Measurement

PR News’ just-launched Data Dynamos program will shine a spotlight on under-the-radar communicators who are excelling at using data to craft new or refine existing initiatives. We present here the initial class of Data Dynamos, who will be celebrated during a luncheon ceremony at PR News’ 2018 Measurement Conference (April 17-18 in Philadelphia).

Established in 2011, PR News’ Measurement Hall of Fame recognizes long-standing and continued efforts in advancing and championing PR measurement and analysis, and the promotion and awareness of key metrics within the PR community. On April 17 at its annual Measurement Conference in Philadelphia, PR News will induct three communications leaders into this exclusive club.

Are communicators evolving quickly enough to adapt to today’s data-driven workplace? What about the workplace of tomorrow? These are questions Andrew Bowins, executive director of corporate reputation and digital engagement at KPMG, plans to address at PR News’ Measurement Conference April 16-18 in Philadelphia, where communicators will gather to discuss and learn how best to quantify and qualify the success of their efforts. Here, he offers a quick overview of the evolution of digital communications, and a glimpse of what’s to come.

For Kieran Fagan, vice president of communications at Aetna, successfully communicating and using key performance indicators across a business relies on a unique combination of training, transparency and planning. Fagan, who will be speaking at PR News’ Measurement Conference April 16-18 in Philadelphia, shares three steps to leveraging KPIs internally.

Six years ago, Carly Keeny had a hard time convincing her colleagues at United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey that social media was anything more than a place to store content. Since then, however, Keeny has led the organization to viewing social media as a powerful and cost-efficient way to promote its mission. Keeny’s team focuses primarily on three social media KPIs: applause (likes), amplification (retweets/shares) and conversation (questions and comments).

Spotify went public and valued the company at $23 billion, but it has been providing value for brands since it revamped the Spotify for Brands program last year. The company utilizes user data in multiple ways to aid brand advertisements, but can it withstand scrutiny over how much data it collects from users now that it has entered into the open market?

Data, data, data. Every communicator’s on top of data, right? Maybe not, according to a new report from The Conference Board’s Society for New Communications Research. The study of 102 public companies finds few are staffing their communications departments with people who bring competency in data analytics.

Does your organization measure results before, or after, a campaign has run its course? For Whitney Drake, who leads General Motors’ Story Bureau and Analytics function, measuring campaigns from the start is the key to more meaningful metrics—not to mention a more insights-driven workplace culture.

As a communicator, you can have a powerful impact on just about every corner of your organization by using the platforms, relationships and knowledge that you and your PR team are uniquely positioned to leverage.… Continued

PR News’ Measurement Hall of Fame members have a thing about data or, rather, a thing about the casual disregard of data in the PR discipline. Few things aggravate them more than a PR professional who worries openly about proving the value of communications efforts yet shies away from taking the first steps toward using data to inform their work and show the effect of their work on an organization’s goals.