CMI’s Robert Rose discusses the challenges and benefits of building an integrated measurement plan
Truly creating a comprehensive integrated communications and marketing measurement plan is a challenge for virtually every brand and company. This week, AirPR hosted the webinar, “Building an Integrated Measurement Plan,” where Robert Rose, Chief Strategy Officer for the Content Marketing Institute discussed with Heidi Sullivan, President of HKSully Consulting, the challenges of true integration and measurement that actually demonstrates an impact on business results.
Rose explained, “The convergence that we’re seeing with content, influencers, PR, and marketing is such an important part of our business. The struggle is how we approach measurement when, a lot of the time, we’re siloed from ourselves. The most important thing to get to is, ‘What problem are we actually trying to solve here?’”
Starting with the goal
The most important aspect of an integrated measurement plan is determining not just the KPIs, but the business goal that you are trying to accomplish. According to Rose, “For every single program we have, there should be some overriding business goal we are trying to achieve. Goals are only goals if they can be monetized.”
Rose highlights goals within a program as falling into three categories in the buyer funnel: Subscribe, Win or Grow.
Understanding where in the funnel we are targeting our efforts in content marketing and PR will help us determine our goals, which helps us understand our KPIs, which then helps us understand the metrics that drive those KPIs.
Integrated content & marketing measurement pyramid
After we have identified those goals, explains Rose, we need to look at KPIs and audience indicators. This helps us to figure out which goals are the responsibility of PR pros, marketers, social media teams, etc. Start with Investment Goals, and then you can determine the Key KPIs and Audience Indicators, which are the drivers that assist us in figuring out how to report on the success of those goals.
Three types of metrics
Rose suggests looking at three different types of metrics:
- Attention Metrics (Audience development). Measuring consumption and brand awareness as the means of widening the funnel.
- Social Metrics (Conversation influence). Measuring the creation of influence, the power of sharing, and the larger discussion about our approach.
- Effectiveness Metrics (Content purpose). Measuring intended purpose at influencing behavior at various parts of the funnel.
As you identify the metrics that drive the KPIs, that then drive the Investment Goals, you can begin to assign the metrics and optimization of different teams across the marketing mix, integrating measurement cross-functionally across marketing and communications.
Identifying the next steps
Rose and Sullivan discussed best practices for making the case for integrating metrics, measurement, and goals to the C-Suite, taking the first step in building a plan, and identifying the tools that give you the metrics you need.
AirPR’s software helps content marketing and communications professionals identify trends, gain insights and attribute Earned and Owned Media results back to business results.
To watch the entire webinar, please click here.