Communication in the News: An Interview with Katie Delahaye
Paine
By Natasha Spring, Editor
Katie Paine, president of KD Paine & Partners, speaks
to CW Bulletin about her views on effective measurement.
Katie is the founder of KDPaine & Partners LLC and publisher
of The Measurement Standard and The One-Minute
Benchmarking Bulletin, the first newsletters for marketing
and communication professionals dedicated entirely to measurement
and accountability. Prior to launching KDPaine & Partners
in 2002, Paine was the founder and president of The Delahaye
Group, which she sold to Medialink in 1999.
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What is the biggest news in measurement
today?
Data-driven decision-making and the use of dashboards where
you have the ability to get the information you need when
you need it, 24/7. Hewlett-Packard is measuring results on
a global scale using a single, consistent set of metrics to
ensure that everyone is moving in the same direction. In the
past, too many PR people relied on gut instinct when they
were deciding on strategy and tactics. Today with the availability
of data, people can make much better decisions.
Some communication professionals say that they don’t
have the time or resources to measure their work. Moreover,
their management does not necessarily support spending time
on this. What can you tell them to help them make the case
for measurement?
First, stop calling it measurement, since that’s never
a very popular budget item. What you are spending money on
is decision-support research that helps you make better decisions
every day. If you spend US$25,000 to find out that a US$500,000
program isn’t working, that not only saves you money
in the future, but it also provides data points that can help
you plan better. Frequently, we find that a less expensive
program may be working better, so showing how you can save
money going forward is a strong reason to do the research.
If you had to identify the top five things that a
communicator must know to measure programs and campaigns most
effectively, what would they be?
1. Be very clear about what “return” your efforts
are expected to generate. Does top management expect you
to generate sales, inquiries, web site traffic, messages,
attendance? Whatever the “return” they expect
is what you should be measuring.
2. Understand your audiences in all their segments and permutations:
Are they old customers or new customers? Business media,
electronic media or online media? The audiences for your
key messages are critical, and you should be measuring your
relationships with those key audiences at all times.
3. Define a clear benchmark. Sometimes a benchmark helps
to set realistic expectations. Without something to compare
your results to, they tend to sound meaningless. If I told
you that 25 percent of your coverage was favorable, you
might think that was a pretty good number. But if I told
you that of all the favorable press out there, you got 25
percent and your main competitor got 75 percent, that would
be an awful number.
4. Understand the meaning of your research. Too many people
generate tons of spreadsheets and data, and then can’t
draw conclusions from them. I tell my clients that whatever
happens, they should not go into a presentation and point
to a chart and say, “See, there’s a big spike
in June.” The only response you’ll get is “so
what?” What you want to say is, “there’s
a big spike in June because of that extra US$50,000 PR program
we launched in May, and if you want us to continue at that
level of exposure, you should continue to fund the effort.”
5. If you’re going to hire outside vendors, do a thorough
search of all the possibilities. New technology and new
services are cropping up daily. Be sure to check references
and make sure that they can really deliver on what they
promise. We try to keep a comprehensive
list on our web site.
What would you identify as the five “don’ts”
in measurement?
1. Don’t use false measures like Ad Value Equivalency.
Not only is there absolutely no proof that an article has
the same impact as a paid ad, but there is also no reputable
science behind the number. But far more insidious are the
unintended consequences. A client of mine was given a bonus
based on achieving a certain level of ad value with her
media relations program. To achieve that number, she landed
a lot of stories in business publications like the Wall
Street Journal and Fortune magazine. Unfortunately,
since she was supposed to be promoting video games, her
target audience was teenagers. So while she may have hit
her number, she was not hitting her target.
2. Don’t fail to align measures with goals. For example,
a woman I spoke with was measuring her results via Ad Value
Equivalency, but she’d been hired to improve relationships
with her local communities. She might be getting all kinds
of press (good and bad), but if she’s not measuring
relationships, she has no idea if she’s achieving
the goal she was hired to accomplish.
3. Don’t start off trying to measure the world. Take
a selected subset of key publications and measure your share
of discussion relative to the competition in just those
publications. Or take a small subset of your audience and
measure those when you’re at a trade show or an event.
Start with baby steps, and then sell the program as an example
of what a bigger program can accomplish.
4. Don’t wait until the program is over and the money
has all been spent to come up with a measure of its success.
The most effective programs have measurement built into
them, and when you design the measures in, it’s much
easier to tie the goals to the outcomes.
5. Get buy-in from all departments, groups and agencies
that might benefit from the research data. They can be some
of your biggest supporters, but if you haven’t brought
them into the process early on, they are liable to feel
threatened.
What more can associations like IABC do to educate
their members on the importance of measurement?
Two things: sponsor more workshops and seminars that allow
sufficient time for people to have hands-on experience with
the process, and promote the white papers, standards and guidelines
established by the Institute for PR Measurement Commission.
They were written by the best minds in the business, and everyone
should be using them.
How does measurement play a part in the future of
the communication profession?
I think measurement is our key to credibility and power. The
more we base decisions on solid data and not on gut instinct,
the more people in the C-Suites will pay attention to what
we have to say. When we can go and cite statistics the same
way the CFO and sales guys do, then we will be treated with
the same respect. And, of course, presumably a decision based
on data will be more effective, making you look like more
of a star.
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