Outputs vs outcomes: Why does the difference matter?

Communications professionals who base their plans on the calendar year are assessing 2021 performance to inform their 2022 objectives and strategies.

Now is the time to analyze metrics to gauge results from all those messaging efforts, which kept everyone informed and engaged as the pandemic wore on. But what metrics really matter? We spoke with Katrina Gill, a Ragan Consulting Group affiliate and founder of Gill Research, to find out.

1. Are there good metrics and bad metrics? What numbers are important?

A lot of companies rely on output data, such as the number of email opens or click-throughs, to judge the effectiveness of communications efforts and decide what to do next. But that’s only part of the picture.

Indeed, employees might click on an email and not read any of it; or, you might have a high open rate but very few click-throughs, without knowing why they didn’t show interest in the content.

“You also need outcome data, which measures the next layer, which is if they are learning anything, is there a change in knowledge, if they’re understanding it, and whether they’re doing anything about it in relation to their job,” Gill says. “You can measure clicks, but it won’t tell you if they read or understood it and are doing something differently, and that’s the important information.”