Leslie Stefanik, Vice President, Marketing, PublicRelayAs a first-timer to an AMEC Global Summit, I went in with eyes wide open, full of anticipation. What would it be like, spending a few days with a global group of measurement geeks? Quite invigorating as it turns out!

If you haven’t heard of AMEC, you should definitely check them out. AMEC is the International Association for Measurement and Evaluation of Communication. It is the world’s largest media intelligence and insights professional organization, representing organizations and practitioners who provide media evaluation and communication research. Their membership spans 86 countries worldwide.Since they have a maniacal focus on measurement, the group works to help educate practitioners on both why you should measure your communications performance and also how to measure using practical frameworks like the Integrated Evaluation Framework.Now on to the key learnings from the Summit:

1. Adoption of comprehensive measurement programs by practitioners continues to grow, but we still have work to do. While use of metrics like AVEs are steadily declining, many communicators are having a harder time letting go of other non-insightful metrics like reach and impressions. Practitioners and agencies alike felt that more education is needed in the market. Comprehensive and integrated measurement programs even sound complicated – why would I want to add more work just to prove my worth? This is where the case studies shared at the summit are invaluable. They detail each brand’s measurement journey – documenting “before” and “after” stages as well as how to get buy in from the organization to adopt new measurement standards and metrics. Nearly all case studies cited the Integrated Evaluation Framework as a starting point, many modifying it to fit their specific needs.
2. We have to embrace failure and lose the FOFO (Fear of Finding Out) mentality. Getting your measurement program “right” is a process. You learn at every step and your teams become more agile as you go along. Change isn’t easy, but the insights you gain from a comprehensive measurement program that pinpoints where you are doing well AND where you need to pivot will make it all worth it.
3. Measurement is NOT just a look back. While you will set benchmarks as you begin your measurement program, it should not only be used to see what happened. The most valuable aspect of your program is understanding what to do next. While I was busy at the Summit, our CEO Eric Koefoot interviewed Michael Schneider, VP of Communications at First Data, about his take on what a world-class measurement program looks like. Have a listen.

But perhaps my most valuable takeaway was learning how AMEC is pronounced – enjoy!

About the Author: Having worked on both the agency and industry sides of marketing and communications, Leslie brings extensive corporate communications, branding and demand generation practice and understanding to the team at PublicRelay. Formerly the VP of Digital Marketing for Optymyze, Leslie holds a Bachelor’s of Business Administration in Marketing from Youngstown State University.