PR News 2011 PR Measurement Conference – Executive Summary
March 1, 2011, National Press Club, Washington, D.C.

The Must-Know Trends and Next Practices in PR Measurement

Speakers:

Angela Jeffrey, VP, Editorial Research, VMS
Frank Ovaitt, EVP,  Makovsky + Company
Tim Marklein , EVP, Measurement and Strategy, Weber Shandwick



This opening panel focused on how the latest topics and trends in PR measurement can be applied to your efforts, including measuring “influence.” Determining how social media fits in the measurement mix, measuring outcomes and creating a dashboard options to capture it all is the complete framework necessary for successful PR measurement.



Barcelona Principles

Of the seven measurement tenets established by five communications bodies last year, one of the most challenging of those principles, said presenter Angela Jeffrey, VP of editorial research at VMS, is principle No. 5: "AVE’s (Ad Value Equivalents) are not the value of public relations." Thus, said Jeffrey, PR pros must go beyond AVEs, and consider a “palette of valid metrics” to help further the value of PR.



Best Practices

While many organizations are seeking tried-and-true best practices and clear-cut examples to emulate, Frank Ovaitt, EVP, Makovsky + Company, stated that the only best practice is the one that’s best for your organization. With the proliferation of new elaborate tools for monitoring data, Ovaitt argued that the “So what?” factor has never been higher. “Give the C-suite two or three things that matter to them, not 20 that matter to you,” he said. “Talk about business results and issues that are bigger than what is technically under your control.” Measurement should be viewed less as a report card at the end of the semester, and more as a GPS that can continually help you get to where you want to go by consistently monitoring and adjusting.



Influence Rising
Tim Marklein, EVP of measurement and strategy at Weber Shandwick, said that traditionally earned and paid media is characterized by “coverage” analysis, while social media is characterized by tools that monitor conversations. “Social media is shared media,” he said. “You’re renting space on Facebook or LinkedIn, and with our clients we often find that the nature of metrics from these sources can be confusing or overwhelming.” Another dramatic change in PR is the ability to assess influence. Marklein said that “most of the tools out there are measuring popularity, not influentiality.” He advises unifying metrics across different channels whenever possible. If tracking keywords through Google, be sure to track them in traditional and social media as well. Use the data to make decisions, as that’s when it ultimately becomes valuable.


Media Measurement: From Mainstream to Social Media

Speakers:
Ed Davis, Director, Media Relations, United Way of Greater Houston
Israel Mirsky, EVP, Emerging Media and Technology, Porter Novelli

Johna Burke, SVP, BurrellesLuce



This panel focused on the best techniques for measuring media relations activities—from mainstream media coverage to Twitter and Facebook interactions. By addressing key measurement questions, including how to combine traditional and social media metrics to create meaningful data points, PR pros can more easily tie media relations to business outcomes and goals. Johna Burke, SVP, BurellesLuce, insists that what gets measured, gets improved—both in organizations and in life.



Linking Media Relations to Business Objectives

As PR pros strive to use both traditional and new media platforms, measuring efforts across different outlets has become increasingly important. "We only value something when we measure it," said Ed Davis, director of media relations for the United Way of Greater Houston. For Davis, understanding the merits of local compared to national coverage is important for reporting to management. "How do you compare Wall Street Journal with local blog coverage? Of course, most bosses want the spot in Wall Street Journal, but for the United Way of Houston, I have to explain that there are small newspapers in Houston that can have the best bang for your buck," he said.



Social Media Measurement
Learning to drive and improve a variety of new KPIs is crucial for PR teams to prove their contributions to business goals. As social media has emerged as a major campaign component, measuring efforts in that space is crucial for evaluating success. “We tend to see more time spent on site from users who come in from social media than those who come in from other channels,” said Israel Mirsky, EVP of emerging media and technology at Porter Novelli. Mirsky provided three “ground rules” for social media measurement:



1. You are not measuring the overall conversation—you are measuring the public online conversation. The Internet has no true borders, so beware of sites that promise “comprehensive” regional analysis.


2. Trust no one but yourself. “I’ve never gotten results that were worth anything without spending $600 per month," said Mirsky, who recommends starting with a reputable provider. “Don't trust any vendor of social media analytics that builds their own tools for aggregation—they have a strong interest in telling you that their tool is best at everything, while no single tool provider is the best at everything. It's your responsibility to build your programs such that they are more measurable—unique names, making event URLs unique and facilitating the creation and incorporation of analytics findings,” he said.


3. Dedicate yourself to constant improvement—tie KPIs directly to business objectives and ensure your programs are designed to affect the KPIs you're aiming for. Decide on a timeline in which demonstratable effects should appear in KPI’s, and prepare plans ahead of time to change the program if things aren’t working.




How to Tie PR to the Bottom Line


Speakers:
Ashley Pettit, Communications Analyst, Southwest Airlines Company

Karia Wachter, SVP, Waggener Edstrom
Evan Welsh, Global Media Relations, SAP AG

This session focused on demonstrating PR's role in driving revenue for an organization by delivering solid, quantifiable results. Making PR a proven contributor to the bottom line is the key to obtaining buy-in from the C-suite for PR initiatives.  By collaborating with your sales team, you can help show the scope of  PR’s influence on all aspects of sales.

Integrate PR with Marketing, Advertising and Sales efforts

Business and organizational leadership expect tangible business results from their investment areas, and as such, developing a content strategy to support every step of the sales process will help validate your PR efforts. Kara Wachter, SVP, Waggener Edstrom, suggests that business outcomes can be broken down into two core categories: financial (revenue generating), which would include sales, investment, valuation, donations, membership; and non-financial, such as awareness, brand loyalty, reputation and perception, belief, advocacy. By setting measurable objectives and weighing them against critical numbers, PR pros can make themselves accountable and provide the C-suite with their results.

Wachter stressed the importance of providing numerical measurement in both campaign goals and reports, noting that phrases like "increased membership" and "increased unaided awareness of the brand" won’t suffice without the accompanying measurement. "Measurement doesn’t stand on its own," said Wachter. "The discovery element at the beginning of any campaign, linked back to the business objectives, moving through to content development and measurement, and continuing to repeat that cycle, is critical. Measurement not only helps business outcomes, but helps us learn in an ongoing way."

Translate ROI Results into the Language of your Management
Evan Welsh, global media relations, SAP AG, noted that management is most concerned about revenue, reputation, the brand and customers. "PR and communications need to align to these core central themes," he said. "Communicate successes in terms of driving sales and leads and protecting the company’s reputation through articles placed, and even articles kept out of the media."

Southwest Airlines communications analyst Ashley Pettit suggests using a formalized communications scorecard. She and her team provide monthly reports to Southwest’s C-suite, pointing out what was successful, what can be improved and highlighting their efforts that drove spikes in conversations on different social media channels. Pettit also suggests focusing on internal measurement. "Provide insight on Web analytics from employee Internet where employees comment on the site," she said. "Senior management always wants to know what content employees are most engaged with."

Linking Social Media Efforts to Sales and Business Objectives
Pettit said that Southwest Airlines started with source codes in the links of their news releases five years ago, and has since expanded to using embedded source codes in every public outreach to help make every communications effort trackable, including partnership announcements, promotions and community activity updates. By doing so,  $4.4 million in sales on Southwest.com was linked back to communication activities last year. For the company's 39th anniversary, different source codes were created for each of the different platforms used for promotion, including Twitter, Facebook and the official press release. While the communications efforts generated approximately 8,000 bookings resulting in more than $1.6 million in sales, Pettit was able to tell which channels were the best performers. Southwest’s Facebook page was by far the best performer compared to the company’s Twitter page, employee newsletter, press release and blog.

Keynote Presentation

After the Crisis: Measuring Reputational Repair
Speaker:
Mary Henige, Director of Social Media and Digital Communications, General Motors

Lunch keynoter Mary Henige gave an inside look into the handling of the GM Chapter 11 crisis, and how social media played a big part in the company’s communication efforts. To help mitigate the crisis and provide transparency to the public, GM launched GMReinvention.com—a social media response channel to help humanize the company, engage consumers and provide updates to key stakeholders and the general public.

“Our CEO was familiar with social media, and embraced it as a communications platform,” said Henige. GM's social media team took a transparent approach to Twitter and Facebook in discussing the company’s bankruptcy, and the public appreciated their sincerity. Henige noted that everyone is in sales and customer service, and that speed of response matters, especially in a crisis. Providing continual engagement while acknowledging and not discounting negative feedback can help companies gain traction in social media.

"What were doing in social media isn't a silver bullet, but our lead communications person rides along with marketing, and there is great sharing." Each year GM enlarges its social media budget, a sign that the company understands the value of social media and having a presence wherever communities gather in order to connect with people one-on-one. Now that GM is on the rise, so is measurement within the company. “We measure a lot,” Henige said. “In fact, we do so much research, we can have nearly too much data and it can be overwhelming.” Henige said communications’ integration with marketing at GM helps both departments understand analytics better, but there is still work to be done. “We still need to show value to leadership,” said Henige. “It’s up to us to get them the data they need.”

Inside-Out Measurement: Internal Communications

Speakers:
Latia Curry, Director of Partner Engagement and Special Initiatives, U.S. Fund for UNICEF
Bill Dalbec, SVP, APCO Worldwide
Tim Keefe, VP, Internal Communications, JPMorgan Chase

This session focused on developing strategies for effective internal communications and fostering environments in which employees drive positive conversations—and the bottom line—for organizations. With the ascendance of social media, all employees are, in effect, marketers and ambassadors for their brands or organization. Measuring the impact of these internal conversations on the vitality of the brand can be extremely valuable.

The Value of Internal Communications
Tim Keefe, vice president of internal communications for JPMorgan Chase, presented several valuable aspects of measuring internal communications. “Our employees have the biggest impact on bottom line," said Keefe. "Measurement lets leadership know the work that we're doing, the progress that we're making, our success and failures, and lets them know where to devote resources and efforts." He explained how Chase's intranet hub, which employees must use every day in order to their jobs, has been a great way for showcasing people's stories, reinforcing the brand and opening up feedback channels. In February 2011 alone, the site saw 1,173,603 individual sessions, 40,000+ files downloaded, 1.84 average pages per visit.

Conduct Employee Surveys and Use Employee Feedback Effectively
In conducting internal communications surveys, clear goals need to be established prior to the research. "Be transparent," said Bill Dalbec, senior vice president of APCO worldwide. "Communicate with employees on the  goals, how the results will be used and what you are doing based on the results." Using a metrics dashboard will help provide a clear view into the health of your organization based on the results. Dalbec also suggested creating an ambassador program and providing employees with talking points.

Increasing Participation
Latia Curry, director of partner engagement and special initiatives for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, said making participation fun, optional and simple will encourage participation and feedback. "Involve employees in decision making and create online outlets for their voices to be heard," said Curry.

How to Measure Influence - Online and Off
Speakers:

Gary Lee, CEO, mBLAST
Jason Forget, Corporate Reputation Manager, GE Energy
Natasha Fogel, EVP, Global Measurement and Media Analytics, StrategyOne
Jon Stephenson Sr., Account Manager, Marketwire

This session focused on identifying and engaging influencers, and effectively measuring their impact. In today's age of transparency, consumers, employees and other stakeholders play a key role in influencing perceptions of your company's brand and reputation. It is important for organizations to monitor what is being said and gauge the effect of key influencers on their brand or organization.

Discover and Engage With Key Voices That Matter
The concept of developing relationships with key influencers is not new in the world of PR, said Gary Lee, CEO of mBLAST, who noted that we simply used to call them journalists. PR pros have been doing influencer management for some time, only now it's a lot harder to figure out with is really influencing your market. "PR is drowning in a sea of voices and data," said Lee, who insists that influencers must have topical relevance for your market to listen to them. "Popularity alone doesn't necessarily equal influence," he said. Look beyond someone's large number of followers to see if they matter specifically to your market. Beware of tools that offer generic influencer measurements, as no single score can accurately measures influence. Each individual will measure differently for each topic-based market segment and scores may change constantly.

Translate Measurement into the Language of Senior Management
To get seat at the table with the C-suite, Jason Forget, corporate reputation manager for GE Energy, suggests determining your business leaders' goals and create specific communications goals that directly contribute to achieving the business goals. "Metrics should include results from indirect and direct research—you define what they are and apply them consistently," said Forget. "Measure your success, take credit for your expertise and be a strategic adviser."

Manage “Badvocates” Who Have Influence
Both advocates and badvocates talk or act on behalf of companies and brands. Once influencers are identified and sentiment has been measured, it is important to break out and manage those who could be detrimental to a brand. "Companies need to be transparent and honest with consumers," said Natasha Fogel, executive vice president of global measurement and media analytics for StrategyOne. "Trust is a key factor in establishing relationships with potential influencers and advocates." It is important to establish a framework for digital management to monitor, measure and engage with influencers.

"The most successful companies stay ahead of the news and proactively search and respond to relevant conversation," said Fogel. By maintaining positive relationships with key influencers, companies often see them step up and defend the brand at critical times. Jon Stephenson, senior account manager at Marketwire said, "If you’ve built a lot of advocates and supporters, they will help drown out negative feedback." 

Measuring the ROI of Your Social Media Efforts

Speakers:
Elizabeth Castro, Vice President, O'Malley Hansen
Jay Hamilton, Senior Director, Digital Media - Public Relatons, Marriott International, Inc.
Ilana Rabinowitz, Vice President of Marketing, Lion Brand Yarn Company
Heidi Sullivan, Vice President of Media Research, Cision

This session targeted the measurement of engagement efforts by companies that are heavily involved in Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. For those looking to tie PR to business outcomes, social media provides ripe opportunities for demonstrating ROI by defining digital and social outcomes, applying Web and search analytics, analyzing conversations and communities and shifting the focus beyond impressions to audience engagement and actions.

Establish Benchmarks
Heidi Sullivan, vice president of media research at Cision, said establishing benchmarks through research is crucial. "Identify influencers, locate communities, determine share of conversation, know your keywords and pick your metrics accordingly," said Sullivan. "Map your metrics. You’ll be able to identify across multiple outposts and determine whether someone is influential on Twitter and/or on blogs." While there are countless new and shiny tools for measuring, Sullivan suggested even the simplest tool can help. “Something as basic as audience size can have a place on your dashboard.”

Measure and Track the Influence of Blogs and Social Networks
Jay Hamilton, senior director of digital media at Marriott International, said he has a proven social media outlet in CEO Bill Marriott’s blog. The 78-year-old Marriott, an unlikely blogger, dictates his posts into a recorder instead of typing, said Hamilton. Nevertheless, his blog garners 12 million Marriott Web site visitors per year, while the click-throughs from the blog to the booking page net approximate $4 million per year in revenue.

Utilize Affordable Software Tools to Improve Your Measurement Capabilities
"Social media does not operate in a vacuum," said Ilana Rabinowitz, vice president of marketing at Lion Brand Yarn Company. "It can help you grow revenue, members and subscribers, but should also be orchestrated to help with all your marketing efforts." Measurement is a two-pronged concept that should always be made against goals. "Measurement is part quantitative through analytics, and part qualitative through analysis," said Rabinowitz.

Making the Most of Your Measurement Dashboard

Speakers:
Katie Paine, CEO and Founder, KDPaine & Partners
Kye Strance, Director of Product Management, Vocus, Inc.

This session closed out the day and provided best practices on using a dashboard to position an organization for measurement excellence. Enhancing a current dashboard with key metrics—from social media activities to media initiatives—can provide an informative look at PR efforts and enable professionals to give the C-suite a clear snapshot of the metrics that matter most.

Changing the Definition of Communications Success
Prior to the emergence of social media, measuring the scope and impact of PR efforts was often calculated by number of impressions, a system which has less merit when a campaign's onus is on engagement, said KDPaine & Partners CEO Katie Paine. "The problem is that there are lots of legacy concepts around about being measured on impressions," said Paine. "We all bought into this notion that impressions equal something good—we have to throw that all away and and let go of the assumption that we can translate everything into impressions."

The future of measurement in PR, according to Vocus' director of product management Kye Strance, is viewing companies' newly coveted number of likes, fans and followers as the new standard of impressions. "Instead of possible eyes, we now know exactly how many people actually like your content, and how many like it enough to share it with others," said Strance.

Finding the Right Measurement Tool
With every new and shiny measurement tool promising a world of data to customers, understanding which tool is right for you depends on what your original goals and benchmarks entailed. Paine recommended three different measurement concepts to help distinguish different aspects of your efforts. For measuring messaging, positioning, themes and/or sentiment, use content analysis. For  awareness, perception and preferences, Paine recommends survey research. Finally, for measuring engagement, actions and purchases, use Web analytics. Once you've got your hands on hard-earned data, it's  important how you show that data. "The first question with data shouldn’t be, 'What am I looking at?'" said Strance, who warned against getting caught up with charts that don't accurately tell your story. "The data should inspire other questions about the data itself. If the data means something to you, it will tell a story, good or bad," said Strance.

Create an Integrated Dashboard
Before scrapping your existing system and completely starting anew, Paine recommends auditing and assessing your measurement systems, programs and priorities. Define a proposed set of KPIs, hold meetings to air differences and achieve consensus and design your dashboard with those agreed upon KPIs in mind. "At the end, you end up with an agreed-upon dashboard that everyone is comfortable with that can be used for both internal and external communications," said Paine. "It won’t necessarily be the number of eyeballs or hits. You may have correlations and causalities that show whether your social media activities are in fact generating Web traffic or qualified leads, and you might have to do even more correlations from Web traffic to actual donations."

Thank you for attending PR News' PR Measurement Conference. Don't miss PR News' upcoming Facebook Conference, to be held May 24 in New York.