A measurement and evaluation strategy your executives will love

Wherever you are in the measurement journey, you still have an opportunity to truly own the discipline. While many communications leaders are tracking outputs, the ability to effectively tie those data points to business outcomes remains much more elusive.

And while a communicator’s ability to illuminate that tether will bolster your influence within the C-suite, an analytical approach also embeds the value of comms across all lines of business.

During last fall’s Strategic Communications Conference at Microsoft HQ, President and CEO of the Institute of Public Relations Tina McCorkindale, Ph.D., APR, shared her tips for presenting measurement outcomes and results that will resonate with executives.

McCorkindale urged attendees to understand measurement and evaluation as a complete, end-to-end solution that starts with research.

And while many communicators understand measurement primarily as a tool for media analysis, she insists that this view is limiting.

“It should never be just media analysis,” said McCorkindale. “That is a bubble. Often those are just outputs of the organization—they are not measuring behavioral change. If we don’t track [whether] it actually generates some outcomes on behalf of the organization, who cares?”