Katie Delahaye Paine's Measurement Blog

KDPaine's Blog has moved

I hope you'll come see us now that we are blogging at our new site Paine Publishing. Lots more good measurement stuff there. See you there!

Canadians are measurement mavens once again

Just got back from a great time in Victoria, BC at the IABC Canadian West Conference. Once of the best parts was all learning how the award winning programs measured results. Most were in total compliance with The Barcelona Principles -- tying results back to original goals and business results. Congrats one and all! 

For those who wanted copies of my speech, it's here:  Download IABC Victoria October 2013

Shouldn't we place a higher value on a great American poet than something worth $0.07?

As PR agencies finally wake up to the new integrated marketing world. they are increasingly throwing about  the term “PESO” to refer to Paid, Earned Shared and Owned” content. Why they would want to brag about their results using something that is currently worth less than a penny to be exact) is beyond me. Or perhaps that is exactly what its worth.

In reality the way most of the agencies (excepting of course those rarified few who have already modified their measurement practices to be in compliance with the Social Media Measurement Standards) throw about terms like engagement and influence they might as well be worth $0.07

As it happens, The Conclave spent quite a bit of time already debating whether “shared” content deserved its own category, and in fact debated it again two weeks ago when we met. And we still came to the same conclusion. When someone shares a piece of content, that share is “earned” because presumably someone felt the content was good enough to share. In other words it earned the right to be shared. So why do we need yet another category? In fact when a media outlet posts a piece of content it is designed to be shared, so the shared category is essentially redundant.

Every time The Conclave has had this discussion, we have concluded that the correct terminology should be POE, Paid, Owned and Earned. And why wouldn’t you want an acronym that reminds one of one of America’s greatest poets?, More importantly, this great poet already has some history in the field of measurement.

I refer of course to that greatest of American measurement creations, Measurement Maven Danielle Brigida’s classic, the Return:

The Return

by Danielle Brigida, National Wildlife Federation

Once upon a non-profit theory, measurement was weak and weary,

Over many a quaint and curious meetings with little to account for,

While I nodded, nearly napping, an idea for a strategy came a tapping,

What if measurement could include social interactions and what they stand for?

I shall investigate - I muttered - to know what ROI could account for

Instantly I knew, this was something I must explore

 

Ah, distinctly I remember, I wanted the opinion of a member,

Because it is each separate inspiring member, That I do wildlife justice for

So I tweeted, questions and links, to see what each member thinks

But from my stats surcease of sorrow, I realized - some things you can’t keep score

Aside from rare and radiant traffic spikes, there was nothing traditional to record

I thought this it is, and nothing more.

 

It was our executive VP who had unfounded belief in me,

Thrilled me filled me with fantastic insight I’d never known before;

So that now, to still the ADD of my moving mind, she stood repeating

"Remember at NWF it's revenue, reach and engagement that we push for

Keep this is mind for what you measure - for this is all I will implore

 

Only this and nothing more.

 

Suddenly, my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,

You sure? said I, for Madam, truly it's a return hard to account for

But the fact was I kept tracking, never loafing, never slacking

And so slightly traffic came tapping, tapping on my website door,

I used listening to confirm I saw it - then I recorded to be sure

Not just linkbacks here but something more.

 

Deep into the analytics peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing

Listening, and dreaming dreams no marketer ever dared to dream before

Instead of traditional ROI abounding, I saw something even more astounding

And the only thing I could think was How can I measure engagement more?

This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word "explore"

Merely this and nothing more.

 

Back into my cubicle turning, all the questions within me burning,

Soon again I started tweeting more strategically than before.

'Surely,' said I, 'surely there's a chance for program assistance;

Let me see then, a potential instance, and this mystery explore -

Let my mind be still a moment and this mystery explore; -

'Tis a test and nothing more!'

 

Wildlife watch - an idea release, it holds the key engagement piece,

For people who spot all from crickets to geese, can use twitter to tweet

With #NWF as the hash tag; Wildlife sightings perhaps would not lag; (for all to brag?)

Updates made by phones to twitter, are searched more easily than before -

Searched using Twitter Search with no URL to look for -

Perhaps with this we will engage more.

 

With the wildlife we're compiling, We could keep the scientists smiling,

And lose the grave and stern decorum that was our storytelling before,

'Though tweets are short and fitted,' I said, we'll increase the total submitted

Ghastly grim and empty forums we'll be faced with nevermore!

Tell me what thy wildlife name is on the twitter feed-but be sure!

Share the findings, 'forever more.'

 

Then, methought, the air grew denser, social media had no censor

There were still those unbelieving, even worse were those misperceiving

That Twitter was the answer to all their programs' problems evermore.

`At last,' they cried, `thy God hath lent thee -- social media -- the angel -- sent thee

Traffic, comments, tweets and other means of engagement to record.

Yet it is important to remember, that goals determine the ROI accounted for

Forget this, `Nevermore.'

 

So there I was, sitting lonely needing support, but thinking only,

For Social media change we needed to move past communication days of yore

A little birdy told the web team "We should use a twitter stream"

And the idea, instead of dying was kept alive and continued flying

Till I found myself crying `Wow this is much easier than before -

With Twitter, Facebook, Digg and Stumbleupon gone are the days forgotten lore.

Doubting social media, `Nevermore.'

 

Though I feel the time spent disputing could be better spent recruiting

On the social sites that are intuitively fantastic for good rapport

It is my job to continue thinking how to keep goals and return from sinking

But trying to pinpoint every intangible value is simply uncalled for

Though I love data, traditional numbers are so far from social media at it's core

It's the relationships I adore

 

As for complete measurement, we're still waiting, we're still waiting

And anxiously anticipating metrics that assign value even more;

And my hopes have all the seeming of a marketer still dreaming,

That my efforts not in vain, will yield intangibles and metrics all the same

And that all the hours invested carefully will open future media doors

This I hope and so much more.

Proof that Ad Execs are crazy, or their bosses are

Talk about bizaar shifts in the unverse -- Is it just me or does this headline make no sense in today's business environment?

Ad Execs: 'Results' No Longer Top Factor Driving Media Buys

Read more: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/211896/ad-execs-results-no-longer-top-factor-driving-m.html?edition=66077##ixzz2iZAevlUB

In what appears to be a significant shift in the criteria they use for valuing the media companies they do business with, ad executives say the ability of a media supplier to generate “ad results” is no longer the most important factor for getting on a media plan. Other factors, including “aggressive rate deals,” are now considered marginally more important factors.

Isn't it surpremely ironic that after years of preaching to PR people abou measuring real outcomes, just as they are starting to really embrace the notion that they can and should measure results, their counterparts on the ad side, who control most of the money, have decided that actual results are not worth county. It does make you wonder what IS worth counting? If what the Ad Execs are looking for is "deals" -- why not just go to talk to your PR department? 

via www.mediapost.com

Italy -- the ultimate birthday gift.

I'm officially passing 60, (as in turning 61) in a pub outside of San Terenzo Italy.
(Isn’t there something wonderfully ecumenical about a town on the shores of the Italian Riviera named for a Scottish Bishop?) I'm here thanks to the rave ratings that the B&B Lizzo got on VRBO. It was in my price range, right where I wanted to be and while I couldn't believe it could be as good as it sounded at that price, it has proven to be all that and more. Maria, who is my hostess, picked me up at the train station in Sestri yesterday and was gracious enough to give me both a tour. We stopped at a market so I could stock up on wine, salami, cheese, local fruit & tomatoes etc. Then I got gift #1. I got so excited about the selection of ridiculously cheap Italian wine that I left my wallet on the shelf, which I of course didn't discover till I got to the check out. After about a minute of panic, the wallet had, of course, been turned in, with all credit cards and cash untouched. Today I awoke not to the forecasted rainy day, but a stormy sky with intermittent patches of blue. The garden outside my window was redolent with kiwi fruit, grapes and grapefruit,
not to mention a spectacular view of the sea. After a very productive morning of writing, blogging and catching up on email, I ventured forth for a run to Lerici, the next town down the coast. To get there, you run along a spectacular boardwalk that stretches for a full 5 K from San Terenzo to Lerici, and there were more "Kodak moments" (or should I say "Instagram moments" ) along the way than I could ever have imagined. Having arrived in Lerici, I spent some time wandering its narrow stair-stepped streets, and then, noticing an accumulation of malevolent cloud banks, and bearing in mind a 6 pm client conference call, headed back to San Terenzo. Stopped for the only bad food I’ve eaten in Italy. A terrible frozen yogurt, which I replaced with a mediocre gelato and an even more mediocre Latte. Which got me to Birthday Gift #2: I had Google Mapped the walk back up to B&B Lizzo, and thought I had a pretty good idea where I was going until after about an hour, I realized Google Maps (not Apple Maps, I swear) had taken me to a place that was at least one town over and probably 3 km from where I was staying. And, of course by that time, I was down to less than 10% battery left on my phone and had no clue as to where I was.. I walked back toward what looked like civilization(there was at least a sign for a Fiat dealer, whether that represents civilization probably depends on your experience with Fiats.) The only open place in town was a hotel. My Italian is essentially high-school French spoken with an Italian accent but I managed to convey that I was lost and where I was trying to go. The, (of course) gorgeous tall Italian male at the front desk reassured me that I was "very close" and asked me where I was parked. When I told him I’d walked there, Senore Galahad, fetched his keys and deposited me right at my door step. I managed to communicate that he had given me the best "presento birthaday" I could have imagined. Made it back in time for a shower AND my client call and decided I'd recovered enough to wander down the hill yet again to the local pub, where I encountered Gift #3. The “pub” is very rustic and unassuming, but when I conveyed that I would like a “BIG” red wine (you can imagine the pantomime) they opened a special bottle. Then came the bread – an amazing “pumpkin bread” that was like a perfectly baked baguette with an overlay of pumpkin. It may be the only pumpkin bread I ever make. I was informed that the special was “pig on polenta,” which was far more appetizing than it sounds. The “pig” was like pulled pork and possibly the tastiest meat I’ve ever eaten. The polenta was heaven in a grain, although I’m afraid Julia Child and Paula Dean combined would have used less butter. While waiting for my meal, the proprietor asked me about New Hampshire, saying “New Hampshire -- it is first in US for president, no?” YAY!. Thank you to Bill and Hugh Gregg and all the hardworking team at the NH Political Library for contributing to NH's reputation abroad. Once again I am amazed at how informed people from other countries are about ours. My host WATCHED the news of the NH Primary on TV! Not to VisitNH, have we thought about promoting political tours of NH to international audiences? Desert was a flan like thing with caramel sauce that almost tops Pam Week’s chocolate raspberry cake as the best birthday cake ever. . I thought dancing my way into 60 surrounded by all my favorite people was the best birthday I could ever aspire to and that's how I entered this milestone year. But exiting it in an Italian pub, surrounded by no one I know, but full of amazing experiences and fabulous food and wine, ain't so bad either..

Quinze Vignettes from Cinque Terre

These were imagined Tweets from the Cinque Terre Trails,

but of course they were too long for Twitter, not quite Haiku

 

• Two men sit down next to me at lunch. The older one clearly head over heels in crush if not love. But he is uncertain of the relationship. Being older, he takes charge and orders safely "The Minestrone," then pauses to defer. The younger one, in love for perhaps the first time, gets a hint of his own power.

 

• At the next table, the son is awkward, putting up with a parental visit. The father fussy, the mother enthusiastic. The father leaves, putting too much money on the table, insisting on a big tip. The waiter brings change. The son pockets it. The mother says "Take it, I won't tell. Your father is just being stubborn."

 

• While I linger, teenage boys rush in, prowling for a table. When told they have to wait, they leave, still hungry but full of bravado and angst.

•  The Russian next to me has a really obnoxious cell phone ring that goes off at least six times during the course of lunch.  He leans back with the air of someone used to power. But this is Cinque Terre, so he has none, therefore his service is slow, his meal is mediocre. The waiter takes pleasure in watching his impatience.

•  I pass a hauntingly sad thin blonde man on the path, leaning pensively over the railing at the rocks below. Perhaps looking for a quicker way down? Several minutes later, I hear a long loud cry and wonder if he jumped.

•  After a  mile of saying to myself “Just don’t look down, don’t look down. Put one foot in front of the other,” I cling to the warm comfort of a sundrenched wall. Allowing myself a peek over the precipice. It is a very very long way down. But the tiny smudge on the horizon is Monterosso where I started. I am encouraged and emboldened.

 

•  I think I am hallucinating. There is suddenly saxophone music everywhere. Alluring notes that sound like they are coming out of the grapevines, out of the cliffs, from a little café with a boat sticking out of it. After 20 minutes of hiking, I find the source. A man who has studied the echoes in this particular hillside and created the first organic surround sound. 

•  14.It is the final descent into Corniglia. My hip hurts, my knees ache and I’m so tired  I can’t hold the camera steady. Church bells peel. I imagine myself a conquering hero.

• I follow two 20-somethings a Kiwi and an Asian American for a while trying to figure out their relationship. It is clearly new, they stop to kiss and take photos in all the right places, but he is tentative, unsure of her. She is non-committal, just in it for a lark. He is on walkabout from New Zealand, getting tired of traveling after three months. She is just starting out on her adventure. I start to write a romance novel.

• I am half way through the second path, and stumble into a glade of olive trees where there is a small seat on a stone wall while I wait for my heart to slow. Between exertion and terror, it has seldom had such a workout. But Italy works her magic, and I find peace and the power to move on.

•  Hello, not Ciao is the universal greeting, offering encouragement as well as a greeting. Languages heard along the trail:

            Russian, German, Polish, French, Kiwi, Aussie, Canadian -- a couple from Calgary, no less, New York Jewish American. 

•  My legs are shaking, I can barely stand. But I do, transfixed at the town of Manorola where they park their boats in front of stores, the way we would a car.

 

• The river runs through the town. After recent storms, the rushing of the river accompanies you everywhere, Which would be wonderful if you could manage to find  a Toilette.

•  I take advantage of the train to transcribe all my notes. After furiously tapping away on my iPad for an hour, the girl next to me on the train asks me if I am a writer. I am inordinately pleased. I blush and say yes. For the first time acknowledging that that IS who I am. Her father asks what kinds of books. I tell him mostly business books, he asks for the titles. I tell him. The girl, his daughter, works for Cone PR in Boston but I forget to give her my business card.

• An older couple sit down next to me as I sip my Prosecco. He is concerned with catching the attention of the waiter and worrying about things back home. She says, holding up her hand and then grabbing his " I can't think of anywhere on earth I'd rather be, or anyone I'd rather be with than here with you at this moment," 

I couldn't agree more.

 

 

Measurement Thoughts from the Italian Coast

I’m writing this overlooking a bird’s-eye view of San Terenzo
on Italy’s Cinque Terre coast and its bird’s-eye view of the Mediterraneum does make it a great place for some reflection. I spent the last few days in Milan, giving this speech on Social Media Measurement Download Lundquist Swisscorner in Milan, and also participating in the third European Digital Leadership Conference, a retreat in the Piedmont region of Italy organized by Joakim Lundquist. Joakim runs the incredibly innovative and foreward thinking Lundquist social media agency,  based in Milan. The 2-day retreat took place at Villa “D’Amelia” a gorgeous guest house in the middle of the Piedmont wine region. Yes, we did have a bit of a tasting of the excellent wines produced in that area, but the real purpose of these conferences, is "to help develop outstanding digital leaders and equip them with the strategic vision and essential skills needed to manage their company’s digital communications. The initiative is built around a series of “retreats”, intimate and closed-door gatherings for exchange and thought leadership discussions among members."

This particular retreat included such European communications luminaries as Alessandro Bastoni of Telecom Italia, Massimo Guarnieri, head of digital enterprise at ENI the Italian energy company, Douwe Hilarius, Corporate identiy and web manager at Fiat industrial and his colleague Paula Inda Director, Brand Communications at of Case/IT Agriculture. And of course, for added fun, the ever provocative social media business guru, Richard Binhammer
former social strategist at Dell. Here we all are:
What emerged was a refrain that I have heard for the past few years in similar conferences in the US and the Middle East: While there is a need for better measurement of real business outcomes from social strategies, the proliferation of vanity metrics like followers and fans consistently gets in the way.

Bob Garfield would find fertile ground here for his anti-eyeball messages. Marketers are still looking for those big numbers, and when confronted with much more meaningful metrics like the percent of all those “likes” that are actually engaged in sharing and commenting on your content, the numbers are just too small to register in the marekters’ minds. Garfield would suggest that it is just a matter of time before the companies that continue down the “shouting ever louder” path must change or die.

That may be true in the US where efficiency is valued above all, but if you are doing business across the pond and the channel, the Relationship Era hasn't arrived, it never left.

Relationships are seen as far more important than how much you can produce for the least cost. Business is built around relationships and therefore the impression already takes a back seat to the personal connection. The problem is that social here has never even been contemplated as a means to better relationships. Relationships are forged in person, at dinner, on a sailboat, or at a retreat. And yes, there is some appreciation for Social's impact on customer satisfaction, but that seldom enters into the communications conversation.

Social is seen as a medium of growing influence and imminent danger. The stories of social media’s dumbest moves and frequent disasters are well known, as are all the rules and regulations that govern disclosure, privacy and other aspects of business that most of us in the US ignore. As a result the European C-Suite has seen social more as a means to a more efficient way of amplifying message than as the social business strategy it should be.

The good news is that the partipicants in both the Executive Digital Leadership Forum, and many of the attendees at the breakfast that I participated in, understand the real value of social. The challenge for them, as it is with their peers in the states, to convince their bosses of the truth. The good news is that as measurement techniques improve, and real value metrics are applied more frequently, the data will reveal the reality.

Related articles

7 Reasons You Definitely Want The New Social Media Measurement Standards

A clear shift in attitudes about measuring social media

When I was a reporter if you got two people to agree on something it was considered a trend. Based on three posts I read to day, I'm declaring a new trend: Organizations are beginning to understand that social media is a long term benefit and looking for short-term ROI is a waste of tiem. 

This piece in Business Insider says it best.

Then there was this  piece on how organizations use Social Media  with the most interesting concluding being: Companies with broader benefits from social media are more likely to have a large internal "social circle" with multiple functions working closely together on social media.

Then there was this in AdAge, essentially promoting the idea that "wasting time on idiots" is actually a better strategy. I could'nt agree more.

Finally, the shift in Twitter strategy to work on its influence on TV watchers and Nielsen's new Twitter metrics give us something more to think about.

Discuss pleas...

 

 

 

 

 

 

via www.businessinsider.com

The Latest from The Measurement Summit and 2013 Conclave

For three days last week, I had some of the world’s best and brightest “Measurati” at my house to talk about the future of measurement. On Wednesday, Shankhassick Farm hosted the IPR’s annual Measurement Summit, followed by a traditional New Hampshire lobster and clambake.

The two-days of meetings began with Don Stacks
discussing a provocative topic: Ethics in communication research. Respondents and research subjects are increasingly concerned about privacy. Further complicating the issue is that as data proliferates and the pressure for good metrics increases, clients are not asking the right questions of their research suppliers. As a result they are getting bad data, or worse – incorrect conclusions.

There were far too many disturbing stories of how data is glossed over or ignored in an effort please the clients and/or come in at the lowest price.The general conclusion is that Ethical standards for research, especially in social media, need to be established.

 

Stacks was followed by, Mark Stouse, Global Vice President at Honeywell,
discussed the details of his groundbreaking work integrating CRM and communications data to show the direct connection between communications and revenue.  Essentially he delivers a monthly and quarterly report that measuers how communications delivers qualified leads and account wins.

His message was that yes, PR and Social Media CAN be measured, and that having the right strategic framework for your measurement is far more important than the tools you use.

For me, the highlight of the week was Bob Garfield's keynote

Garfield in person is even better than his book, Can't Buy Me Like, co-authored with Doug Levy. Garfield stark messaget -- that  it is the end of the media world as we know it, is delivered with a wonderful mix of sardonic humor, wit and charm. Essentially his message is that the media as we know it is over -- the  the endless pursuit of impressions, and our tendency to just keep shouting ever louder, will no longer work in what he calls The Relationship Era.

Despite his prodigous persuasive abilities, I'm guessing from the faces that there  were at least a couple of people in the audience that weren't quite ready to read an obituary of the metric most of them have been using for decades.Even more fun was sharing a lobster and a beer with him afterwards.

On Thursday, the Conclave, a group of industry associations, clients and their agencies, www.smmstandards.org. met to discuss the latest developments for social media measurement standards. The Conclave was born in my living room in October 2011 when talk about establishing standards for social media measurement began to be heard in corporate corridors around the world. On June 6th of this year we published the first ever, industry-approved Standards for Social Media Measurement.On October 3rd, the group, which includes social media managers and research heads from GM, Ford, Procter & Gamble, McDonalds, SAS and Southwest Airlines among others, agreed on three major points.

1. Our work was not done yet.

While the standards were approved, commented on and published, we understand that technology and societal norms would change, so as much as we like the idea that they are set in stone, we realize we will have to continue to update them as technology progressed. Specifically we will be doing minor iterations to the standards for sentiment, adding to the Transparency Table to make it more of a check list of questions that a client must be sure to ask their research supplier.

2. Our purpose is to promote, as well as set standards

The purpose of the group isn’t just to set the standards, but to promulgate tem and help others implement them. To that end we pledged to take the messages back to our companies, agency staff and associations that are key to spreading the wor

3. Examples need to be part of the standards

We will be adding examples for all the standards of both good and bad measurement – illustrating what is standards compliant and what is not.

4. We have, and will add a standards dictionary

We will add the newly published I{R dictionary o public relations measurement and research to the standards, since definitions are key to establishing standards.

All in all, I'd say it was a pretty productive week!