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Along with Measurement Month, it’s the time of year when PR evaluation and funding questions arise for the coming fiscal year. Executives who invest in PR are becoming more discriminating. Moreover, they insist on data to back up their decisions. Here are 10 questions to help you use measurement to prepare your budget presentation for 2020.

Data is critical to measurement. But what about data privacy? And why do communicators need to know about data privacy? In short, privacy laws are everywhere, argues Stephen Payne, the veteran communicator at Feld Entertainment who now also has responsibility for privacy. PR pros can benefit from at least a basic understanding of how data privacy laws work, he writes.

PRNEWS joined with CS&A, an international crisis and risk firm, to survey the attitudes of PR pros about crisis pain points, levels of preparation and post-crisis education. While firms are doing better with their crisis preparation, there is still a long road ahead, the survey of some 200 executives found. In addition, post-crisis lessons seem way down the list, as does preparation for cybersecurity crises.

It’s fitting that our traditional monthly roundtable this month centers on measurement. We asked about the state of measurement, issues that continue to exist and what’s ahead. In short, there’s guarded optimism for PR measurement, though there’s still concern that some communicators choose not to measure. In addition, the colleges seem to be doing precious little to encourage students to appreciate the need for measurement.

As we celebrate Measurement Month, there’s much reason to be optimistic about the state of PR and communications measurement. Still, there are a number of hurdles blocking the profession’s path, including some communicators’ choice to avoid measurement. We explore some of the major roadblocks and offer advice about how to overcome them.

Data has given us the ability to put science behind what was once considered an art. It makes communications more customized and targeted, predictive and quantified, FleishmanHillard SVP Brendan Streich argues. He uses the example of higher education to make his point about how to use data to gain business insights.

To mark Measurement Month 2019, PRNEWS and partner PublicRelay surveyed some 350 communicators about their attitudes toward measurement. The findings indicate PR pros are becoming more sophisticated in their attitude toward measurement, particularly with regard to gaining insight from data.

A primer from writing guru Jonathan Rick counsels that PR pros should avoid using jargon generally, especially in headlines. He also urges that you create two headlines: one for human beings and laymen; the other for search engines and insiders.

JUUL Labs, the ubiquitous e-cigarette manufacturer, find itself in a free fall more than one year after our blogger praised the company for its PR acumen. The lesson that’s emerged from JUUL, Boeing and Facebook is that self-regulation is rarely a good idea and could lead to deaths. And death is bad PR.

JUUL Labs, the now ubiquitous e-cigarette manufacturer whose pocket-sized vaporizers work with its propriety pods of nicotine liquid, has found itself in a free fall over the past few months. In June, the company’s own city… Continued