How the C-Suite and Tech Help Align PR Measurement with Business Objectives

[Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series of Intrado Digital Media-sponsored articles about measurement. The first article in the series appeared in the November 2019 edition of PRNEWS.]

You hear it constantly during PR industry events centering measurement: It’s critical for PR pros to align what they measure with business goals.

On first glance the phrase can seem more complicated than it is. In reality the concept urges communicators to take a sophisticated route to measurement. For example, it argues foregoing counting inputs and outputs only. In addition, it frowns on basing the entire proof of a campaign’s success on a single metric, such as social media impressions.

Aligning measurement efforts with business objectives “is a concept that’s on everyone’s mind…it’s brought up all the time in meetings I have with communicators,” Intrado Digital Media president Ben Chodor says. “Data for data’s sake isn’t meaningful or helpful,” he adds. “Now it’s ‘How do we tie [what we’re measuring] to the business and to business goals?’” It’s a development that comes none too soon for Chodor and other measurement advocates.
The C-Suite’s View
The C-suite increasingly views communications as an integrated, effective function that influences business.