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Measurement
Tools
13
Reasons Why You Need A Public Relations Measurement Dashboard
And if you have one already, here's a baker's
dozen ways in which your dashboard can help
you do your job better every day.
1.
Your dashboard provides data for making better strategic decisions.
Whether you're being asked to "Put out a press release," or
"Put together a press tour," you need to know what's worked
and what hasn't worked in the past. The trend data in your dashboard
will tell you not just
what has worked in terms of generating exposure, but also whether the tactic
resulted
in more or less positive exposure, more or less message communication,
and the impact the effort had on new user registrations.
2.
Think of your dashboard as a continuous improvement tool at your
finger tips.
A dashboard is essentially a live, searchable, continuous quality improvement
tool. You can instantly determine which of your efforts resulted in better
performance. By weeding out the tactics that didn't work, you are ensured
of increasing effectiveness.
3.
Your dashboard tells you if you are
winning or losing key battles.
In any PR department, winning or losing the major positioning battles
is critical.
How you spend your day may depend on whether you're ahead or behind
on a key initiative. Your dashboard can tell you right now how you're
doing on any given
battle, so you'll know where you need to place your resources.
It also provides a long term trend view of whether or not you're
winning or losing the battles. Furthermore, it helps you figure out why.
4.
Your dashboard helps you figure out if your resources--budgets
as well
as time--are being spent effectively.
These days, chances are time is even scarcer than money in most PR departments,
so where you spend your time becomes a critical decision. Checking
your results
on a regular basis--to determine if your agency is being effective and
if your efforts are paying off--enables you to allocate resources more
effectively.
5.
Your dashboard helps you figure out which of your actions
has the biggest impact on business.
By integrating media results with signups, retention, and other key data,
you can make decisions based on the expected impact on the business, not
just on media exposure.
6.
When you're asked for goals and objectives, your dashboard helps
you set realistic expectations.
Whenever you go into a meeting these days, people expect you to
be able to set specific, numeric objectives. Your dashboard provides
the data at your fingertips with which you can confidently set those
benchmarks.
7.
Your dashboard can tell you which messages are resonating, which
are falling on deaf ears, and why.
Despite the best laid plans, there are times when a key message just isn't
getting picked up, either because the media doesn't care or because your
spokespeople aren't delivering it. Your dashboard helps you determine which
messages are or aren't getting into the media. And better yet,
it can help you determine the cause.
8. When a reporter calls, you can look up, instantly, how they've been
covering you, what they've covered, and whether or not they "get" your
key messages.
Before you answer that call from a reporter, you should know if he's
been hostile or friendly, whether he gets your key messages or not, and
what topics
he's been covering. All that information is available at your fingertips
in your dashboard.
9.
When you're trying to decide on the best spokesperson, your dashboard
can tell you who will be most and least effective.
To quickly determine who the
best spokesperson is for any particular interview, use your dashboard to
look up who is being quoted in your coverage, then note the tone (positive,
negative or neutral) of the article, and the extent to
which it conveys a key message.
10.
Your dashboard will help you make better decisions about which
publications to pitch for which
story.
Suppose you have an exciting announcement, but you don't know which
media to pitch first. Check your dashboard and determine which
publications are most likely to cover the topic or product category. If
it's not something
you've ever talked about before, do a quick Google News search. Compare the
top publications that come up with the data in your dashboard to see which
ones are most likely to give you favorable coverage.
11.
You can make better decisions about which bloggers to engage in
a conversation.
Bloggers and other social media influencers are a
key element of many communications programs. By checking your
dashboard to see who is blogging
about which issues and how favorable they are towards you, you'll
have a better understanding of which bloggers you need to start a conversation
with.
12.
Your dashboard enables you to find influential spokespeople and
analysts
relevant to the issues.
The dashboard will help you not just identify who are your most influential
analysts, but also who are the analysts and experts most relevant to
your issues, and which ones are talking about the issues most often.
13.
Your dashboard gives you ammo to push back against dumb ideas.
Every
communications department is asked to take on a wide variety of projects.
Some are wonderful, and some are dogs, but without data it's hard
to
push back against the latter. Your dashboard can save you countless
wasted hours by demonstrating what hasn't worked
in the past, and providing you with welcome proof that not all ideas are
good ones. 
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Struggling
to set up your measurement system?