Over the past decade, I’ve had the chance to consult with organizations of all sizes regarding their need to measure, and learn from, their public relations campaigns. Fortunately, they’ve all heard PR industry teachings about the importance of accountability, which has made my job easier! But, most are confused as to how to move beyond simply measuring outputs(such as clip counts or impressions) to more meaningfully tying together outputs to business or organizational outcomes (such as leads, sales, donations, and/or survey scores).

Some of this new quest for higher-level measurement results from the now-famous Barcelona Principles, which were established by the International Association for the Measurement and Evaluation of Communication (AMEC), PRSA, the Institute for Public Relations and two other industry associations at the 2010 AMEC European Summit in Barcelona, Spain. Utilizing much of the language and ideas found in PRSA’s The Business Case for Public Relations™, the seven Principles primarily mandate the importance of setting measurable goals and objectives, and moving toward linking outputs to outcomes.

All that is great, but PR pros have been left wondering how to execute these mandates. They have plenty of guidance on objective-setting, but not as much on how best to measure outputs — and then, how best to link them to outcomes.

Fortunately, the founders of the Barcelona Principles didn’t stop there. A special taskforce was deployed to develop what has become the AMEC Valid Metrics Guidelines, a set of practical frameworks that guide PR pros through developing a holistic, meaningful measurement process. I have found the Guidelines to be of enormous help to my clients, so I hope the following brief overview will be helpful to you.

Continue reading " Confused About How to Tie PR Outputs to Organizational Outcomes? Consider the AMEC Framework! "

Not attending the 2012 PRSA International Conference in San Francisco this week? Here’s a taste of what you’re missing!

Continue reading " PRSAICON Around the Blogosphere: PR Measurement, Content Marketing, Hispanic PR "

Increase the value of your work to clients or your organization with measurement principles from the PRSA/AMEC Measurement Symposium , a special Sunday event on Oct. 14, from 8:30 a.m.–6 p.m., during the PRSA International Conference. Examine the Barcelona Principles with measurement experts from Starbucks, FedEx, Philips North America, Ketchum, Weber Shandwick, Waggener Edstrom Worldwide and more.

Save $50 on Symposium registration with code LD12 through Friday, Sept. 7.

The PRSA/AMEC Measurement Symposium, held on Oct. 14, is a one-day event to give PR practitioners a complete course on measurement and evaluation, as well as the tools they need to succeed.

Participation can be part of overall Conference registration, or you can purchase it separately.

As part of your registration for the stand-alone event, you also have the opportunity to attend the plenary Conference session that day featuring an array of speakers, as well as the opening party that night, which is a great networking opportunity.

Here are some details

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It may be 98 degrees outside, but winter is coming.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have a passion for period TV, and I really love “Game of Thrones.” In case you’re among the uninitiated, the series chronicles seven noble families fighting for control of Westeros, a mythical land that — among several fascinating traits — features seasons and climates of varying and completely unpredictable lengths and severities.

“Winter is coming” is the foreboding promise and motto of House Stark. The meaning behind the words is one of warning and constant vigilance. In a land where seasons are of an indeterminate length, this mantra reinforces that winter remains on the horizon even if we just wrapped what is the hottest July on record, and it very well could be a blazing-hot, ozone action day in your neck of the woods.

Uncertainty is certain: we know that we can’t definitively predict what our next business and communications “season” will be like — or even how long the one we’re in will last. Variables like the presidential election, European and Chinese economic instabilities, groundbreaking R&D and emerging cultural phenomena can shift communications and business climates overnight. But as communications professionals, we shouldn’t feel powerless in the face of unpredictability, because knowing that change is inevitable can actually center us — just as House Stark’s mantra keeps them focused and prepared.

I’m not the type to bask in the sun and deal with winter once it arrives; in fact, I’ve found that the sun’s warmth is all the more enjoyable knowing there’s a plan in place for my firm’s and our clients’ winters. I’ve found that the following steps have helped us prepare even our fastest-moving clients for the inevitable change in seasons, whenever that may occur: 

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AMEC’s European Summit introduced a glossary of social media measurement terms and a proposed update to the public relations valid metrics framework. The current public relations valid metrics framework is included in the PRSA Business Case for Public Relations.

Many of the measurement presentations from the Summit, including David Rockland’s presentation “How to Be Compliant with the Barcelona Principles,” are now available on AMEC’s website.

The International Association for Measurement and Evaluation of Communication (AMEC) hosted the fourth European Summit on Measurement, where representatives from more than 30 countries gathered in Dublin, Ireland, on June 13-15 to debate competency standards for PR measurement professionals and for PR practitioners in general.

What do you need to know to be an expert in measurement and what do you need to know about measurement to be good at public relations?  This question stems from the Barcelona Principles.

Here are some of the qualifications under consideration:

• Knows quantitative and qualitative research techniques
• Writes clear goals and objectives
• Selects appropriate metrics for outputs, outcomes and business results
• Measures quality and does not rely on simple quantitative measure, such as clips and impressions, alone
• Understands the benefits of different media measurement techniques
• Has knowledge of different outcome measures
• Can create effective research proposal requests, follow vendor and tool selection best practices and develop research budgets
• Integrates analytics into communications efforts across channels
• Emphasizes transparency in all facets of research
• Measures traditional and social media consistently

Continue reading " Setting Standards: Measurement Qualifications for PR Pros "