Guest Post by Jen Zingsheim Phillips
The August #MeasurePR chat featured an appropriately august panel–Heidi Sullivan, SVP, Product & Interim Managing Director, Canada at Cision; Dan Farkas, an Instructor of Strategic Communication at Ohio University; and Rachael King who offers PR & partnerships for startups in addition to co-hosting The Shepod.
Our main topic of the month was multimedia””and, of course, how to measure it.
We started by kicking off with introductions, and the guests all had interesting backgrounds that led to their focus on measurement:
First Heidi Sullivan:
A1. SVP@Cision & wear lots of hats. Started as PR Pro & fell in love w/ measurement, content & tech to drive brands’ messages. #measurepr
”” Heidi Sullivan (@hksully) August 9, 2016
A1. Marketers get big budgets b/c they are seen as a profit center. Measurement is key to the future success of PR. #measurepr
”” Heidi Sullivan (@hksully) August 9, 2016
Dan Farkas had a very interesting path:
Q1 #measurePR I spent 10 years in TV news & got out. I saw a need for visual content, then saw a better needs to align with business goals.
”” Dan Farkas (@danfarkas) August 9, 2016
He’d like to make multimedia more accessible, and the way to do that is through measurement:
Q1 #measurePR I’ve seen many small groups shy away from multimedia because they can’t measure success. Would love to change that.
”” Dan Farkas (@danfarkas) August 9, 2016
Rachael King shared her path too:
A1. I’ve been working in comms at tech cos for years – I love helping startups early on when earned media can really make a diff #measurePR
”” Rachael King (@rachaelgking) August 9, 2016
Next, we got down to the topic at hand: multimedia. First, we talked about the resurgence of “old-style” multimedia, like podcasting, that is experiencing a Renaissance of sorts while new stuff (like AR/VR) is emerging””the question is, why?
Dan suggests the gym is a partial explanation:
@jenzings I call it the gym analogy. For every person reading on a treadmill you see earbuds and people staring at the TV. 1/2 #MeasurePR
”” Dan Farkas (@danfarkas) August 9, 2016
Heidi notes the rise of ad blockers:
A2. Ad blockers & mobile growth=seamless experience btwn brands & friends. Perfect fit 4 AR/VR, influencer mktg & multimedia. #measurepr
”” Heidi Sullivan (@hksully) August 9, 2016
And Rachael noted the ease of creation as a possible reason for the reemergence of podcasting:
A2. IMHO new tech is why we’re seeing a resurgence in (awesome) old forms of media like podcasts — easier to make, easier to get #measurePR
”” Rachael King (@rachaelgking) August 9, 2016
Heidi pointed out that multimedia is very effective:
A2. We’ve been saying Content is King forever. That’s b/c trad ads aren’t as effective. Multimedia is one form of what’s working. #measurepr
”” Heidi Sullivan (@hksully) August 9, 2016
The real question is how does one measure multimedia effectively? Chat participants had a variety of good answers.
Emma Hawes noted benchmarks come first:
A3. Set benchmarks based on research…from the start. #measurepr
”” Emma Hawes (@emmamhawes) August 9, 2016
Dan Farkas pointed to a familiar campaign to show good measurement:
Q3: The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was near perfect. Capture a visual moment, prompt sharing with friends and connect to donations #measurepr
”” Dan Farkas (@danfarkas) August 9, 2016
Elise Perkins made an excellent point about getting common agreement first:
@hksully yes – and getting clients/decision-makers to agree to measurable goals is the first step! #measurepr
”” Elise Perkins (@ep_comms) August 9, 2016
The next question asked for examples of multimedia ideas gone wrong, and right off the bat, Jessica Bates had the “winner”:
@jenzings A4. A piece of serious data turned into an animated GIF. It was the wrong format for the data and cringe-worthy #measurepr
”” Jessica Bates (@jesserker) August 9, 2016
Heidi pointed to the “infographics just because” problem:
A4. Also, infographics 4 the sake of infographics. Make an info-g when you say “Cool stats!” not just cuz you want one. #measurepr
”” Heidi Sullivan (@hksully) August 9, 2016
She wasn’t the only one to note this problem:
A4.2: Infographics should also tell a story — not serve as a replacement for a random array of data #measurePR
”” Greg Rokisky (@GregRokisky) August 9, 2016
Next, we moved on to recommendations for tools for multimedia, which moved beyond just recommendations for measurement, and included tools for creating too:
A5. @Canva is amazing. I’ve recently re-ignited my love affair with this tool & am making beautiful things. #measurepr
”” Jessica Bates (@jesserker) August 9, 2016
.@danfarkas I have a Yeti microphone for my podcast. It’s awesome and affordable. #measurepr
”” Heidi Sullivan (@hksully) August 9, 2016
We use Zencastr for podcasting & love good old Photoshop – use every day for creation. #measurepr
”” Heidi Sullivan (@hksully) August 9, 2016
Austin Gaule had good recommendations for measuring tools””
Excel, Bitly, and most important…mind power! Most measurement can be done for free using Excel! #measurePRhttps://t.co/kiZvc3XqOV
”” Austin Gaule (@austinomaha) August 9, 2016
And, for a perfect example of multimedia measurement, while most noted the unattainability of perfection, Kim Fredrich summed up the goal for near-perfect:
A6: Coordinated between all platforms, all with measurable goals and then, once success hits, building on that. #measurePR
”” Kim Fredrich (@StylishMarketer) August 9, 2016
Dan encouraged PR pros to get every bit of value out of created multimedia:
I don’t think there is a perfect campaign. I do think successful campaigns get every inch out of the multimedia tube as possible #measurepr
”” Dan Farkas (@danfarkas) August 9, 2016
…because it can be expensive to create:
A6: Multimedia can have higher costs. The more content you get out of that video crew (or person) for a day pays high dividends #measurepr
”” Dan Farkas (@danfarkas) August 9, 2016
It was a great and lively discussion, with a lot of input that isn’t highlighted in this summary, so please check out the #measurePR transcript for August 9 to see what you might have missed (or refresh your memory!).
One quick and important announcement that bears repeating here: the #MeasurePR Twitter chat will move to a new day of the week, starting on September 9, 2016. From then on, join the chat on the second Thursday of the month””time is the same, we start at noon Eastern””for your monthly dose of smart measurement talk.
Image: Laura Lee Moreau via Unsplash, CC Zero
Jen Zingsheim is a writer and strategic consultant based in New Hampshire. She most recently served as Vice President of Content Marketing and Media Analysis for eOutreach/CustomScoop, analyzing media, digital content, and trends for Fortune 500 clients. Earlier in her career, Jen worked at Fleishman-Hillard’s St. Louis headquarters, and the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
[…] back to fill in for Shonali Burke during the last #MeasurePR Twitter chat on August 9. The official summary and transcript are posted on her blog, Waxing Unlyrical, pop on over and check it out for the full […]