PR News just released data from a recent study of their readers on attitudes toward measurement. Most of the news was pretty great for measurement; almost everyone saw it as an advantage, and 32% said they had no barriers to measurement in their organization. (See our summary of the survey: Surprisingly Good News—and Some Bad News, too—about What PR People Think Is the Future of Measurement.)
But there were also some seriously disturbing responses, such as:
- 33% said there wasn’t a measurement culture in their company. (I hope their resume is up to date. Because if you don’t measure these days then you have no idea what’s working and what’s not. So you’ll end up doing whatever anyone decides is cool to do that day. Not a recipe for success.)
- 18% said the new and recent graduates they work with went into PR to avoid working with data/numbers. (Employers: please don’t give these people a job, they’ll never produce tangible outcomes.)
- 6% said they don’t measure because they’re afraid of what they will find out. (They should be more afraid of investing in tactics that aren’t working.)
- 10% said that measurement wasn’t important to their job. (Fire them and their bosses! How can you know if you’re making progress towards your goals if you don’t measure?)
- 4% didn’t see measurement and analytics as an advantage. (I’d love to compare the salaries and titles of these people to those who think that measurement and analytics are an advantage)
To all these troglodytes and others who think that communications is just about pretty pictures, parties, and lots of words, please, please, please find another profession. We really don’t need any more menaces in ours. Congrats on being named our Measurement Menaces of the Month. ∞
Thanks for part of the image above to Here and now, unfortunately, ends my journey on Pixabay from Pixabay.
