INDUSTRY GUIDE
From Measurement to Management
PART 3: PREFERENCE
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From Measurement to Management Part 3: Preference
EDITOR’S NOTE Preference is the third of a five-part PR measurement series based on the five key dimensions adopted in the LEWIS measurement framework. Previous guides include: Introduction with Foreword from AMEC Exposure Engagement Subsequent guides include: Impact Advocacy
CONTENTS Overview 4 Primary research during the consideration stage
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Securing media’s preference 7 Influencer as pivot point
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Key KPIs 9
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From Measurement to Management Part 3: Preference
OVERVIEW Making a brand visible is no small task. And as stated previously, making sure it’s discussed is important. But the marketing tires really hit the road when a brand’s offerings and point of view become preferred over its competitors and cohorts. This is where KPIs start shifting from measurement of communications output toward measurement of business outcome. Preference measurement begins to answer the question: are communications not just visible, but changing minds? An examination of preference is essentially a study of the period of evaluation before people reach an action point – to make a purchase or take an issue position. The question that can be answered through analysis is “have communications influenced opinion and intention?”.
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From Measurement to Management Part 3: Preference
PRIMARY RESEARCH DURING THE CONSIDERATION STAGE To a large degree, preference is best measured through direct, primary research. Veteran product managers are often quite well versed with the research phase of the purchaser experience and the KPIs associated with this. Once brand awareness KPIs are established (see: Exposure), metrics center on association of a product brand with its intended need, then consideration of purchase, and finally, intent to purchase. Marketers view these as escalating measures of preference for a product or service. Likewise, for issues and crisis communicators, the focus leans toward similarly inspired KPIs, e.g., percentage holding desirable opinion, consideration and intent to vote for candidates, etc. Brand managers often center their measurement more on measures of general sentiment (% positive) or association with key brand attributes.
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From Measurement to Management Part 3: Preference
But even with steady industry guidance on what to measure, this is another area of measurement that, for years, was simply too expensive for many brands. And strangely, among the brands that were executing this research, public relations professionals were often left out of this particular metrics conversation, other than as vignette-like data points during a performance review or campaign kickoff. Clearly, measurement of each of these is more effective and useful when conducted dynamically throughout a campaign. The good news is this kind of research is remarkably feasible, affordable and effective today. It requires a shift in approach by PR teams worldwide from mere reporting to true study. Rather than taking an ad hoc or even audit-like approach to securing these insights, today’s leader companies are measuring these KPIs dynamically. They are querying panels drawn from samples of target audiences not just at the onset of campaigns, but also during execution milestones, and at the end or refresh of the campaign cycle. Online tools like Qualtrics and Zoomerang, paired with the expertise of a new influx of data-smart communicators, are changing the way campaigns are being steered. By asking audiences directly and often whether campaigns are influencing their intentions, content can be enhanced mid-stream. New segments and their preferences can be identified and trends can be leveraged while campaigns are still unfurling, making them incrementally more effective.
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From Measurement to Management Part 3: Preference
SECURING MEDIA’S PREFERENCE While effective, conducting primary research isn’t the only way to measure progress when it comes to preference. For PR professionals, the word “earned” in “earned media” refers not just to securing placement, but also securing authority. The preference sought here is among the media. Do journalists prefer your brand’s perspective to that of your nearest competitor? Are you creating stronger associations with key attributes and industry trends than your cohorts? Are you the go-to expert on your brand’s subject? A range of KPIs can be applied to tackle these questions. Increasingly, brands are looking first toward Share of Voice as a key KPI for preference. This is calculated by identifying the key message and market competitors around a particular topic. For any topic, by looking at the number of articles including each brand as a proportion of the total coverage of the topic among the group, communicators can discern which brands’ perspectives are rising to the top. These measures are useful in niches with like-sized competitors, but because they are still bound by overall exposure levels and correlate highly with each brand’s overall marketing spend, most organizations also seek additional measures of preference. Some of the metrics that add more contextual depth to measurement are focused on prominence within stories. These include looking at the proportion of placements in which a company is the sole brand featured, or that include a top executive’s quote. Key message penetration ratio is another useful measure as to whether your brand’s mantra is preferred over others’.
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From Measurement to Management Part 3: Preference
INFLUENCER AS PIVOT POINT Another method by which brands are measuring preference in earned channels is via influencers. Key influencers are identified based on the topics they cover and the readership that they gather. The relative influence of each journalist or analyst is often measured based on the degree to which their audience engages, using the same KPIs brands might use (see: Engagement). First the “universe� of key influencers is identified, often confined to a top five, ten, 20 or 50 influencers. Measurement is applied around specific preference KPIs: those that examine the proportion of pre-identified key influencers who have covered a brand, the number of new influencers to feature the brand, and the frequency of coverage by super-influencers. Frequent refreshes of the key influencer lists is critical to the validity of these measures. But as the number of journalists covering a topic declines over time, the individual influence of each becomes more important to examine with a data-led approach.
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From Measurement to Management Part 3: Preference
KEY KPIs In addition to outcome-focused measures of brand and purchase consideration, LEWIS recommends the following earned media preference KPIs as the output metrics easiest for most brands to consistently collect and apply: Share of Voice: the proportion of placements on key topics that include client brand, compared to competitors Number / ratio of placements as sole featured brand Number / ratio of placements including executive quote Number / ratio of placements including key message Percentage of identified key influencers covering brand Number of new key influencers covering brand Preference measurement provides communicators with useful insight into the degree to which brands are moving minds during the critical research phase of opinion formulation. This is the final requisite step on the continuum toward audience action. The penultimate chapter in this series focuses on measuring the effect: IMPACT.
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White Paper Exposure
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