoisseiz85.html
3 secureserver.net http://ip-173-201-142-193.ip.secureserver.net/Alexa/Alexa_31.html
4 meetup.com http://www.meetup.com/ABAHQ-Local-Events/
4 constantcontact.com http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs063/1100412089050/archive/1109062121690.html
TOP 5 sites that link to ABA
Link
A total of 1097 sites link to ABA. The top 5 sites are listed below. We can divide them
into three major categories:
• Free directories
• secureserver.net
• sourceforge.net
• Third parties
• Nytimes.com
• Social media
• ABA has pages on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
All the content on Facebook and Twitter have links to aba.org which is considered a
good thing. However, the number of reposts and followers are somewhat limited.
YouTube video has a good review volume but they have no outgoing link to ABA.
Search engines use links to target the website, and also the number of links is an important factor for page ranking. Good content and
social media affiliation could create many different links to the website that is being analyzed. Furthermore, content and localization
themselves are also factors for that the search engine spider uses for determining the page rank in the SERP.
Content is King
ABA should create the fresh content concerning the
following, which has more an increased chance of a
greater number of reposts by other platforms.
• “Birding 101”
• “How to meet new friends through various outdoor hobbies”
• Top 5 things every birder must know
Localization
Although most of ABA products are digital and have minimal
localization potential, their events can be listed locally. ABA
could also create event pages on various SEO Friendly
Databases. The site should analyze the URL’s for their pages
and optimize them with descriptive names.
• Eventful.com
• Eventbrite.com
• Local city event pages i.e. dallasobserver.org
23

5 IMPORTANT SEO DETAILS
There are some IT side SEO issue, which affect the loading speed, can be view at: http://seositecheckup.com/seo-audit/aba.org
Mobile
responsiveness
•Problem
•According to the
Google Webmaster
Tools – The aba.org is
not mobile-friendly.
Mobile friendly pages
can achieve higher
mobile rankings on
search engines
•Main Problems -
•Users have to pinch
and zoom
•Too much text on
the page
•Mobile viewport not
set
•Solution
•Have fewer words on
the mobile pages
•Set mobile viewport
Sitemap
•Problem
•The site lacks a
sitemap file.
Sitemaps can help
robots index your
content more
thoroughly and
quickly.
•Solution
•Create a sitemap
Keywords in URL
and Page Titles
•Problem
•The page urls and
page titles should be
more descriptive and
contain more birding
keywords
•Solution
•Examples:
•Change URL
http://events.aba.or
g/ to
http://birdingevents
.aba.org/
•Change URL
http://www.aba.org
/join/ to
http://www.aba.org
/joinamericanbirding
association/
•Change Page Title
“ABA Events” to
“American Birding
Association Events”
Flash
•Problem
•The website contains
flash objects. Flash
is an outdated
technology that is
used to deliver rich
multimedia content.
Flash content does
not work well on
mobile devices, and
is difficult for search
engine crawlers to
interpret.
•Solution
•Removing the flash
objects can help
increase your search
engine rankings.
Image Alt Text
•Problem
•The webpage has 29
'img' tags and 17 of
them are missing the
required 'alt'
attribute.
•Solution
•Add relevant alt tags
to the images such
as:
•“birding association”
“fun outdoor
activities for teens”
“bird watching
events in Virginia”

SUMMARY
25
At the current time there are many avid birders within the different segments of ecotourists. There are also other
segments that might be interested in the offerings if only the ABA was able to extend its reach through market
development. Such efforts should include:
• Tourists likely to be looking for new experiences while travelling.
• Visitors to the site that don’t convert, but that are likely to be reached through re-targeting.
• Frequency caps in order to avoid the over targeting of potential customers.
• Enhanced social media and mobile campaigns to enable increased brand awareness and positive sentiment.
The ABA might be able to effectively reach its target audience by:
• Discovering what sorts of things the birding population is wanting to accomplish.
• Evaluating the products and services offered by the competition.
• Evaluating current platforms being used for marketing.
• Determining cost to the firm, value for the firm, and marginal utility for the consumer.
ABA should make it their priority to make available the products and services that are necessary and sufficient for
sustainable and safe recreational activities. This type of strategy involves a campaign that promotes the benefits of
sustainable practices, including:
• Reasonable access to appropriate habitats including preserves and parks.
• Good infrastructure for birding activities including lodging and shopping facilities within proximity.
• Up to date information and birding guides and tours.

CAMPAIGN SETUP
PPC ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
26
Goal: Increase Awareness of the ABA
Brand and Increase Membership
Campaign 1
Reach Young and Casual
Birders
(New Members)
Search and Display Network Campaign
Settings
Limit ad display to individuals ages
16-44
Searching on mobile or tablet during
the hours of 8pm – 11:30 pm
Ad Group
Keywords
See Slide 5 and 6
Campaign 2
Reach Enthusiastic Birders
(New Members and Retain Current
Members)
Settings
45-55
Searching on tablet or PC during the
hours of 6am – 11am and 3pm – 8 pm
Ad Group
Keywords
See Slide 5 and 7
Campaign 3
Reach Hard Core Birders
(New Members and Retain Current
Members)
Settings
55+
Annual Income of $50K +
Searching on PC during the hours of
6am – 11 am and 3pm – 8 pm
Ad Group
Keywords
See Slide 5 and 8
Goals:
1. Grow membership, retain and extend current
memberships
2. Increase awareness of ABA’s online resources for
birdersTarget Segments
Hard Core
Birder
Enthusiastic
Birder
Casual
Birder
Recommendations:
1. Create PPC ads in search and display
network.
2. Ads should communicate message
targeted to each segment.
Before we can
obtain new
members, we need
to create awareness
and interest.

SEARCH AND DISPLAY NETWORK ADS FOR CAMPAIGN 1
27
Comparative Analysis
Ads from Audubon when keywords “birding for
beginners” and “how to start bird watching”
were entered:
Recommended Ads
Discover Beauty In Your
Backyard.
Learn
How
Landing Page: Young Birders Blog
Recommendation: ABA needs to create content to
attract new and young birders. During search for
“birding for beginners” and “how to start bird
watching”, ABA was not visible in results. The ABA Blog
and Young Birder Blog needs to include more content to
help new birders gain experience with bird watching
and bird spotting equipment and in return attract more
visitors to the ABA website and improve search results
rank.
http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/bwdsite/?
gallery_image=yellow-warbler
http://www.audubon.org/sites/default/files/st
yles/hero_image/public/camillacerea_nicklund-
1.jpg?itok=2WzW2yah
Birding: Discover Nature’s
Own Tweets From
Your Backyard.
Learn More

28
Photo of bird:
http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/bwdsite/?gallery_image=more-color-
Protect The Birds You
Love.
Become a Member of the
American Birding
Association.
Join
Today
https://www2.aba.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=648
Landing
Page
Landing
Page
Photo of Vanguard Spotting Scope:
http://blog.aba.org/2016/11/vanguard-
spotting-scope.html
Get Closer
To Nature.
Become a new member or renew your
membership by Nov. 30 for a chance to win a
Vanguard Endeavor Spotting Scope.
Join
Today
Photo of bird:
http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/bwdsit
e/?gallery_image=red-bellied-woodpecker

29
http://www.nature.org/cs/groups/webcontent/
@photopublic/documents/media/mad-island-
marsh-birders-600-1.jpg
https://www2.aba.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=648
Landing
Page
Landing
Page
Add To Your Expertise.
Become a Member of the
American Birding
Association.
Join
Today
Landing
Page
http://bg.aba.org/i/753549-nov-
2016/08
Photo of Bird:
http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/bwdsite/?gallery_image=yellow-warbler

CAMPAIGN SETUP
30
Goal: Maximize Website for
Sponsors and Advertisers
Campaign 4
For Sponsors and
Advertisers
Search Network
Ad Group for Birders In
Need of Gear
Keywords
Specialized bird watching
gear/equipment
Best binoculars/cameras/
spotting scopes
Ad Group for Birders
Seeking Tour
Keywords
Best Bird Viewing Places
Small group bird tour
Campaign 4 Keywords
Focus: Highlight Current Sponsors/Advertisers
and Attract New Partnerships
• Advanced birding gear
• Specialized birding watching gear
• Best binoculars for bird watching
• Best cameras for bird photography
• Best spotting scopes for bird watching
• GPS technology for birding
• Best bird viewing places
• Bird tour guide
• Worldwide bird tours
• Small group bird tour
Goal: Increase use of site to create more
value for ABA’s online advertisers and
sponsors
Target Segments:
1. Birders in seeking gear
• Binoculars
• Digital Cameras
• Spotting Scopes
• Outerwear
• GPS technology
2. Birders seeking tours
• Field Guides
• North American Tours
Recommendation: Advertise in the Search
Network first to drive traffic to ABA website.
After reader has visited the ABA website,
they can opt to visit the sponsor/vendor site
from the ad displayed, or product/service
mentioned, on the blog article or magazine.
Publish Ads
For Bird Watching Gear
• Adults ages 25-44
• Searching in mobile or tablet during the hours of
6am – 8am, 7pm – 11pm
Publish Ads
For Bird Tours
• Adults ages 45-55+
• Searching in PC or mobile during the hours of
6am – 11am, 3pm – 8pm

31
Recommendation:
For this PPC campaign to be successful, ABA
needs to create landing pages that are
organized and contain a clear call to
action.
Recommendation:
Add more content to the blog highlighting current
sponsor/advertiser products like Audubon did on
this blog post:
http://www.audubon.org/news/the-audubon-
guide-birding-gear. The post mentioned many
products without the need of cluttered banner and
display ads.
Recommendation:
Highlight the Birder’s Guide magazine on the homepage.
Currently it is hard to find because of all the clutter. The
magazine is visually appealing and is a great channel for
advertisers. Current link on homepage directs you to the
March 2016 issue and in order to find the Nov. 2016 issue,
one must click several pages to access it.

32http://bg.aba.org/i/649554-mar-2016
Recommendation:
For tour advertisers, ABA needs to highlight
their Travel Magazine Issues on the
homepage and feature some of the content
on the ABA blog to increase visibility for the
advertisers/sponsors. The magazine has
great visuals and it is being underutilized.

OBJECTIVE
SOCIAL MEDIA
33
The ABA’s primary source of revenue is generated from
memberships, periodicals and recreational gear, optics and
ecotourism.
Recommendations:
• Continue use of Facebook and YouTube and post fresh
content that is visually appealing as well as resourceful for
birders.
• Create a Pinterest account to create an interest in young
birders.
Social media channels should:
• Enhance visual appeal for promotions and for content
above the fold on their social media sites.
• Increase user engagement that help build brand reputation
and facilitate increased participation with their sites.
• Attract opinion leaders and brand evangelists.
Ad placed by ABA is bland and uninteresting.
Ad placed by B&B uses a rich visual background.
IMPROVE VISUALS!

SOCIAL MEDIA
34
Yearly
• User-generated contest – Birders upload a YouTube video
of their favorite bird and in the description they must
state “This is a contest sponsored by the American Birding
Association.” The videos with the most views wins a $50
gift card to aba.org
Monthly
• Birding destination of the month video
• ABA 101 – A perk or benefit of joining the ABA
• ABA member testimonials
Weekly
• Bird of the month video
• “How to” Example: “How to quickly determine the origin
of a bird”
Before and after each camp/event
• Videos advertisements of upcoming birding events
• Video recaps of birding event/camps
• Tip: Utilize birding keywords in the description and tags to
increase SEO rankings
Cornell Lab uses aesthetically pleasing
images on their YouTube landing page.
https://www.youtube.com/user/LabofOrnithology

SOCIAL MEDIA
35
Birding 101
Tips/Tricks
Birding For Kids Birding Clothing and
Gear
Perks of Joining the
ABA
Exotic Birds
Exotic Birds Top Birding
Destinations
Birding
Events/Camps
Create the above Pinterest albums
Weekly
• Upload 3 photos to each album
Monthly
• Host a contest in which members create a board and
“pin” 5 items from a certain category to his/her board.
(The fastest 15 posters win a $20 gift card to aba.org).
Examples:
• January: Pin 5 items found on the ABA Accessories page
• February: Pin 5 items found on the ABA Jewelry or Gift

CONTENT GEMS
SOCIAL MEDIA
36
Continue current 3-7 Facebook postings, and add the following:
Post Weekly
• A Perk or benefit of joining the ABA
• A secret Birding tip/trick
• A #hashtag post related to a Facebook trending topic
• “Name this bird” Bird Photo quiz (as a multiple choice poll
question through the FB admin functionality)
• An interesting article from Content Gems (keyword: birding)
Examples found on Content Gems:
• “Snow Birds: 10 Birds to Look for in Winter” Curate by
stating: “Wow, these are gorgeous winter birds. #7 is
especially beautiful”
• “Birding In Andalucia” Curate by stating: “Has anyone
ever been birding in Andalucía? It’s an amazing
destination for birding.
Post Monthly
• Bird of the month
• “Must have birding gear” with a product link to an item from the
aba.org store
• Ask page members to post a photo of their favorite bird
• Poll Question: “What type of birder are you? –Hardcore,
enthusiastic, or casual ”Are you the type of birder that likes X,Y,or,Z”
Post Yearly
• Ask page members to post a photo of their favorite bird and
explain why they love it
• Top Birding Trends to look for in 2017,2018
Name this
bird.
Take our
bird photo
quiz today
and test
your bird
knowledge.
Post: This little camera is
changing the way we
bird.
Photo should link to Birding magazine
article: http://bg.aba.org/i/753549-
nov-2016.

MOBILE WEBSITE
MOBILE
37
Responsive design is the core of mobile marketing
and should be the first consideration before
launching other mobile campaigns. The ABA should
make sure its website can be viewed comfortably
for all kinds of devices with different sized
screens.
• At the current time the ABA.org website does
not implement responsive design.
• If the ABA does not re-design design their
website responsively, then they should re-
design their mobile only site. (See left image)
• The content of navigation bar for mobile
website is limited and should contain the most
important content.
• Currently only the membership and the events
button are shown within the blue bar. (See
right image)

MOBILE DISPLAY
MOBILE
38
Recommendation: ABA should use make use of display
ads to create impressions for their mobile website.
They should choose to use premium or blind networks
because they are less expensive.
• Most mobile display companies have access to the
same inventory.
• The major vendors are Buzzcity, AdMob, Millinial
Media, Jumptap etc.
• Mobile banner sizing is a consideration because of
different screen sizes.
• A good landing page should help to increase the
conversion rate.
• There must be ‘calls to action’ placed above the
fold that the users don’t have to scroll or zoom to
use.

QR CODE
MOBILE
39
Recommendation: ABA should adopt a QR code
strategy
• QR Code is a convenient way to engage with
customers. Using the code is easy and in most
cases it only requires downloading a app to be
able to scan it with a mobile phone.
• QR codes do not require typing in the URL and it
makes it easier for the company to track
customers.
• QR codes are easy to place on a significant
number of pages. ABA must make it clear what
benefit scanning the code will provide the
customer. (see right image)
• Aba can place QR code on several products,
including their magazine, news, event billboards
and the product they sell.
• Using incentives for scanning the code, such as
offers, coupons, etc., can increase engagement.

APP
MOBILE
40
As customers return to the ABA site and begin to
bond with the brand, search-based activities lose
traction in favor of Native Mobile Apps. These apps
offer a higher degree of usability and customization.
• Apps are available offline and can make use of
phone features like location services, camera,
etc.
• ABA can include articles of publications, events
function and membership content on the app.
• Phone function such as notifications can remind
users to do things even if they are offline.
• Other advantages include access to the phones
camera and GPS, native map functionality, and
background location awareness.
http://blog.readz.com/mobile-web-and-native-apps-whats-
difference/

SMS MARKETING
MOBILE
41
Opt out
Rate notification
Keyword
To website
Promotions
• Pre marketing: Make sure that the text messages are
targeted to the right group of people. The success
rate of sending the texts should be over 90%. Pay
attention to the timeliness for the release messages
and guarantee that the backstage platform is safe
and solid.
• Should select different campaigns for different
segments with different offers and services. The
campaigns should be optimized to maximize the
conversion rate.
• After sending the texts: monitor the behavior of all
the users and analyze the KPI’s and help to make
further marketing activities more actionable.

GAMING
MOBILE
42
• 61% of people use their
mobile phone for games.
Games can reach more people
than the website and apps.
• Attract young birders.
• This bird guessing game can
be used on a smart phone, a
tablet or even a wearable
device.
• Gaming strategies can
increase brand awareness and
are educational and fun.
There is no age limit and the
creation of competition
among the users creates a
virtual users’ society.

OBJECTIVE
DATA ANALYTICS
Once the ABA’s mission and goals have been established and
they have selected which platforms to use for their campaigns,
they are then faced with the challenge of defining KPI’s. The
object is to select enough metrics to effectively measure their
marketing efforts. These can be measured in a number of
different ways, including:
• Determining the steps that customers took before making a
decision to convert.
• Determining which calls to action generate the largest
number of customers.
• Determining the number of new visitors as opposed to
repeat visitors.
• Segmenting which platforms generate the most traffic and
which generate the least traffic.
• Measuring the profitability of overall marketing efforts.
• Calculating the retention rate and overall value of
customers.
http://www.marketingcharts.com/online/which-digital-marketing-tactic
are-perceived-to-be-the-most-effective-and-difficult-
66370/attachment/ascend2-effective-difficult-digital-marketing-tactics-
mar2016/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2014/08/15/10-online-
marketing-metrics-you-need-to-be-measuring/#17a26b76355f
Effective and Difficult Marketing Tactics
43

ANALYSIS
DATA ANALYTICS
ABA requires a marketing mix that will help them to
effectively reach their target market . Currently they
are only utilizing some of the resources that are
available to them. They should have in place metrics
that help them understand how the platforms that they
are using measure up against themselves. Gathering
data in a manner that allows for analysts to see the
bigger picture includes:
• The use of specific KPI’s to facilitate their
understanding of customer behaviors and sentiments
.
• Refining metrics to enable the increased
understanding of how and why customers exit the
conversion process.
• Making adjustments that allow for the integration of
marketing channels.
• To look at trends and patterns over different time
periods and investigate anomalies.
http://www.marketingcharts.com/uncategorized/4-in-10-global-
marketers-reallocating-budgets-to-digital-27493/attachment/soda-
digital-marketing-budget-growth-mar2013/
https://www.redandyellow.co.za/wp-content/uploads/18-Data-
Analytics_Quirk-Textbook-5.pdf
44

METRICS
DATA ANALYTICS
The ABA’s digital marketing campaign should place an
emphasis on its social media and mobile channels. Also
display ads should be refined in order to increase CTR. The
ABA should be able to use these tactics to lower marketing
costs, increase brand awareness, and to increase conversions
their site and also for affiliated endeavors such as the sale
of optics and gear. Specific success metrics should be used to
reinforce these goals, including:
• Bounce Rate and the length of the time that visitors stay
on the website.
• Cost per conversion so that marketing dollars can be
allocated in a efficient manner.
• Donor retention rate including number of donations per
household and gift amount.
• Levels of engagement for social media campaigns and
sentiment analysis.
• Number of mobile downloads and installations.
• CTR to the ABA.org landing pages and what link or ad
caused them to click. 45
Percentage Increase in
Revenue Because of
Analytics
http://vitalsignsmktg.com/regalix-examines-state-of-b2b-
marketing-metrics-analytics-in-2015/

TESTING
DATA ANALYTICS
In terms of testing the ABA should use a mixture of A/B
and multivariate testing. For example, the ABA has seen
a decrease in the number of new memberships, a
situation that could be attributed to a number of
different factors. To determine the cause, ABA could
perform testing using different versions of the same
interface, or they could try multiple variations on a single
interface. Other aspects of marketing efforts include:
• The ability to be able to find out more about customer
sentiments and intentions.
• Defining new segments and testing each segment using
different metrics.
• Testing the timing for the delivery of campaign
messages to make sure that they are delivered at
optimal times.
• The creation of micro campaigns to test niche
keywords and inventive display ads.
• Modifying the allocation of budget to include different
types of marketing efforts.
Methods for Improving Conversion Rates
https://econsultancy.com/blog/64210-what-is-conversion-
rate-optimisation-cro-and-why-do-you-need-it/111
46

REFERENCES
47
Bibliography
“Birding hobby soars in popularity across North America”, <http://globalnews.ca/news
/1978047/birding-hobby-soars-in-popularity-across-north-america/>
“Birding in the United States”: A Demographic and Economic Analysis, last modified December 2013,
<https://www.fws.gov/southeast/economicimpact/pdf/2011-birdingreport--final.pdf>
“Find Website Traffic Statistics”, <http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/aba.org>
“Guided Birding Tours”: an examination of the market, important tour parameters, and participant demographics,
<http://www.fs.fed.us/ne/newtown_square/publications/technical_reports/pdfs/2004/317papers/che317.pdf>
“Market Analysis of Bird-Based Tourism”: , last modified 07/16/2015,
<http://www.responsibletravel.org/resources/documents/birdstudyreport_71615.pdf>
“SeoSiteCheckup ”, <http://seositecheckup.com/seo-audit/aba.org>
“Trends: Birding Ranks 15th Most Popular Recreational Activity”, Last modified May 19, 2013,
<http://naturetravelnetwork.com/trends-birding-ranks-15th-most-popular-recreational-activity/>
“What is World Migratory Bird Day?”, Last modified May 10, 2016, <http://www.worldmigratorybirdday.org/about>

A. KEYWORDS OF BIRDERS
APPENDIX
Most Correlate Keywords Birding Bird Watching bird identification birder birding news bird list
1# bird list yogurt maker flower identification energy fair united water christmas bird count
2# christmas bird atlas pasta jointer mcdermid suez water birding
3#
christmas bird
count
wheat
intolerance animal track ifls scott honda christmas bird
4# silk yarn bread baking transplanting alliance bible church just kidding around exchange programs
5# aconitum roasting gladiolus bulbs glacier creek liebich winter solstice
6# incinerating
wheat allergy
symptoms beetle identification hydronic heat art on the green ibird
7# merlin bird chard recipes highland cattle catkins marge simpson rule 34 dryas
8# ibird how to roast butter dish trailbreaker diamond court silk yarn
9# exchange programs gluten content jointers n60 compsych provider led track lighting
10# lace knitting caster sugar garlic bulbs sun golden woodings title nine sports
48

B. KEYWORDS BY ADWORDS
APPENDIX
Keywords Google Popularity Google Search Volume
birds 1220000 639,000,000
birds pictures 49500 77,100,000
bird sounds 40500 65,500,000
bird calls 27100 85,900,000
pictures of birds 27100 1,110,000,000
bird song 22200 82,300,000
bird identification 18100 56,700,000
british birds 14800 65,000,000
birdwatching 14800 7,180,000
birding 12100 15,000,000
bird identifier 9900 6,200,000
birds of north america 9900 24,600,000
bird identification apps 8100 496,000
audubon birds 5400 3,280,000
backyard birds 4400 12,500,000
identify birds 3600 62,400,000
bird finder 1600 20,800,000
49

C. UX FEEDBACK SURVEY
APPENDIX
The feedback survey was performed entirely online using participants from a third party usability website. All of
the participants were from the United States.
Questions posed to survey panel of 10 random users
1. How do the text, font, colors and background contrast contribute to the readability of the page?
2. What aspects of the website helped you best understand its purpose and mission?
3. When finding an item (such as books, coffee and tourist gear) adding it to the cart and then checking out
(without actually buying anything), what did you like about the process and what slowed you down?
4. Is the contact us information easy to find and complete (with hours/days of operation)?
5. Is the search box easy to find and on the top of every page, and does it return relevant results?
6. Is the important content towards the top of the page, or do you have to scroll down to access it?
Source:
http://www.feedbackarmy.com/get_feedback.slp?url=http://www.aba.org/&code=936c1035f99790e3e5d1679d300
aa272
50

KEYWORDS FOR AD GROUPS
APPENDIX
51
Campaign 1
Focus: Attract Young Birders and
New Members
• How to start birding
• How to begin birding
• Birding for beginners
• What is birding
• Enjoy bird watching
• Watch birds in natural habitat
• Discover bird watching
• How to identify birds
• How to become a bird watcher
• How to become a birder
• Bird watching as a hobby
• Start new hobby bird watching
• How to start bird watching in
backyard
• Advice for new bird watchers
• Advice to start birding
• Tips on how to start birding
• Bird watching tips and tricks
Campaign 2
Focus: Attract Enthusiastic Birders
for New Membership and Retain
Current Members
• Equipment to photograph birds
• Large group birding tours
• Birding tours of North America
• Binoculars for bird watching
• Camera for bird photographs
• Birding gear recommendations
• Bird watching gear
• Group bird watching
• Group birding tours
• Explore bird events
• Large birding events
• Large birding festivals
• Birding association membership
benefit
Campaign 3
Focus: Attract Hard Core Birders for
New Membership and Retain Current
Members Older than 55 years of age
• Equipment to photograph birds
• Birding tours of North America
• Best binoculars for bird watching
• Best camera for bird photographs
• Gear for expert birders
• Bird watching gear
• Advanced birding optics
• Birding books for experts
• North American birding tours
• Small group bird excursions
• Birding expert advice
• Avid birder advice
• Birding gear reviews
• Photographs of rare birds
• Exclusive rare bird spotting
• Birding association membership
benefit

Current Facebook, YouTube, and Pinterest
Analysis
FACEBOOK
• 17,065 likes
• 592 photos posted by other people
• 4 photo albums: Timeline Photos, Cover Photos,
Profile Photos, Mobile Uploads
• No “Bird” titled or keyword specific photo albums
• 394 reviews 4.7 Rating
• 3 videos
• Only 4 Past Events created
• “Flight Calls Signup” tab is empty
• Frequency: 3-7 Posts weekly
YOUTUBE
• No recent videos posted
• Most recent video was Jan 6,
2014
PINTEREST
• No Pinterest Account
APPENDIX
53

American Birding Association Digital Marketing Analysis Report

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (10)

Similar to American Birding Association Digital Marketing Analysis Report

Similar to American Birding Association Digital Marketing Analysis Report (20)

More from Demin Wang

More from Demin Wang (6)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

American Birding Association Digital Marketing Analysis Report