At our recent From Measurement to Management event in London, one piece of advice from Ann Morgan, Head of Communications, SAS UK, was to “start with the basics” when it comes to reporting and then “continue to add layers of complexity”, particularly when communicating results to the board.
James Smee, Co-Founder, Purestone, added that too often measurement is “overcomplicated”. His advice was to choose the right tools and framework that suit your objectives and goals and to “always think about the ‘real people’ you’re targeting”.
Great advice…but how do you actually execute this in practice? Follow these tips to help you develop a tailored measurement program that fits with your needs:
- Adopt the right mindset. Measurement isn’t just about reporting. You should always be thinking about how to use measurement to generate actionable insight that can be used to inform future planning and drive campaign decisions.
- You should be thinking about measurement at the start of your campaign. Map out your key objectives and desired outcomes so that you know what you should be measuring against. What are you working towards and how will you quantify this result?
- With communications disciplines becoming more and more integrated, it can be difficult to track everything and ‘join the dots’. Instead of trying to measure everything possible, create a simple framework aligned with your desired outcomes and objectives. The AMEC Valid Metrics Framework is a good starting point.
- Don’t let the data overwhelm you. Always think about the real people behind the traffic. Go back to your persona definitions and understand their motivations in order to make sense of the numbers and track their journey and what influences them.
- Choose the right tools. Don’t use every available tool for the sake of it. Google Analytics is great as a primary analytics tool and Google provides easy to follow tips on using the tool to it’s full potential, in line with your campaign and wider business objectives. There is an abundance of tools and analytics platforms on the market so do your research to figure out what is most useful for you.
- Use the data and analysis you have to continuously re-evaluate what works and what needs to change in terms of the tactics, channels and methods you are using to engage and influence your audience.
Look out for next week’s measurement blog installment for more on choosing the right tools for your measurement program.
