PR Measurement and Budgeting
Here is an interesting article from measurement guru KD Paine on how to make sure PR measurement stays in the budget. I liked her main point:
“Measurement… a necessary tool for making better decisions and advancing the organization’s best interest.”
Like any program/project budget, measurement should account for 10% of the budget – which we all know happens rarely. But today it is possible to do simple and effective PR measurement – think about success stories, blog/media monitoring, testimonies, brief surveys – that are affordable and manageable by all PR professionals.
If you can show the results of your work by effective measurement, it will certainly help you keep your measurement budget – and more so – your overall budget.
Glenn
LIFT06, WIKI and Evaluation
The LIFT team have put up a wiki page to gather feedback from people who attended LIFT06. A wiki is a relatively new tool that allows anyone to add or modify content to a web page. For evaluating an event such as LIFT06, this is an excellent way to gather feedback.
For evaluation purposes, testimonies and anecdotes collected through such feedback mechanisms can be equally convincing as quantifiable data collected by surveying and content analysis.
Glenn
Measuring Networks
This is an interesting tool from trackingthethreat.com that provides a graphical overview of the Al Qaeda network. The data is collected from thousands of open source reports, documents & news stories which are put together to establish the network linkages.
I write about this tool as it’s one of the first I have seen that attempts to measure a network. In communications, it is interesting for an organisation to assess the links between their key stakeholders. The theory is that a stakeholder group has more influence over an organisation if it has multiple links with other stakeholders. The structure of the stakeholder network is a good indicator as to where the power and influence is centered – and this helps organisations in prioritising their communication and relationship building activities with stakeholders.
The theory and practice of the importance of stakeholder networks is growing. If you are interested, read this article (pdf) from Ann Svendsen of the Collaborative Learning and Innovation Group (Simon Fraser University, Canada) where she explains how organisations actively assess and work with their stakeholder networks.
I learnt about the trackingthethreat network tool from the information aesthetics blog that looks at novel approaches as to how data can be visually represented.
Glenn
The Ninth Trap of PR Measurement
The people over at Cymfony have put together a list of the “Eight traps to Avoid in PR Measurement“, as follows:
1.) Not doing a media audit or assessment before starting a measurement program.
2.) Not defining standard metrics across your organization.
3.) Limiting metrics and analysis to small number of key pubs or simple messages.
4.) Treating all mention s equally.
5.) Not slicing metrics by different audience segments.
6.) Delayed measurement and reporting.
7.) Not taking blogs and online discussions seriously.
8.) Not demonstrating your success, often.
Some of these traps are relevant to all PR and communication measurement, notably 2, 5 6 & 8. However, the focus is clearly on measuring PR outputs and not PR outcomes.
So I would add a ninth trap:
“9. Focusing only on outputs and not outcomes”
PR outputs measure the amount of exposure an organisation receives. More important is to measure PR outcomes – did the PR activities result in any opinion, attitude or behaviour change amongst the targeted audiences?
Given the focus of the list, it’s not suprising to learn that Cymfony offer products to measure PR output. But they should recognise that good PR measurement goes beyond monitoring the amount of press articles, blog posts or online discussions you generate.
Glenn
Evaluation, Proof and the Kylie effect
A question often asked by those commissioning an evaluation is how can we “prove” that a program or activities have caused a change we are observing. How can we be sure that a training program is responsible for the rise in productivity? That an awareness campaign has changed attitudes about a company? In most cases you simply cannot get 100% proof. But what you can do is collect evidence that indicates that a program / activity did play a major role in the change we are seeing. As one pundit put it:
“The key to winning a trial is evidence not proof”
Following are some strategies to tackle this issue:
- Set up a control group that were not exposed to the program or activity
- Use pre- and post measures to show the changes occuring over time
- Don’t only rely on survey or quantitative data – testimonies and anecdotes can be convincing evidence
- Identify any other possible factors that could have caused the change being observed.
Of course, setting up a control group is always difficult in a real-world environment. But my experience has shown that it can bring forward very useful results, if we are honest about limitations and other possible influences.
It is important to be transparent and recognise any other factors that could have caused the change being observed. Take for example, breast cancer awareness in Australia. Health educators have been working hard for years to get more young women to undertake a mammogram (breast screening). As if detected early, the disease can be treated successfully. So for health educators, a clear impact indicator would be the number of appointments taken for mammograms. In August 2005, appointments for women aged 40 to 69 in Australia jumped by 101%. Was this the result of a very successful awareness campaign? No, in fact what we were seeing is what has been labelled as the “Kylie effect”. In May 2005, Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue was diagnosed with breast cancer resulting in mass media coverage about the issue – and consequent awareness of breast cancer and its detection. Studies have shown that there is a direct link between the jump in screening appointments and Kylie Minogue’s illness. If interested, you can read further about the “Kylie effect” on the BBC website.
Glenn
LIFT06 and Blog Monitoring – Part 2
As an indication of the level of interest and noise concerning LIFT06, I’ve looked again at the number of blog posts that mention LIFT06. In the first graph below from Technorati, we can see the some 70 posts mentioned LIFT06 on 3rd February, the last day of the conference. The second graph from BlogPulse of Intelliseek shows out of all blogs posted globally, what percentage mention LIFT. We see a jump from .001% on 1st February to .008% on 3rd February. I presume these charts are compiled based on posts that tag with “LIFT06”, so they probably do not register all posts. Nevertheless, the jump is quite significant.
Glenn
Highlights from interviews at LIFT06
As part of my project to evaluate the impact of LIFT06, I spoke with some 20 people over the last two days about their initial reactions to the LIFT06 conference. This helps me gain further insight into the feedback we will receive when we survey all LIFT06 attendees next week. Here are some highlights from my interviews:
Why come to LIFT06?
“I need to know what is coming in the web field – in the near future. We need to know what services and features we can propose to our clients” [webmaster for large organisation]
“In my workplace people are using this technology. For me what is interesting is the impact of technology on people” [education worker]
“I’m here to exchange ideas with people working in similar positions – that’s the added value for me” [webmaster for NGO]
“I have nothing to do with technology. I’m in business intelligence. But this is the future I am told” [financial analyst]
What are the benefits?
“Ideas, ideas, ideas. I need the futuristic stuff like spimes but i also need the bread and butter stuff like communication channels” [web consultant]
“Concrete proposals. Mash-ups for example. That’s an area we’ve got to explore” [webmaster for large organisation]
“The communication aspect. I’m here for the marketing and communication perspective and how these new technologies can be applied [communication manager]
“Just before leaving for LIFT06, the Head of Media asked me “What do you know about blogs?” “Huh!” I said “Let’s speak when I get back on Monday” [Information Manager]
Are you connecting?
“It seems a bit geekish – I don’t know anyone. Could you introduce me to some people?” [consultant]
“Over breakfast and lunch, I’ve chatted with plenty of interesting people, of most interest were people working in the same field as me” [webmaster for NGO]
“Hey, that’s the UNAIDS cocktail taking place over there. Let’s go and network with them as I’ve got a job application pending there” [web editor]
Admittedly, these highlights are not all representative of the views expressed, but provide a flavour of what people thought – and said.
For some random quotes from LIFT06, check out Nicolas Nova’s collection on pasta and vinegar.
Glenn
LIFT06 and live dialogue
An interesting trend I’ve been observing at LIFT06 is the online dialogues that are taking place during the LIFT06 conference in Geneva. Not only are there some 20 people blogging as the presentations are going on, but participants are also carrying out a realtime discussion using IRC and putting their thoughts into a collaborative writing document through a tool called SubEthaEdit. I’ll be interested to see what we can learn from these immediate reactions and comments about the conference.
Glenn
LIFT06 and Blog Monitoring
As part of the evaluation of LIFT06, I am looking at what the attendees are blogging about concerning the conference. This chart from Technorati shows the number of posts that mention LIFT06 – it will certainly peak over the next days of the conference. From an evaluation point it’s limited in its use but it provides an indication of the interest and noise concerning the conference.
Glenn
Communication Event in Geneva
Speaking at this event will be:
James Michael Lafferty, Vice President-Western Europe, Family Care, Procter and Gamble
Thomas Schultz-Jagow, Director of Communications, WWF International
intelligent measurement 