The Dual Pandemics Lead to a Breakout Year for the Volume of Communication Measurement

Here’s a topic you won’t have a chance to discuss around the table during your cancelled Thanksgiving dinner: the state of communication measurement. It would have been a discussion worth holding.

As PR marks Communication Measurement Month in November, measurement seems to be continuing its upswing of recent years. Ironically, the global pandemic, is partially responsible.

Katie PaineFounderPaine Publishing

As Katie Paine, the self-proclaimed Queen of Measurement, says, “Everything [communicators do] is being measured more now and measured better.”

That’s because the economic downturn has left businesses with little room for error. “Since everyone is being more resource-conscious, you have to get things right fast. And you have to measure,” says Johna Burke, global MD at AMEC, the communication measurement organization.

Equally vexed, the C-suite is demanding more data from communicators to understand what messaging is working. Communication measurement, she says, used to be a nice-to-have. It’s a must-have “in this crisis,” she adds.

Johna BurkeGlobal Managing DirectorAMEC

2020, Burke believes, may show a steeper incline in measurement “than we otherwise would have projected.