Measuring your communication activities should be obvious

Imagine a CEO who is asked to meet with the board, to give a status on the company’s economy. Would it be enough for the board to hear the CEO give examples on good sales work? Would it be professional of him to present approximate numbers and base the status on his gut feeling? Definitely not.

The board would expect the CEO to present updated numbers and show how the financials meet the budget and the company’s goals. They would like him to explain what circumstances and activities that has led to the economy status, and listen to how he would tailor future activities based on the results. Without being able to present a financial status like this, the board would believe the CEO does not understand the basics of his job, and they would probably argue that he lacks the tools for leading the company.

Why should it be any different when it comes to communications and PR? Exactly as when a CEO meets with his board, a communications director, a chief of marketing or a PR responsible should have the same solid ground to stand on when examining and reporting the performance of the department.

Measuring your communication activities should be the platform of all your PR and communication work. Of course it demands some resources, but so does accounting. On the other hand, it will give you useful insights both on an operational level in the day-to-day work tasks, and in your strategic planning. Leaders should use the KPI’s of the communication measurement to take action in the exact same way as with all other hard core facts of the company’s performance. The key is to focus on the outcome and not the output of the activities, and in what way the PR work contributes to the overall goals of the company.

At Retriever, we work closely with our clients in finding the best media analysis solution for them, and thereby finding the correct tools for them to measure their communication. To keep things simple here are five of our many best practice tips that we communicate each and every day.

5 best practical tips

• Your communication goals should be a natural part of the overall goals of the company, not stand alone as something your department has made from scratch
• Measure outcome instead of output!
• Discuss the findings with the media analyst who is responsible for your media analysis report – he or she will bring good reflections and new perspectives to the table that you can take with you
• Use the findings for steering and adjusting your day-to-day work, and to lay the basis for more strategic long-term planning
• Check out AMECs new evaluation framework, which provides you with a great methodology for measuring your communication activities. It’s free and really easy to use!

Want to know more about all the benefits of measuring and analyzing your data? Click here to read all about the benefits data-driven communication brings to the table and learn how to get started.