RGA — PR & Marketing Communications

What you measure matters

Written by Rick Grant on November 22nd, 2009

Every good manager knows that measurement is critical to ensuring good results. The difference between good managers and great ones is what they measure. When it comes to marketing and public relations, there have been plenty of metrics used over the years. Now that New Media tools are maturing, the debate is raging about what should be measured and how these efforts should be judged.

In general, the leaders in social media have done a good job of trying to work though this. There are good articles here, here and here. But ulimately, I think it’s a lot simpler than all of this.

There is only one way to measure the efforts put into any department in a company: the ultimate impact on sales. Anything that doesn’t allow the company to do a better job of delivering its value to the marketplace, which can only be measured by sales volumn, should be discontinued. That includes marketing and public relations efforts.

There are those who, like Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, will shift metrics when the numbers don’t work out in their favor, but ulimately they will fail if they pretend that their inability to be productive is acceptable to any degree. Any agency that offers a complicated forumula to help you gauge the results of their efforts should be shown to the door. If they cannot show you how what they do will increase your sales, you are better off not spending the money.