Social Media ROI v. Impact: Don’t Confuse The Two
What exactly is ROI?
What is social media ROI?
Image: Mark Smiciklas via Flickr, CC 2.0
Is ROI or “impact” more important? Or are they equally important?
Should companies starting out in social media be concerned about ROI?
These were the questions we discussed on yesterday’s #measurePR chat with Don Bartholomew, aka @donbart.
It was terrific.
As Sean Williams said,
Don is a refreshing blend of theory and practicality when it comes to demystifying what seems to remain one of the most puzzling questions in the social media and measurement worlds.
At least, Sean said something to that effect, but I can’t find his exact tweet, so let’s assume I’m not misquoting him… too much.
Here are some of the tweets from yesterday’s session:
That’s meant to be “think,” by the way.
The key point that Don, Sean, and a few others were trying to drive home is that ROI is ROI is ROI.
It is not “value,” and it is not “impact.”
Update at 11:42 am: Don just corrected me, saying, “… one could argue ROI is a form of Impact, but Impact is not ROI.”
He’s right, and that’s what I meant, and should have said.
Back to your regular programming.
When we start trying to redefine “ROI,” we are opening a can of worms. Because the C-suite understands ROI as something very specific.
If we’re then going to try to change that definition, it can’t end well.
Focusing on Impact, on the other hand, makes a lot of sense, because here you’re starting out with measurable objectives (tired of that phrase yet?!).
Once you do that, you’re going to track your program(s) to see if they result in those measurable objectives… which should be created with some kind of impact on the business/organization in mind.
Do have a read through the transcript of the #measurePR chat with Don; there are some real nuggets in there.
The conversation was so interesting, that Don agreed to come back for Round 2 of the SM ROI discussion.
So save the date: Sept. 14, 12-1 pm ET.
If it makes life easier for you, you can RSVP for #measurePR with Don, Round 2, on Facebook.
It would be great to get some questions from you, so that we don’t have to repeat everything we discussed yesterday.
Will you send them along, either by leaving a comment below, or by shooting me an email or DM?
Don and I hope to see you there!
Filed under MeasurePR, Measurement, Public Relations, Social Media | Tags: #measurepr, don bartholomew, sean williams, twitterchat | Comments (2)
MeasurePR: The Barcelona Edition
We had a great #measurePR chat today. Katie Paine, who helped me kick off this series, came back after a while, and it was great to have her talk about the Barcelona Principles, social media ROI “calculators” and the like.
If you’re wondering what the Barcelona Principles are, here’s what Don Bartholomew has to say about them:
“…The Second European Summit on Measurement held last week in Barcelona has come and gone, but its impact may be felt for some time to come. The Summit was organized by the International Association for the Measurement and Evaluation of Communication (AMEC) and the Institute for Public Relations.
The most notable outcome of the Summit was the creation of the ‘Barcelona Declaration of Research Principles’. The Principles were debated and voted upon by about 200 delegates representing 33 countries and five global PR and measurement organizations (AMEC, IPR, PRSA, ICCO, The Global Alliance). David Rockland, Ph.D. chaired the debate.
Here are the ‘Barcelona Declaration of Research Principles’:
1. Goal setting and measurement are fundamental aspects of any PR programs.
2. Media measurement requires quantity and quality – cuttings in themselves are not enough.
3. Advertising Value Equivalents (AVEs) do not measure the value of PR and do not inform future activity.
4. Social media can and should be measured.
5. Measuring outcomes is preferred to measuring media results.
6. Business results can and should be measured where possible.
7. Transparency and Replicability are paramount to sound measurement.”
If you believe in good PR measurement, then the concept of focusing on outcomes is not new to you; nor is the acknowledgment that AVE is a pretty cruddy substitute for good measurement.
What’s really impressive about this is that 200 delegates representing 33 countries and five global organizations came to this conclusion (IABC seems to have been noticeably lacking).
Wow.
That’s a pretty impressive start; now we have to see if everyone is going to walk the talk and implement them.
Katie talked about how PR professionals can start living by the Principles (I feel like going down on my knees every time I type that) in their day-to-day practice of our profession, and much more.
She also gave us a link to a nifty spreadsheet she uses to calculate the ROI of conferences and speaking engagements, so check it out (remember, one size doesn’t fit all; if you like the concept, adapt it for your own needs).
And we had some laughs as well, though we managed to keep Sean Williams from burning a hole in his laptop at the mention of the “theater of the absurd in social media metrics.”
Check out the entire transcript of MeasurePR: the Barcelona Edition here, and don’t forget to join me in a couple of weeks when Johna Burke will be the guest on #measurePR – and yes, I will be bringing it to you all the way from Alaska.
So please do save the date: July 20, 12-1 pm ET, join on Twitter using #measurePR. If you like, you can RSVP here.
Posts you should read, bookmark and save in your time capsule:
- Katie’s Barcelona Principles checklist
- Neil Malcolm on why AVE’s the “dodo” of PR measurement
- The above-referenced posts by Sean Williams on social media metrics and Don Bartholomew on the Barcelona Principles, respectively.
Image: Wolfgang Staudt, Creative Commons
Filed under Communication, MeasurePR, Measurement, Public Relations | Tags: #measurepr, ave, barcelona principles, don bartholomew, katie, neil malcolm, PR measurement, research, sean williams | Comments (7)Internal Doesn’t Mean Unseen: Sean Williams on #measurePR
How’s this for going back in time in the age of now?
My second guest on #measurePR (all the way back in February) was the inimitable Sean Williams.
If you’re a measurement geek and don’t know him… you should. Not only does he have one of the brightest minds in our field, he has one of the brightest minds, period. I was lucky that Sean was willing to take some time out of his day to sit in on the chat when it was just a couple of weeks old, and he shared his thoughts on measurement, PR and ROI.
Since Sean teaches on Tuesdays and was held up joining the chat, we chatted among ourselves for a bit, and shared our pet measurement peeves. Not surprisingly, the continued use of AVE, lack of benchmarking and “quantity v. quality” were common causes of angst.
Because it’s been a while since this specific chat took place and I didn’t grab screen-shots of the tweets immediately after, I can’t show them to you (if you know, and can show me, how to do that, I’ll be indebted to you forever). But here are some of the interesting/noteworthy points raised during the chat:
1. Lindsay Allen, on the value of proprietary formulas such as Cision’s “publicity value: “… they… wouldn’t/couldn’t tell us much about how it’s calculated since the formula is proprietary.” To which Sean replied that it needed academic review (which, IMHO, all formulas – btw, does anyone use ‘formulae‘ any more? – should be).
Sean went a step further to say his biggest pet peeve was proprietary methods, of which he wants one, so he can make money (don’t we all?!), but he’d want it independently reviewed for accuracy and value.
Rebecca Denison, whom I’ve profiled before, perceptively pondered whether folks sign on for a proprietary formula because it’s better than nothing and they’re under pressure to do so.
2. I asked Sean for his take on the difference between AVE and “weighted media cost,” to which he posited an extremely diplomatic answer. For what it’s worth, I think highly of the folks who authored this paper, but am still making my mind up about the measure.
To learn more about WMC, I suggest you read this paper on the Institute of Public Relations’ site, Katie Paine’s opinion (y’all know she’s my guru, right?), and Sean’s own musings on the subject.
3. Sean reminded everyone to do something so simple it’s unbelievable that most don’t: Set Measurable Objectives.
The second #measurePR chat transcript is yours for the asking.
Do have a read through when you’re at a loose end (or, as I like to say, in your copious free time). I think you’ll enjoy it.
What I can share, though, is a video of Sean talking about measuring internal communication, which I grabbed when I was in Cleveland a few weeks ago speaking to IABC/Cleveland (which rocks and you should join, if you’re in the area, btw).
And if you’re interested in internal communication, you should follow #icchat, which Sean hosts along with Susan Cellura. How’s that for a bonus?
Enjoy! And do join us from 12-1 pm ET tomorrow when we’ll be chatting with Chuck Hemann on measuring social media.
Image: Adam Groffman, Creative Commons
Filed under Communication | Tags: #icchat, #measurepr, ad value equivalency, ave, IPR, PR measurement, sean williams, weighted media cost | Comments (2)Manifesting the Sabbath
Those of you to whom I talk on Twitter, Facebook, email, etc., know that I’ve been keeping crazy hours lately. There’s just a lot going on and sometimes I need to catch up on work (that isn’t affected by when I do it) after hours.
The things I could tell you about the “6 week body” and isn’t Kevin Trudeau tired of being on TV only at 2 a.m.?
Not my preferred mode of work, believe me – I enjoy sleeping far too much, plus I think it’s an extremely bad practice to get into, especially in terms of setting others’ expectations of you.
Crisis communication may demand it, but if you’re in crisis mode every day… well, something needs to change.
At any rate
I was working on my deck yesterday (one of the perks of being my own boss), trying to move my Hopkins course along (my second year of teaching there! w00t!). During one of my self-imposed breaks, I found out that today is apparently the “national day of unplugging” from the Get Rich Slowly blog (love it, you should read it, because who doesn’t want to?), thanks to something called the “Sabbath Manifesto.”
Here’s what GRS says:
Yesterday on Twitter (ironic I know), I stumbled upon the Sabbath Manifesto. From the website, the Sabbath Manifesto is “a creative project designed to slow down lives in an increasingly hectic world.” Perfect!
The Sabbath Manifesto encourages people to set aside one day a week to take a timeout from life. On this one day, you’re urged to:
- Avoid technology.
- Connect with loved ones.
- Nurture your health.
- Get outside. (Image: Michele Molinari, Creative Commons)
- Avoid commerce.
- Light candles.
- Drink wine.
- Eat bread.
- Find silence.
- Give back.
The Sabbath Manifest is co-ordinating a National Day of Unplugging. From sundown on March 19th to sundown on March 20th, we’re being called to turn off and unplug our gadgets to whatever degree we feel comfortable. This has the potential to benefit our selves, our relationships, our environment — and our pocketbooks.
Check out this video too.
Sometimes things just fall into place.
The day before yesterday, Sean Williams (whom I’m looking forward to meeting for the first time at IABC/Cleveland next week, are you coming? At least to the #shonalitweetup happy hour?) and I were bitching talking about being time management, etc., the way consultants do.
Yesterday my eyes felt like sandpaper, thanks to consecutive nights of 3-5 hours’ sleep.
Then I come across this post, as well as my friend (and client) Shashi Bellamkonda’s musings on whether the wi-fi on Amtrak’s Acela Express is going to be a good thing or bad thing (and let me tell you, when I used to do the weekly run up and down from NYC at my last job, the “quiet car” was a godsend).
So that’s it. I’m unplugging today (and you’re reading this post because I scheduled it, ha) barring any paperwork I have to take care of thanks to some really unethical person intercepting, stealing AND CASHING a client payment.
Other than that – no Tweeting, no Facebooking, no nothing. There might be wine, though I don’t know about the bread. Definitely candles.
There shall be space. And peace. And on Sunday, hopefully I will be refreshed enough to plow through another round of deadlines, and there will be light at the end of the tunnel.
You should do the same.
Happy unplugging!
Filed under Business, Personal | Tags: #shonalitweetup, get rich slowly, iabc/cleveland, sabbath manifesto, sean williams, shashi bellamkonda, unplugging | Comments (3)Of Cabbages and Kings and Measuring PR
We kicked off our first Twitterchat on measuring public relations yesterday, with the “queen of measurement” herself, Katie Paine. From 12-1 pm EST, we had an incredibly lively and vibrant discussion that surprised even me, the organizer – and I should know not to be surprised by anything on Twitter by now!
You might wonder why I borrowed from “The Walrus and the Carpenter” in titling this post. The thing is, Mr. Carroll’s poem is so full of beautiful whimsy, I can’t help but think it reflects some of the chaos we are still dealing with when it comes to measuring PR.
I write and speak often on this but really… why are we still going round and round in circles about something like AVE (ad value equivalency) which is essentially a measure of output when we know what’s really important to the C-suite is focusing on outcomes? Fortuitously, I stumbled across Pritesh Patel’s post on the subject of AVE as I was pulling this recap together, so do give it a read.
If I have one mantra when it comes to measurement – that’s it. Outcomes outcomes outcomes. Repeat after me: OUTCOMES.
But this recap isn’t (just) about me. So in that vein, here’s Sean Williams’ recap, which also looks at the AVE debate (or paroxysm, as he calls it). Below are some of the highlights of the chat, and you can find the entire transcript here.
The four questions posed were:
- What are the most common mistakes in measuring PR?
- How does a newbie get started in “smart” measurement?
- How has the PR measurement landscape changed over the years, or has it?
- Can you recommend some educational resources?
Here are just a few of the gems, and not just from Katie:
And those are just a few. I do hope you’ll read the transcript and share your thoughts via a comment below, or on Twitter using the #measurepr hashtag.
Katie – thank you so much for kicking off the inaugural #measurepr chat; I hope you’ll be back often as the featured guest!
A quick note on how we’ll proceed: these chats will take place every two weeks for now; if we see a great urge to increase (or decrease the frequency), we’ll do so, but for now, if you’re interested in PR measurement, do mark your calendars for the next one (February 16) from 12-1 pm ET, and every other Tuesday following.
And remember – we want to get your questions answered – so if you have questions you’d like to have discussed at a future chat, please email them to me at sburke (a) shonaliburke (dot) com – or, of course, you can always tweet me.
Until the next time – keep chatting and keep measuring!
More resources:
- The Institute for Public Relations has great resources on measurement
- I created a Twitter list of folks I think are leaders in measurement, so you might want to check them out
- As our featured guest, I think it’s only right to point you to Katie’s website and blog
- A presentation I made at PRSA09 on measurement, which may particularly help those of you at non-profits/with low or no budget
Image: Quinn Dombrowski, Creative Commons
Filed under MeasurePR, Measurement, Public Relations, Twitter | Tags: #measurepr, allan schoenberg, justin goldsborough, kathy moore, katie paine, Measurement, PR measurement, pritesh patel, sean williams, twitterchat | Comments (7)Announcing #measurepr
I had a terrific time on Twitter today. Sean Williams organized a Twitterchat with Katie Paine and myself as a precursor to our respective visits to IABC/Cleveland, and we had a good old time chatting about measurement, PR, social media and the like.
You can read the entire transcript here, if you’re interested.
I sit in on quite a few chats every now and again and the one topic that always seems to come up is measurement. I figured a regular chat on measurement, especially as it pertains to public relations, might be worth setting up.
So I’ve created the #measurepr hashtag and hope that anyone who’s interested in discussing the ins and outs of PR measurement will join.
For now, we’re going to start with a bi-weekly chat, every other Tuesday from 12 – 1 pm ET. We’ll kick off the first one on February 2, and the esteemed queen of measurement, Katie Paine, will be our featured guest.
Do mark your calendars, and join me. If you have questions on PR measurement (which will encompass both “old” and “new” PR), drop me an email, leave a comment below, or tweet me. I’m looking forward to it!
Image: anion‘s Flickrstream, Creative Commons
Filed under MeasurePR, Measurement, Public Relations, Twitter | Tags: #measurepr, iabc cleveland, katie paine, Measurement, pr, Public Relations, sean williams | Comments (6)Media By, For, And Of the Masses
I read about this First Amendment Center report on traditional media still being the first news source for a majority of Americans in PRWeek today (I’m sending you directly to FAC’s site since you might not be able to access the PRW article).
That’s really not a “a-ha” moment for me, despite all the ballyhoo the ongoing debate about traditional media being dead. But it’s an interesting read, and I was fascinated by the way they tried in some cases to break down the finding by demographics (African-Americans and Hispanics are more likely than whites to trust Twitter as a news source… who knew?!).
Reading the survey findings reminded me of an excellent case study by Sean Williams that the Institute for Public Relations published a few months ago, on “how a financial services company used media measurement and content analysis to gauge the impact of financial turmoil on its brand and reputation.”
Because the fact is that regardless of whether you think traditional media is dead, dying or merely comatose while social media beams down indulgently, if your work has anything at all to do with media, you need to be measuring it… and measuring it right.
Sean’s case study, as well as his follow-up blog post on IPR’s site where he shares lessons learned, are must-reads for anyone into media measurement, and why I think he’s one of the smartest guys around today.
He might just be my holy cow of measurement.
Filed under Measurement, Media, Public Relations
| Tags: first amendment center, IPR, Measurement, Media, prweek, sean williams |
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