The magnificent seven will rock your measurement world. Maybe.
by Katie Delahaye Paine
Editor's note: Welcome to our Barcelona Summit coverage:
- For an overview of the Summit, and links to other articles, blogs and photos, see Everything You Need to Know about the Barcelona Summit.
- For a discussion of what the Barcelona Principles mean for the measurement industry and how you can spread their acceptance, read 5 Things You Should Do With the 7 Barcelona Principles of Public Relations Measurement.
- For a discussion of the next steps after Barcelona, read Barcelona Was a Great First Step: Here Are 5 More Issues to Tackle.
To help you improve your public relations and social media measurement programs, we've put together a practical program-improvement checklist based on the Barcelona principles.
First, let's start with the principles. Here they are:
- Goal setting and measurement are fundamental aspects of any PR programmes.
- Media measurement requires quantity and quality – cuttings in themselves are not enough.
- Advertising Value Equivalents (AVEs) do not measure the value of PR and do not inform future activity.
- Social media can and should be measured.
- Measuring outcomes is preferred to measuring media results.
- Business results can and should be measured where possible.
- Transparency and Replicability are paramount to sound measurement.
We'd love to tell you that these magnificent seven Barcelona principles will rock your measurement world. But it’s not that easy. As in so many measurement things, it depends on what you’re doing for measurement.
Do you now depend on a clip book or AVEs to measure print? And you say you don't know social media from a hole in the ground? Well then, the principles mean it’s extinction for you, my dinosaur friend. (See, for instance, "General Sentiment Tars BP With AVE Scare-Wash.")
But for most of us, the principles are Measurement 101. Common sense. If you've been doing decent, diligent measurement, then you probably don't need no stinking Principles to tell you what's up.
Still, it can't hurt look over your programs with an eye to the practical and see if you can improve. Here's your Checklist.
1. Are you currently using AVEs?
- If Yes: Stop using AVEs and do some homework to find alternatives. Then go on to #2.
- If No: Go on to #2.
2. Now make a list of your organization’s goals and the goals for your particular job or department.
3. Make a list of the business goals for your communications programs and for your measurement programs.
4. List all the ways you are currently measuring your PR efforts and the metrics you use. For each one ask the following questions:
- Does this measure what matters to our business? (That means the outcomes not the outputs.)
- If Yes: What business goal does the metric relate to or contribute to?
- If No: Drop it or make it relate.
- Do I understand how the metric is developed? Is the vendor or methodology I am using transparent? If someone repeats the calculation/evaluation will I get the same response?
- If Yes: What business goal does the metric relate to or contribute to?
- If No: Drop it or make it relate.
- If you’re using a vendor, do they provide details of how the coding or metric is produced?
- If Yes: What business goal does the metric relate to or contribute to?
- If No: Drop it or make it relate.
- Is the measure accurate? Does it reflect the known reality?
- If Yes: What business goal does the metric relate to or contribute to?
- If No: Drop it or make it relate.
- If I were the CFO, would I have confidence in this metric? Would I value it or believe it was credible?
- If Yes: What business goal does the metric relate to or contribute to?
- If No: Drop it or make it relate.
- Have you taken into account your social media efforts? Are they accurately reflected in these metrics?
- Do your metrics provide context and a benchmark? Is competitive activity accurately reflect in the results?
- Do your metrics help you achieve your goals? Do they provide sufficient detail often enough so you know you’re moving in the right direction and have the resources necessary to achieve your goals?
- What conclusions can be drawn from your data? Can you glean insight from it? If No, then you need different data.
5. Now go to the next PRSA, IABC or other industry meeting and spread the word about these new standards.
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