Advocating for a communications budget is both art and science, requiring you to connect needs to goals through correlation modeling, tactfully ask for what you need and collaborate with strategic partners across other functions.

This process is also a reminder that knowing how to measure, and what to report back, is fundamental to proving your work matters.

1. Cull data to prioritize the highest-return activities.

Speaking the language of open rates, click-throughs, website visits, engagements and survey results are table stakes to bring to the budget conversation. But that doesn’t mean you give them all the same weight.

“’ We got eight Facebook likes’ is not impressing anybody,” said communications leader and Ragan Advisory Board member Amanda Ponzar. “If what you’re doing doesn’t matter, cut it.”

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