Events in the past few weeks have lead me to conclude that measurement as we’ve done it for the past thirty years is largely broken. Several common measurement techniques are now on their way out, so it’s time to start again. We have to replace them with something better.
And that’s what we do in this, our June issue: help you run away from false metrics and into a better world, full of metrics that show your true business value.
AVEs will be exterminated, here’s how to replace them.
It started with the announcement last month of new initiatives by both AMEC and the Chartered Institute for Public Relations (CIPR) to (finally) eradicate AVEs. (If you’re new to the anti-AVE rant, here’s a pretty good list of 22 things that are wrong with them.)
AVEs are like termites. You can’t just kill off a few of them here and there, because they will inevitably come back. The solution is move out, tent the house, and kill off every trace of them. Which is what I hope and pray these new initiatives will do.
We’ve written and spoken far too many words about AVEs since I started my quest to kill them off three (!) decades ago. No amount of incentives, education, or public shaming has had much impact. I truly believe that it is only when professional organizations start de-chartering members for using them that the message will sink in.
The upshot is that there are quite a few of you out there who will need to replace your AVEs. We show you how in this month’s article: “How to Adapt When Your Agency or Vendor Refuses to Provide AVEs — And They Will.”
The value of a like is zero, and here’s how to fix your social media metrics.
Then there was this study in the Harvard Business Review that essentially proved that all our assumptions about the value of social media have been wrong. A series of experiments found no evidence that engaging with a brand on social media changes behavior or increases sales. Nor does social media persuade more people to buy your product. In fact, social media activity by brands has virtually no effect on the purchasing habits of you or your friends. The research showed that people who had already bought products were simply more likely to engage. The conclusion: If you want to increase sales, advertise.
And so you are going to need to fix your social media measurement. For how to do that, see this month’s article: “10 Quick Repairs for Your Broken Social Media Metrics.”
Internal communications needs fixing, too. Here’s how.
Finally, I’ve been looking at other client data that says that while some employees are very satisfied with the communications they receive from their internal comms teams, there is very little correlation between that satisfaction and improved business performance. Sure, when employees are happy with what they’re hearing from internal comms or HR they tend to be more engaged, but does that in fact lead to better business performance? The answer obviously depends on the individual organization, but it’s worth looking at the new Internal Communications Measurement Standards for guidance. The standard metrics leave out “employee engagement” and focus instead on business results. It turns out that alignment of of internal communications messaging with what leadership actually does is a bigger factor in ultimate business success.
If you’d like to improve your internal comms measurement, see this month’s article: “5 Fixes for Your Broken Internal Communications Metrics.”
So much data, so many metrics, so little time. Here’s how to get rid of some of the overload.
Nowadays data is easier to come by than the time to deal with it. Often organizations will find that they have been pulling in more and more data, and tracking more and more metrics, only to become overwhelmed. If this sound’s like you, see this month’s article: “Four Quick Tips for Fixing Your Pile of Useless Data and Metrics.”
Also in this issue…
In this issue you’ll find our monthly Measurement Maven and Menace Awards. Also a preview of Paine Publishing’s Measurement Base Camp coming right up on July 21st. Plus, it’s not too early to start planning for the annual Summit on the Future of Measurement in October. ∞
