PR-Bridge

ROI, ROI, ROI…one might assume these three little letters would be first on the mind of communicators, particularly as they evaluate 2009 and plan for 2010. Yet, anyone with experience in the industry knows that evaluating the value of a communications program often falls by the wayside in the hurry to implement the next plan or phase of the current plan.

As a result, the rhetorical question contained in the title of this post becomes hazy. Communicators think quite a bit about ROI, but coming up with meaningful methods of determining return are less bountiful. My thinking is that 2010 should be the year of ROI in the communications industry — as should every year — until we have an accepted method of measuring return that is accepted among professionals and our executive brethren.

Below is an excerpt of a comment I posted at PR Nonsense, March Communications’ blog written by Meredith Eaton, which examines some trends for PR in the new year, rightly identifying an increased interest in ROI in the CEO’s office:

“ROI will remain increasingly important, but [I] wonder how the industry will address this challenge. As a former professional and current PR academic, my thinking is that coming up with a reasonable method for measuring ROI is going to take a partnership between practitioners and scholars that is currently only taking place in pockets.

I find it ironic that the industry has about a million social media “gurus,” but only a handful (if that) of widely-acknowledged ROI/measurement experts (such as Katie Paine). The development of ROI is essential for respect in the executive suite, yet the industry lacks the ability to prove its worth.

Overall, from my perspective, it seems as if too many communications professionals think like consultants, rather than CEOs.”

A quick search around the blog world shows that many others are discussing return from a variety of viewpoints. Rachel Rose Belew, for example, examines the difference between the hard and soft sciences of communications writing at her blog The Copywriter’s Crucible. She sees a marriage between the “art” of creativity and “science” of measurement.

Beth Harte, at Marketing Profs Daily Fix, provides a detailed overview of building a strategic communications plan and how one would calculate ROI based on its implementation. Beth also provides a list of links to other pieces she’s written on ROI, which are valuable for anyone hoping to gain insight on the topic.

Of course, no discussion of measurement is complete without acknowledging the leadership of Katie Paine. Her latest post is a clinic in thoughtful thinking about calculating ROI in social media.

My Kent State colleague Sean Williams is also a frequent commentator on ROI at his blog Communication AMMO! His recent post on the theoretical underpinnings of social media provides a basis for thinking about ROI in that area. Sean’s future research will be a real eye-opener as organizations continue to search for measurable methods for developing social media campaigns.

I keep returning to the last point I made in the comment at PR Nonsense regarding the mindset of communicators. The notion that we should emulate consultants (”counselors”), rather than executives seems to be a hindrance to thinking through ROI. If professionals started looking at the business from the viewpoint of the C-level executives they work for, they may find that this perspective naturally leads to greater emphasis on calculating return.

However, students and young professionals are taught to link of themselves as counselors — sitting at the CEO’s table and whispering communications nothings in his ear — rather than as members of the CEO’s operating team, focused on the same things that keep the CEO up at night. In reality, we need to think more like business leaders and less like communicators.

This idea is also central to my conception of integrated communications, which at its heart, means that communications leaders link their strategic plans directly to the plans of the CEO and/or Board of Directors. Conducting this kind of planning forces the communications team to directly focus on the organization’s plan and its outcomes or aspirations.

Making ROI the centerpiece of the industry necessitates cooperation between the professional and academic worlds. I look forward to the day when we have thousands of Katie Paine-like ROI “gurus” tackling measurement. The industry needs it, as do our organizational partners.