Maybe all the talk about the need for more measurement and research in PR and corporate communication is having a measureable effect. The most comprehensive research study of the field to date, the Generally Accepted Practices (GAP) study, suggests that more communicators are getting involved in the research and measurement of programs, which is taking on a more prominent role in the communication process.
Conducted by the Strategic Communication and Public Relations Center at the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, in cooperation with IABC and other industry partners, the study found budgets allocated by corporate PR departments to measurement and evaluation have more than doubled, from 4 percent of total budget reported in 2009 (and in prior years’ GAP studies) to 9 percent in 2011. GAP VII surveyed 620 senior communicators in the United States.
As reported in the September-October 2012 IABC Communication World, the cause of this increase is unclear. It could be an indication that communication is being viewed as more strategic than in years past, and therefore programs are being evaluated on actual results. Or it could reflect the increased availability and use of digital measurement tools and services, which have become more widely adopted over the past two to three years.
One head of communication measurement and evaluation of a Fortune 500 company speculated the steep increase may have also occurred for a very different reason. Maybe the budget boosts are needed simply because there is currently no single method or tool that fully meets the requirements of communicators. This causes communication departments to invest in multiple measurement tools and processes
For a unique opportunity to dig much deeper into the art and science of communication measurement? Plan now to join two of North America’s premier experts, Angela Sinickas, author of How to Measure Your Communication Programs, and Claire Watson, ABC, APR and a master communication strategist for the Communitelligence webinar,Internal communications measurement: taking it to the next level.
