The Only Metrics You’ll Ever Need: Katie Paine’s Guide to Taming Your Data Dragon

One of the biggest problems facing communications pros is deciding which metric(s) are the most effective to evaluate a particular program. Too often far too many metrics are used, and the result is way too much data that you’re not sure what to do with. Then you become lost in The Bog of Uncertainty and Indecision.

To help you avoid that terrible fate we’ve put together this surprisingly short list of the metrics that are really important. Use it to decide what data to collect based on the general topic of your program. (Of course, not every communications measurement program will fit into this simplified framework. If you need help with more complex situations, let me know, I’ll be happy to talk.)

After you’ve taken a look at the list below, you’ll want to review our longer, more involved discussion of similar material: “Data Points You Absolutely, Positively Need in Your Communications Dashboard.” It includes detailed discussion of what metrics to include and why they are valuable. It is one of our top ten most popular articles, ever.

Katie Paine’s Guide to Taming Your Data Dragon

1. For Events, use these metrics:
   
   1. Cost Per Lead
   2. Cost Per Minute spent with Prospect
   3. Pre/Post % Increase in whatever your goal was: Trust, Preference, Consideration, etc.
   4. Share of desirable voice in media and/or share of event hashtags about the event compared to the competition
2. For Owned Digital/ and Social, use these metrics:
   
   1. % increase in conversions from owned content
   2. % increase in incoming CRM queries from owned activities
   3. % increase in preference or consideration or trust or awareness
3. For Earned Media, use these metrics:
   
   1. Increase in your Media Quality Index 
   2. % increase in conversions from earned content
   3. % increase in coverage containing one or more key messages
   4. % increase in share of desirable coverage vs. the competition
   5. % decrease in share of undesirable coverage vs. the competition
   6. % increase in incoming queries from PR-generated activities
   7. % increase in preference or consideration or trust or awareness
4. For Internal Communications, use these metrics:
   
   1. % increase in willingness to recommend
   2. % increase in employee engagement
   3. % increase in understanding of company priorities

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