SNCR: Measurement and Evaluation

Here at the NewComm Forum in Santa Rosa, CA, I’m kicking off the conference sessions with new communications strategies for public relations and corporate communications. Katie Paine from KD Paine & Partners, Janet Eden-Harris from Umbria and Blake Cahill from Visible Technologies came together to share some insight on new communications measurement and evaluation.

Blake started us off with the idea of chaos in the market with so many different mediums. Business intelligence from a market perspective is analyzed, especially the comment thread which is a critical part of the discussion. Identifying key people and developing an outreach strategy are key.

A case study from Kodak shared some goals of identifying a market of potential customers to establish tactics to engage them, as well as informing relevant customers about the full scope of features and functionality offered by the Easyshare printer line.

Visible Technology found a huge audience of people with no brand affiliation to a printing device, so a campaign was launched to drive positive conversations and the product launch for Easyshare.

Another software company proved that engagement with a community increased the average volume of comments by 41%: Interaction CREATES dialogue. During the launch the company saw an overall increase in positive sentiment, increase in brand equity and greater event visibility.

Janet Eden-Harris talks about the intuitive nature of male vs. female conversation and use of mediums, whether writing a blog post or other mediums. These patterns of speech gives us a clue to who we are and is important based on the evaluation of marketing campaigns.

Janet brings up a couple case studies, sharing examples of ways companies have used social media.

• Tell me about my brand. Who are they? How do I compare to my competitors?
• Traditional communication asks for customer surveys to find out what people are saying about a brand. Social media says, “I don’t have to give out a survey.” I can look at conversations about my brand. If they’re posting or commenting – I can see that.
• Tell me about my industry. Are there trends I should be paying attention to? Are there sub-segments?
• Tell me about my customers. We want to understand what customers want and know.
• Help me with new product innovation. What do people wish they had?