In order to prove your value as a communicator in the future, your measurement will have to be more sophisticated and take advantage of these emerging tools.

  Katie Delahaye Paine, CEO of Paine Publishing LLC and Publisher of The Measurement AdvisorI can’t tell you how many clients have told me in recent days that when their agency presents results, they know they are “B.S.” because the numbers are ridiculous.We know that professional communicators are far more than just flacks for bad people or cheap alternatives to advertising. Public relations as a practice can and does educate and persuade, provide context and perspective, whether in a crisis or advocating for a cause. But it gets a bad rap because it reports its results in trillions of impressions or billions of clicks.What it should be measuring these days are the things it is best at: saving money by building relationships, trust and empathy; framing and positioning the organization on relevant issues; nourishing loyalty; protecting and enhancing reputations; and helping your organization get found when someone is looking for you.Sadly, none of those wonderful benefits are measured by what most people use for metrics these days.The good news is that there are a number of tools available today or on the near-term horizon that can measure what needs measuring right now. The bad news is that very few practitioners realize they need them in their toolkits.Continue reading here...