Measurement. It is a fundamental part of almost every brief we receive as an agency. And, during November, it is also taking centre stage for the PR industry as a whole, with professionals across the globe marking Measurement Month.

For many, the Association for Measurement and Evaluation of Communications (AMEC)’s annual awareness month is a time to step away from the day job and take stock of their measurement offering.

But, if you are an agency, where do you start in building a measurement and evaluation practice? Seven years ago I launched a central research and analytics function at Citypress. Within just a few weeks we were expanding the team, building closer relationships with clients and, importantly, growing revenue. The team continues to go from strength-to-strength and this year we were named small research and evaluation team of the year by AMEC.

I am convinced that all agencies could see similar benefits from establishing a dedicated measurement practice and here are my top five tips for getting started:

1. Set your methodology. Start by getting what you already do aligned. Make sure that you are calculating consistently across the agency (for example do you use daily or monthly visitor figures for websites?) and know where your numbers are sourced from.
2. Introduce the AMEC framework. AMEC have a free interactive framework tool on their website. It walks you through the process of setting objectives and measuring against them – ensuring you track outputs, audience outtakes and outcomes. Getting all client reporting aligned with this framework will put you on the path to robust measurement. Most importantly, it ensures that your measurement is aligned to your clients’ business objectives – giving PR better cut-through with the Board.
3. Bang the drum internally and identify measurement champions. The biggest challenge is often getting your own internal teams motivated and engaged. We ran training sessions at all levels, showcased best-practice and presented measurement models to clients. Once you identify the consultants who are early adopters, you can leverage these measurement champions to advocate best-practice measurement internally.
4. Maximise free tools. Launching a measurement practice doesn’t have to mean a heavy investment in technology and tools. There are lots of free tools available to get you started and often clients hold a wealth of data internally that can help you track the impact of your campaigns. I kick-started my team with just one paid-for tool but the benefits to clients and our own business soon justified investing in others.
5. Consider joining AMEC. AMEC members have a shared mission to improve measurement across the PR industry so tapping into this community can offer a wealth of ideas and guidance, especially in the early days.

The difference between bog-standard reporting and gold-standard measurement is huge. The good news is that once you get these firm foundations in place, you can begin to identify specialist expertise in areas like attribution, research and econometrics and build out truly integrated and impactful reporting. I look forward to seeing the measurement community continue to grow as more agencies champion the cause.

Marianne Morgan is Director of Research and Analytics at Citypress. Marianne can be found on LinkedIn or at [email protected]