We are all for measuring what matters and we believe that these metrics of measurement should be ranked – some may fall into the ‘good to have’ category while others should be taken seriously.
Vanity metrics are those statistics that are good for optics but bad for decision making. Examples of vanity metrics include impressions, advertising value “equivalents” (AVEs), mentions, likes, shares, re-tweets, clicks, page views and downloads to name a few.
With vanity metrics, you cannot increase the number of customers or even build loyal customers. So, they are statistics, just not the stats that matter to C-level execs and won’t get you that additional budget.
According to the PR Professional’s Guide to Measurement, a collaborative report published by leading international PR Associations, the International Association for Measurement and Evaluation of Communication (AMEC), the International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO) and the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA), three top tips for measurement include:
1. Starting with the end in mind; setting measurable goals, targets and KPI metrics during the campaign planning process.
2. Measuring holistically across the PESO channels using AMEC’s Integrated Evaluation Framework
3. Moving measurement beyond content analysis to demonstrate outtakes, outcomes as well as the organisational impact of PR activities.
PESO is a measurement model developed by Gini Dietrich in 2014 and stands for Paid, Earned, Shared and Owned media. Using the PESO model to measure media efforts helps all the channels as a single unit and each work to strengthen the other.
How Do You Achieve Measurement That Matters?
Measuring what matters essentially comes down to developing owned content that is useful to the identified target audience. This content could form the basis of a paid media campaign, which could lead to earned media outputs through social sharing and other online conversations.