Creating a Measurement Framework

Just as you give performance reviews to the internal members of your communications team, it's important to give regular performance appraisals to your PR agency to provide feedback, monitor success and provide or change direction as required. In order for all parties to understand and work towards the same basis of evaluation, it's crucial to create a measurement framework at the onset of the relationship - and from my experience this can be one of the most overlooked components of the agency/client relationship.

For every agency budget - whether it's a two-week project or a multi-year retainer - there should be a clearly defined scope of work detailing the exact deliverables. It should be documented that in return for X dollars the agency will provide, for example, four news releases, a clipping report, 20 hours of media relations, and a strategic plan - or whatever scope of work you and your agency mutually determine is realistic, given your objectives and budget parameters.

In speaking with one corporate client who recently started with a large Toronto-based company, she explained that she was surprised with the agency relationship she inherited because they had a long term retainer budget with an agency - but no where was the exact scope of work spelled out. This resulted in confusion and frustration within the organization, with internal clients not understanding that the agency's time and budgets were being split between numerous divisions and mandates. One of the first things the new communications manager did when she started the position was to sit down with all parties involved and document the exact scope of work of the retainer including the deliverables and timelines.

This is a very important step for both the agency and the client in order to ensure the relationship is as successful and productive as possible.

In addition to defining the scope of work and the budget at the beginning of the year or project, it's also important to establish - in writing - the targets and the measurement criteria. This means expanding the measurement framework beyond just the deliverables (e.g. six news releases) to include definitive targeted goals for the actual results (e.g. 12 interviews or 20 articles). Of course, as you know, there are no guarantees in PR. However, by setting targets it helps to open the dialogue about measurement and success criteria, identifies the tangible goals, and ensures everyone is on the same page about the objectives and desired results.

Targets should be based on the objectives of the campaign and will differ from project to project. Targets should include both qualitative and quantitative measurements including:

Examples of Qualitative Targets:

Development of effective key messages, collateral materials, etc.

Building relationships with key media/analysts/influencers/shareholders

Effective message penetration

Examples of Quantitative Targets:

Ad value equivalents

Audience reach

Number of targeted media interviews, product demos, speaking opportunities, bylined articles, etc.

Increased awareness/perception with key stakeholders based on initial audit

Increased sales/leads/web traffic

Effective budget management/meeting budget

In addition to setting targets, one of the most often neglected parts of creating and implementing a measurement framework is performing regular evaluations and temperature checks which can include:

Regular Team Meetings/Status Reports - The optimal frequency of team meetings and status reports will depend on the level of activity and your personal preferences, but it is important to gather the entire PR team (and extended marketing communications team from time-to-time, as well) to share information and status updates, and ensure that everyone is on track. Remember there's usually a cost involved in gathering your agency team for meetings/having them compile reports, so you need to consider the value you're receiving from these meetings versus the proactive communications activities your consultants could be otherwise conducting.

Monthly Service Summaries with Invoice - At a minimum, at the end of each month/project, the agency should submit a service summary detailing the exact scope of activities performed. This will often accompany your invoice to provide additional backup information to the invoiced fees.

Post-Event Learning Evaluations (a.k.a. post-mortems) - It's crucial after every event or major project - whether it's a huge success and especially if it's not - to sit down and review your key learnings from the event and record the successes, evaluate the success rates of achieving the set targets, and brainstorm what you'd do differently next time. It's valuable to identify and record these learnings as a reminder for next time you do a similar project, and in case not all of the same players are involved next time, to make the next project an even greater success.

Quarterly Review Meetings - Everyone gets busy and quarterly review meetings can be a tricky thing to schedule, but holding at least one annual review is crucial to getting the maximum value and results from your agency. Get out your list of quantitative and qualitative targets - in addition to your master plan and detailed scope of work - and track your progress and successes. This will help you identify what areas have been achieved and what areas need more focus. If things aren't working as planned, then you can take that time to evaluate why, pursue a new direction or pull the plug in favour of a different tactic. This gives you a chance to review the plan in light of any organizational changes/goal shifts and adapt accordingly. A regular review meeting of this nature also gives you time to step back from the agency relationship and evaluate what's working and what needs to be improved - which is often difficult to make time for when you're in the midst of implementing your day-to-day communications activities.

No communications plan is cast in stone - the business world is ever changing and your communications plan needs to be flexible enough to change with it. Creating a measurement framework as part of your communications plan will help provide a basis for evaluating and updating your plan. Your plan may need to be updated every few months to reflect the team's success rates, evolving company objectives and changing business environment - but it's worthwhile to take the time to create a plan and measurement criteria to give you and your agency a clearly defined roadmap for where you want to go.

Published in PR Canada in 2005