All posts by Rebecca Denison

Rebecca Denison

Klout Adds Context to Automated Influence?

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Klout recently announced its latest feature: +K. Similar to Google’s +1, Klout asks that you give users a +K for each topic for which they have influenced you. In theory, Klout scores will now include context and topical relevance.

For example, if you look at my profile topics, you could give me a +K if I have influenced you on social media measurement or public relations. Each user gets five +K’s each day, which means you have to be registered to give others feedback and cannot give unlimited feedback. You can also give a +K to each topic for a person once each week. So if I give you a +K for social media on Monday, then I cannot give you another +K for social media until the following Monday. And +K’s will not last forever, they have an expiration date.

Klout explains that influence can change over time. While there are plenty of people who are influential about SXSW in the first few months of the year, there is hardly anyone talking about it right now. So I may give you a +K for SXSW in March, but a +K for summer beers in June. Influence can be fleeting, and it can grow and shift over time, and Klout is trying to account for that. Continue reading →

Rebecca Denison

Can mPACT Measure Your Online Impact?

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mBLAST recently launched a free version of its tool mPACT which claims to find influencers based on topics or keywords. mPACT looks through, “a database of over 25 million articles, 8 million blog posts, and 753 million social media entries.”

So there’s no doubt that there is plenty of data to be had. But does their algorithm work? mPACT assigns an influence score as well if you sign up for the Pro account, but it’s unclear what metrics factor into this score.

I ran a couple of tests to see how well the tool works for finding influencers. Continue reading →

Rebecca Denison

How Do You Use Numbers to Tell You What Works?

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The last post I wrote received some thoughtful comments that were far more valuable than the actual post itself, IMO.

John Trader in particular made some really great points, including the thought below which is at the heart of many measurement problems:

“We are so focused on our silos that we tend to forget why we are doing what we do – increase sales and convert leads.”

Instead of focusing only on your own efforts and work, you have to focus on the big picture. At the end of the day, all of our jobs are to drive business outcomes like sales. No matter what tactics or channels you are using, you have to define what is working by what is eventually driving sales or other outcomes. Continue reading →

Rebecca Denison

Should User Experience Be a PR function? Should Measurement?

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I was listening to a podcast from the Measure Mob the other day, and it made me think about what pieces of social media are owned by PR. More specifically, I mean which pieces we are willing to take ownership of.

The Measure Men offered an example about how marketing folks focus a great deal on how they are driving traffic to the website, but they don’t seem to care about bounce rates or conversions. In other words, they’re only focused on what they think is their job: driving the traffic. The user experience once they get there doesn’t seem to matter to them.

But it’s not just marketing. I think a great many of us are guilty of focusing on our own little silo without thinking about the larger picture. You may drive engagement with your online community, but are your efforts somehow driving increased traffic to your customer services department? Shouldn’t you care about that? Continue reading →

Rebecca Denison

Metrics and Cockfosters

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I’ve been a bit delinquent in writing my fair share of posts recently due to my recent vacation to London. I spent one glorious week with my little sister and parents exploring one of the oldest cities in the world.

Continually struck by the historic and surreal atmosphere of the city, I often daydreamed about how different my life could be. What if my ancestors hadn’t left for the new world, would I live in London? Would I still giggle at words like Cockfosters and bangers and mash? (Hang with me for a moment, I promise this isn’t an entirely sentimental and introspective post.) Continue reading →

Jason Mollica, Rebecca Denison

PRBC Calls Malarkey

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Last week, PR Daily had a post titled “Advertising vs. PR: How to Measure the Value of Editorial Coverage.” One of the quotes from the post said:

“When assessing the monetary value of publicity, many public relations professionals use a simple equation to put a dollar value on a specific placement. This value is determined by first knowing the advertising value.”

This was just one of the points that we had an issue with while reading.

When it comes to getting publicity, everything does not have a monetary value. Most importantly, you attempt to garner exposure and positive publicity for your client’s company or product.  The value in having a front page story or feature story on a client goes way beyond money.  As a matter of fact, in my experience, I have never put a dollar figure on any potential placements.

In all honesty, putting a monetary value on any placement is a mistake. It gives a false sense of “victory.” Does paying for a 30-second spot in prime time mean you’ll be a success? No way.  Sure, you’ll get eyes on the company or product, but it by no means guarantees anything. Continue reading →

Rebecca Denison

Using Twitter as a Pulse, Not a Firehose

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In case you’re still not convinced about Twitter as a research tool, Twitter’s CEO, Jacky Dorsey, recently gave some wise advice at The Economist’s Ideas Economy: Innovation event:

It’s never been easier to start a company since Twitter exists. We get this instant pulse of what’s happening around any topic.

Let’s face it: Twitter is not for everyone. Not every company or every brand should have an official Twitter handle. I think we will all be happy if our toilet brush never says hello to us in 140 characters.

One thing is pretty universally true, though. With more than 450,000 people checking it out every day, there are bound to be people talking about your product or your core consumers talking about other products they love. Continue reading →

Rebecca Denison

True Value of an Online Connection

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(CC) Courtesy Flickr user katerha

As we all seek to understand social media and the digital space, more and more folks seem to be looking for the easy answer to the question, “what is an online fan, follower or connection worth?”

There have been some polarized theories and valuations, but it seems that the true answer is actually quite simple (though not easy): it depends.

While I could foresee a template or framework in the future, most of us are still trying to figure this out for ourselves. And the answers will vary widely, but figuring out what a fan or follower is worth to you shouldn’t be impossible. Continue reading →

Rebecca Denison

Traditional vs. Social Media Impressions

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Lately I’ve been thinking a great deal about social media impressions. More specifically, I’ve been wondering why they don’t really exist.

There are blog posts and seminars cropping up every week that want to teach you about this thing called social media measurement. And while the lessons are not always identical, I find that the overarching message is the same: there is no silver bullet. There are general guidelines, examples and maybe even best practices. But there’s not one easy solution.

Social media is still an untamed beast, and we have a lot to learn before we can truly make a connection between a specific blog post or tweet of Facebook message and some kind of consumer behavior. This is pretty much considered the holy grail of social media.

If I decided to try a new brand of sweet tea, I’m sure the company would love to be able to tie it back to one of their Facebook status updates. Unfortunately, without asking me at the grocery store which post drove me to buy, there is no real way to be sure. Continue reading →

Rebecca Denison

How to: Keep Your PR Measurement Resolutions

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It’s that time of year. Everyone is making New Year’s resolutions, and if you’re like most other PR or marketing professionals, measurement is on your list initiatives for the year ahead. If not, it’s likely that you want to continually improve and be able to make a greater impact with the same budget, for example. And if you’re like most other people in this world, you’ll probably lose some (or all) of your motivation as the year goes on.

One of the most important ways to ensure proper measurement is to set benchmarks. It’s hard to measure if you have “moved the needle” or made an impact if you don’t know where you started.

The tricky part about using benchmarks to measure, though, is that you have to measure or set the benchmarks in the first place. And as new clients and campaigns emerge throughout the year, sometimes setting the proper benchmarks gets lost in the shuffle. Below are a few tips to ensure measurement will be a part of your New Year. Continue reading →