Not measured by halves

"The easy days are over. Clients are no longer willing to blindly throw vast sums of money at brands campaigns that provide little or no measurable ROI". - BPA WorldWide

Measuring Public Relations has never been easy, although since to switch to online media it was much simpler for agencies to ascertain whether someone was picking up a magazine and reading it but it's a harder, more complex, process trying to measure online. However, for any budding individuals looking to be a digital communication expert, understanding the functions and metrics of traditional media will be detrimental to yourself as knowing the ins and outs of cross-channel campaigns will undoubtedly always be important.

The CIPR published their toolkit on helping with social media measurement guidelines  following The Barcelona Principles.

1.       Importance of goal setting and measurement

2.       Media measurement requires quantity and quality

3.       AVE’s (Advertising value equivalents) are not the value of PR

4.       Social media can and should be measured

5.       Measuring outcomes is preferred to measuring outputs

6.       Business results can and should be measured where possible

7.       Transparency and replicability are paramount to sound measurement.

In essence it's fair to say - If it's not measured it's not managed.

Looking at some of the principles it's clear to see that social media measurement (and other kinds) has become a discipline as opposed to just a strategic tool companies use to see the profits and brand recognition or a 'single metric' - as you can see several entities come into play when measuring PR.

When brands go viral with their campaigns, mostly using YouTube as a source to communicate the product, some companies can never anticipate what's going to hit them. When a campaign becomes a YouTube success, the hits it can receive in periods on short times is outstanding.

The Cravendale - 'Cats with Thumbs' ad has accumulated nearly 3 million hits on the video sharing site, being an instant hit among audiences. However, as discussed within one of my seminars on the topic, it was clear to see people were remembering the advert yet not that it was for a branded milk. The PR may be measured as a success, as the link is passed around and viewed on a mass scale...but is it really selling the brand?