Measurement: Communication Dashboards As PR budgets get tighter there is increasing emphasis on ensuring that PR programs deliver a good ROI (Return on Investment) Over the past 15 years the predominant measurement of pr programs has centred on simple media metrics like advertising value equivalent (AVE), albeit with some debate about their legitimacy, and qualitative and quantitative media analysis usually performed by external suppliers. In recent years there has been more of an emphasis on Do-it-Yourself media evaluation ‘Dashboards’, often known as Communications Dashboards. While in Australia to date we have been limited for choice, internationally dashboards are relatively commonplace.  What is a Measurement Dashboard?  We all know our car’s dashboard.  It displays only the most important and relevant performance indicators from the hundreds of things that are going on under the bonnet.  A communication or PR measurement dashboard is just the same, consolidating the myriad of critical information available, and displaying it in a simpler form. In past seven or eight years Communication/PR Dashboards have become more prominent as the emphasis on measurement has increased. What Does the Dashboard Measure? The key areas that a communication dashboard can measure are: Key media targeted Favourability Issues Messages Share of visibility against competitors Share of voice on an issue Negative spokespeople Tone of article Positive spokespeople Journalist favourability Information from the communication department can also be married with sales material to make the dashboard a particularly powerful tool and to demonstrate the value of the PR or communication function. How customisable are they? Dashboards are extremely customisable.  Their DIY attributes allow pr professionals to identify and employ the metrics that are most meaningful to their organisation.  What is the leading DIY Dashboard? One of the most well known international dashboards is that of KDPaine and Partners who design and implement the Do-It-Yourself Dashboard for communications and PR practitioners What are some of the traps in using a Dashboard?  Sitting on the Data As with any research project, the data collected is the beginning not the end.  It is up to you to go back to your goals and come up with insight that can help you adjust or refine your campaigns.  Looking at your “outputs” is only a very small part of the equation.  Ensuring that you examine the results is the significant part, allowing you to put the results into action.  Measuring the wrong thing Albert Einstein once said “not everything that counts can be counted and you can’t count everything that counts”.  Ensure that the dashboard is part of a measurement program, not the only thing, and ensure that you are measuring the right things from the beginning.  Future Dashboards As the media industry changes so will the information being displayed and measured by the dashboards.  In future, it is highly likely that ‘Social Media” such as blogs, wikis and online communities all have measurements within the dashboard and will be integrated into existing communication measurements Further Measurement reading PRI Articles We have a range of measurement articles in our PR Influences archive. Here are a sample: Media Measurement: We answer the most common questions Consumer Communication Goals: Without them you are just making noise Blogs focused on pr and communication measurement KD Paine’s - Measurement Blog     http://kdpaine.blogs.com/ Richard Gaunt and Glenn O’Neil - Intelligent Measurement    http://intelligentmeasurement.wordpress.com/ Don Bartholomew - Proving the value of public relations http://metricsman.wordpress.com/ Network PR is a full service public relations agency based in Sydney. We are one of the few agencies to employ a Research Manager to ensure measurement is integrated into projects.

PR Influences Australian Public Relations Newsletter. Article: Communication dashboards: analysis strategic pr and communications media