Does your work measure up?

Why measure?

Simply put, measurement offers the evidence we need to do our jobs well. Measurement data can indicate the success of our work and reinforce our strategy, or let us know we need to step up our game and change course in certain areas. The analytics we collect can help us present convincing new arguments to our leadership teams and help support our suggestions for making important changes when necessary.

So, tell us what you want, what you really, really want!

All audiences are looking for authenticity, empathy, trust, credibility, and loyalty—they want to be told the truth! Truth is measured subjectively by how your audience perceives the authenticity of your message, and whether or not they feel you possess the qualities they are looking for. The best way to find out if your audience believes you, is to ask! Polls and surveys help measure the level of trust your audience has in your organization and can also help to build your organization’s credibility when your results are shared transparently!

Pro tips for surveys:

• Use a scale with an odd number, for example, on a scale of 5 or 7
  • Multiple-choice scales allow for more genuine responses when ambiguous responders are not forced to choose “yes” or “no” when they do not know how to respond
• Order your questions from technical to subjective to avoid influencing your audience’s responses to fact-based questions
• Don’t allow questions to be skipped, offer a “prefer not to answer,” or “neither agree nor disagree” option for better data quality
• To optimize your poll data, when tallying your results, use percentages and, where possible, segment your audiences (for example, by age or geography)

Measure the un-measurable

The goal when in a crisis situation is to return to a neutral position, decrease the negative chatter, and protect your brand. During a crisis you may see a change in trust scores, or a change in how your audience perceives your organization. A crisis is over when trust scores return to normal, when user/fan/customer numbers have returned to a level similar to pre-crisis levels, and perception of your brand has leveled out. You’ll be able to monitor the way through the crisis by actively analyzing, measuring, and participating in the conversations using web and media monitoring analytics and by sending out public opinion polls.

The Paradigm shift

Communication has shifted from traditional modes of spreading information. One of the most influential models of traditional communication, published in 1948, is Lasswell’s model of communication,^{Footnote 1} which  analyzes 5 key components of the communication process:  “who, says what, in which channel, to whom, with what effect?” Today, consumers have much more control over their media consumption, and the communication model has shifted from Lasswell’s model to: “who, seeks what, in which channel, from whom, with what effect?”

With ever-increasing volumes of information available at our fingertips we have the ability  to seek the content we want, when we want it, and from whom and where we want to receive it. Tools like Google Trends, SparkToro, and AnswerThePublic allow us to see what topics people are following in real time, including our own crises or promotional efforts. As communicators, in order to maintain our brand, we must be a discerning and active part of the conversations that are taking place. We need to be engaged, and participate with our voice and our expertise in order to balance the subjectivity of the conversations going on around us.