Our point of view about online communication measuring
This post abridges, conceptually, what we believe (today) concerning the online results measuring. Using this as tee-off, we will later on go deeper in more practical analysis questions.
There is some euphoria regarding the communication results measuring: the Idea is that, being possible to track the users’ online behavior, we can achieve a precise measuring level as never before.
”In the internet, everything is measurable.”
In fact, this was the biggest nonsense that agencies sold to the market. With this idea in mind, clients believed they would have all the answers they never had on offline communication. Result: disappointment. Therefore if everything is measurable and the client doesn’t understand the investment return in online communication, it must be the agency’s fault. Right?
Our proposal is less megalomaniac. We believe that the first step is to know how to differentiate measuring accuracy and precision.
Accuracy deals with the measuring proximity level to its real value (and how it corresponds to reality). Precision refers to the reproduction ability and to the measuring conformity (and in which measure the measuring instrument is calibrated).
An offline example help us to understand: the People Meter (device that records the TV channels broadcasted) can be 100% precise, that is, there is no technical or sample fault that allows mistakes in the records. But this device is not 100% exact, because it doesn’t consider that people might be not paying attention to the TV in the moment it is on.
A common mistake that occurs in discussions about measuring is to confuse the concepts of accuracy and precision, or even worst, worry only about precision. What we see in most cases are discussions about which tools must be use or which social networks must be tracked. Actually, people forget about tracing a prior strategic line that relates business objectives, communication objectives and metrics. They think only of the tactic part – tools and metrics that will be used.
It seems that it is expected that the tools’ evolution, by itself, Will take care of delivering all the necessary answers, which wrongly disregards the intelligence of people behind the numbers.
These tools, in general, have two functions:
1. reduce the analysis error level.
- the fakefollowers.com, which finds out how many fake profiles follow determined person or company in Twitter.
2. increase the analysis reach (detail).
- the Visible Measures, which shows the behavior of the person that is watching the video, capturing the moments in which she rewinds to watch again a piece of the vídeo, pauses, skips a piece or give up watching.
- the EyeWonder: the tool called Ad Visibility Suite calculates the total seconds a person is exposed to the rich media advertisement and which parts of the advertisement are visible according to the position of the page’s scroll bar. This way we can compare the result that advertisements placed in different places of a same page can generate.
- Migre.me (URLs shorter): sums the number of followers non-repeated of each user that twitted a message. If a post is re-twitted by 50 people, Migre.me sums the number of followers of these 50 people and all the others that use the link.
It doesn’t matter which and how many metrics you use to increase the data precision. They will never answer if the communication makes a difference for the business or not. We must, prior to everything, worry with accuracy data, data that report to the business’ strategy and objectives. Everything else will be cheating: you pretend to have reached an interesting conclusion, the client pretends he understood.
Tool shows potential audience of each tweet
The new functionality was launched by Migre.me (URLs’ shorter) last week and works in a very simple way: it sums the number of followers non- repeated of each user that twitted the message. If a post is re-twitted by 50 people, Migre.me sums the number of followers of these 50 people and all the others that use the link. Test the system here.
We will know, therefore, how many twitter profiles were impacted. That doesn’t mean that we know how many people actually read the message.
I believe a study that would help us to reach this number: analyze the times in which people open more their timelines in Brazil, and use the result to ponder the total number of followers possibly reached.
This way, we could reach reasoning like, for example: Knowing that between 10 and 11 AM, 40% of Brazilian twitter users are looking at their timelines, we can multiply the number of followers possibly impacted by 0.40 to reach a more realistic number.
How to define acceptable communication goals
“Nobody plans strategies in a vacuum.” Adapted from McCarthy and Perreault (1997)
We are well aware that we should understand the influence of environment in strategic planning. That’s why in this post we want to speak about another use that this kind of study has:
Generate criteria from which goals and result projections of communication will be defined.
There are several entities that can influence companies (competitors, partners, suppliers, syndicates, etc.). But not even them affect the results in the same way. That’s why we need ponder criteria – that point in an intelligent way the grade and intensity with which each entity interacts and affects the company – to help us define priorities in the moment f thinking in strategies.
A good criteria to define the weights of each entity in the market environment is to consider their influence grade, positive or negative, in the company’s businesses. Based on the “attractiveness” analysis methodology of Matrix GE, this Idea can lead to strategies focused in the more influencing entities, that is, that have a greater weight in forming their results. For example, if the company spends 40% of its invoicing with a supplier, He certainly has priority in his relationship politics with it.
Besides the entities, the variables have a relationship even more direct with the measuring work in communication, since they influence the company’s results as a whole. Variables are certain society sceneries features that can, in some way, interfere positive or negatively in the company’s results.
Operational Variables (climate conditions, relationship with suppliers, etc.)
Competitive Variables (competitors’ advertisement, new players appearing, etc.)
Economic Variables (economic growth, unemployment, Brazil Risk, exchange rate, etc.)
Politics Variables (relationship with governments, international policies, etc.)
Sociocultural Variables (demographic profile, fashion, trends, etc.)
Legal Variables (laws to protect consumers, restrictions to advertisement, etc.)
Technologic Variables (new production technologies, legislation on P&D, etc)
We can sophisticate the business environment analysis idea, trying to make it more precise and usable by communication managers.
For that, we have to identify the relative importance of each of the variables and its respective sub-factors. The idea is to attribute weights, so that the sum always adds to 1 or 100%, both in the variables and sub-factors scope. Variables and sub-factors of greater influence should receive greater weights (YANAZE, 2007).
If the sub-factor affects negatively, it Will receive a grade situated between 0 and 1 (grade attribution examples: 0,9 if the influence is slightly negative; 0,3 if it is strongly negative). If the sub-factor is neutral, (it won’t affect the company’s results), the grade should be 1. If the sub-factor favors the company, its grade should be bigger than 1 (examples: 1,1 when the factor promises a slightly positive influence; 1,5 or more when the sub-factor presents itself with an elevated grade of positive influence). The values added or subtracted to the grade 1 shall represent in percentage what the analyst considers as the amount of gains or losses in the results expected from marketing actions. This way, the multiplication of grades by the sub-factors weights results in pondered grades that, summed, leads to the respective variable grade. The variables grades, multiplied by their respective weights, result in a number that demonstrate to the analyst the current environment condition, favorable/neutral/unfavorable, and in which intensity (influence percentage).
With this number, we have more criteria to answer the question “which results can the communication generate in this context?” For example, if the final number obtained is 0,8 (environmental unfavorablility), the company should lower its expectation in 20% (and goals, if they exist) related to the communication results.
We can’t be demanded by similar communication results in years that present different sceneries.
It is important to highlight that the pondering and attributing of favorable, neutral or unfavorable grades should not be done in an intuitive way. The team that will perform this analysis should have pertinent information that may help this projection of a subjective perception in relation to the market environment, translating it quantitatively in a number that facilitates the communication ROI evaluation. It is necessary to take into account that, when a communication strategy is defined, the planning and goals are defined in a moment that the variables present themselves in certain conditions. Along the time between planning, execution and measuring of results, these variables may already have suffered changes. So, the analysis is not a function in an isolated moment (prior to planning). The constant monitoring of variables should allow a constant upgrading of the environment favorability grade (or not), helping reviewing objectives, goals, used indicators and even strategies to be implemented. In the book ROI Communication, we propose that this pondering be done to make more discerning the thinking of Douglas Hubbard about how to know IF it is worthy to invest in measuring.
Facebook campaigns effectiveness
Nielsen took a closer look at 14 Facebook ad campaigns that incorporated the “Become A Fan” engagement unit and sliced the effectiveness results three different ways, by each of the types of ads available on Facebook: 1) Lift from a standard “Homepage Ad”; 2) Lift from an ad that featured social context or “Homepage ads with Social Context”; and 3) Lift from “Organic Ads,” newsfeed stories that are sent to friends of users who engage with advertising on a brand.
For those Homepage ads at the top of the marketing funnel, awareness increased on average by 4% between exposed and control audiences. Purchase intent also increased on average by 2% following ad exposure on Facebook.
Comparing the responses of those users who had seen ads with social context against users who saw ads with no social context from the same campaign, we saw a measurable lift in lift.
While exposure to the homepage ad itself increased ad recall, those users exposed to both the “paid ad” and the organic impression remembered the ad at three times the rate of those just exposed to the paid homepage ad. We saw a similar effect for the other two metrics evaluated. Homepage ads increased awareness of the product or brand by 4% on average, but exposure to both homepage ads and organic ads increased awareness by a delta of 13% versus the control group. Exposure to organic impressions also impacted purchase intent as well, increasing the impact of the ad from 2% to 8%.
Full text via: Nielsen Wire
How to assure precision on online research?
Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University found out that people are more sincere when answering to researches in amateur-like websites. The website providing less confidence would be the more indicated to find out personal information of the person inquired.
In the research, issued on the Journal of Consumer Research some volunteers answered to a set of personal questions in three websites having different layouts. Some questions were:
- Have you ever betrayed your relationship partner?
- Have you ever driven when you were sure you had gone beyond alcoholic limits according to the law?
The first website had an official-looking layout (logo, formal fonts, and sober colors). The second had a layout deemed neutral by researchers. The third had an amateur appearance (well-colored, cartoon icons).
The result shows that people who answered the research through amateur website are twice more likely to admit illegal behavior (or socially disapproved) than that of people who accessed professional-looking website. Besides that, one third of participants have provided their real personal e-mails.
Researchers explained that people believe “less professional” websites are unlikely to store or to use their personal information.
The way the question is made also has influence on quantity of answers.
People did not answer to the question “Have you ever gone out with someone just to let another person jealous?”
But the level of answers increases significantly if the question is: “In case you have already gone out with someone just to let another person jealous, how much anti-ethic was it?”
The second question turns aside the attention on the fact that the person is uncovering personal information. Thus, a more sincere answer is obtained.
Responsible for the research: Alessandro Acquisti, Leslie John and George Loewenstein.
Thanks for the tip, Gustavo Mini (Minimalismo – Oi FM)
Via: Technology Review
About our book launch: Communication ROI
Last Tuesday, we issued our book launch: ROI em Comunicação: Avaliação e Mensuração (ROI in Communication: Evaluation and Measurement), though Difusão Editora.
The main message given by us is that the book is a good fist step, a starting point for the evolution of this theme that still begins in Brazilian companies. The challenge of reading the book critically and starting to apply already existing knowledge on the day-by-day of communication areas is still remaining.
More than speaking of the event, we would like to thank everybody who worked for this issue come true. We will not list name by name, since the list would be huge. It’s worth mentioning the effort of Difusão Editora’s staff, of the researchers from CEACOM-ECA/USP who provided input for the chapter about planning and measurement of the biggest Brazilian companies, and to the sponsors of the research (Petrobras, Natura, Basf, Tetrapak, Odebrecht).
We also thank FAPCOM by the excellent auditorium in which launching lectures were delivered, Marcelo Botta (Caverna de Conteúdo) who produced our advertising video, and, obviously, our families and friends who supported us during the period of development of the book. We hope you enjoy the reading. We also expect your constructive criticism, so that we may evolve together in the discussion of the subject.
Our Book | Communication ROI: Evaluation and Measurement
It was hard work, but it’s done!
ROI em Comunicação: Avaliação e Mensuração – first Brazilian book on measurement of results in communication
Author: Mitsuru Yanaze (titular-professor at ECA-USP)
Co-authors: Otávio Freire (Marketing professor at USP) and Diego Senise (Data Intelligence analyst of AgênciaClick Isobar, graduated by ECA-USP).
In another words, we from InComMetrics.
The reason leading us to write this book was the same that gave birth to the blog: our discomfort at seeing the lack of criteria shown upon evaluating communication works. We believe that this book helps professionals to have more references and knowledge necessary to face the dialog between communication and business results.
The book is divided into four parts:
I. 30 methodologies-reference in measurement
We searched companies, agencies, research institutes (domestic and foreign) in order to discover the best on measurement out there nowadays. In addition, we issued some methodologies created by Mitsuru Yanaze on consulting for big Brazilian companies.
II. Unprecedented research featuring 50 of the biggest Brazilian companies (Biggest and Best ranking, from Exame Magazine)
The CEACOM/ECA-USP has researched how these professionals plan, evaluate and measure the communication results and how internal communication clients see their work.
III. How to measure communication results of your company
Orientation from authors on ROI measurement within organizations: relation of objectives, goals, and communication indicators, focusing on cash flow, results indication and balance sheet.
IV. What other authors teach us
Analysis of several Brazilian and foreign authors’ texts about measurement, efficacy on communication, brand valorization and return on investment.
@incommetrics_
The future of communication is now!
Eki Digital Signage is the name of the company that developed this technology.
Via: Advertising Lab
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