Here & there, now & then
3 ways to measure how your message changed behavior
By Angela Sinickas, ABC, Diva of Diagnostics
You send out a brochure, and widgets start flying off the shelves. But who owns that success? You and your brochure? The sales team and its efforts? The in-store marketing folks and their signage?
Location, location, location One simple way to create a control group: Send your message to one location, but not to the other, and compare the difference in results. Image (left) by William Cho; image (right) by Boris Panov
Answer that question — and make sure communicators get credit for their share of sales — with these three measurement models:
1. Before and after
First conduct some baseline measurements to identify the current levels before you begin communicating. Next, establish your target levels and track objective reality over time.
Example: A privately held client wanted to increase its profitability. They established a profit-sharing plan that would reward employees as profits rose. We conducted a random telephone survey of 100 employees asking two questions:
- What percentage of profit do you believe the company is making (knowledge)?
- What percentage should it make (attitude)?
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Choose the right tool
Survey or focus group? Inventory or interview?
When International Association of Business Communicators Gold Quill judges gather for a drink or three after a day of being deciders, we joke that we should put on a seminar about how to win a Gold Quill award. We’d call it:
“You may already have lost.”
What’s the right tool for the job? Let Angela Sinickas help you decide. Image by royalty free
The reason: Too many communicators submit award entries without the winning component — measurement. In fact, to save time in the judging process, I often start by looking at the evaluation section. No measurement? No statue.
There’s nothing like measurement to transform a Gold Quill aspirant from a loser into a winner. Or a communicator from an order-taker — “Would you like fries with that brochure, Sir?” — into a consultant.
That transformation extends to the approval process. Because once you start documenting the benefits your communications are delivering to your organization’s bottom line, it’s amazing how your reviewers will stop worrying about whether you’re running the headlines in blue or black.
At Become an ROI Rock Star With the Diva of Diagnostics — a two-day Master Class with Angela Sinickas on Oct. 12-13 in Washington, D.C. — you’ll learn how to:
- Select the best measurement tools for your communications
- Draft a focus group guide to apply to your own campaign
- Turn lame-ass questions into effective survey queries
- Interpret raw data from surveys, then present results so they say what you mean and make a meaningful impact
- Measure on a dime — or less: Learn about free measurement tools you can use
We expect tickets to this event to sell out fast. If you’d like to be one of 50 lucky communicators to learn to measure your communications like Angela Sinickas does, please register now.
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