What is your greatest challenge in measuring communication success?

I often try without success to quantify the contribution of communication to the bottom line. I know that communication contributes "significantly" to the bottom line. But the question is, how significantly? How do I isolate the portion of corporate performance attributable to communication, and can anyone post this on the balance sheet or on the profit & loss account? It is always difficult to point at any numerical evidence showing that the corporate communication department deserves its budget, yet communication has so much to do with the success of the organisation. I resolved this dilemma by realising that communication is the umpire in the game of business interactions. It counts the numbers, but it may not make up the numbers. It is like air--you may not see it, yet it is everywhere and, in fact, you cannot live without it.

NKEM N. JACOBS

Lagos, Nigeria

Of the many challenges and opportunities in measuring communication, the two I think are most critical are: 1) getting leadership to understand that baseline measures are essential to determining success or just moving the needle in the right direction and 2) getting communicators to stop using abstract numbers in lieu of meaningful measures based on bottom-line-related objectives.

Producing 12 issues of a newsletter does not mean that employees read, understood or acted on the information in those newsletters. And a binder full of press clippings does not mean that the public read, understood or acted on the information in those clips.

Measuring communication outcomes is a critical element in being accepted as a strategic communication director.

WILMA MATHEWS, ABC 

Tempe, Ariz., USA

The greatest challenge is separating out the components of communication success so you truly understand the impact of the variables--and that can be costly and time-consuming.

Communication is a complex thing and the dynamics of its success sometimes hard to fathom. How do you determine exactly how much the CEO's personality contributed to the success--or failure--of an enterprise-wide communication initiative? Sometimes success is a matter of synergy--everything coming together at exactly the right moment to create "magic." Things move so fast in companies today that by the time you've finished measuring, your findings can be almost irrelevant. But this shouldn't stop you from measuring what can be measured. Pursuing the Holy Grail of measurement is a quest that requires dogged determination and absolute belief in its power.

MERYL DAVID, ABC

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

The first challenge is to convince clients (sometimes even other communicators) that effective measurement of behaviour change needs to be done at all; and, second, to agree on the methodology. In this multi-billion-dollar sector dominated by engineers, planners and macroeconomists, there is still a preference for the old-school approach that measures outputs, rather than results, e.g., how many bridges were built, rather than how many children walk across them to get to school or women to gather water. The communication function--when present at all--is contracted to consultants, whose terms of reference usually indicate amounts rather than effects. A vast need exists to educate international development professionals on the importance of communication as a mainstream and measurable function in every project.

PENNY POOLE, ABC

Manila, Philippines

In four words ... measuring the right benchmarks. Strategic communication is a means, not an end to success. By nature, it is complex, omni-directional and intangible--qualities that make it next to impossible to quantify. Rarely does communication have a direct impact on financial performance, but it can strongly influence key factors that affect business outcomes.

The greatest challenge in determining communication value is to clearly understand its strengths and limitations and to focus on measuring that which it can directly affect: building awareness, creating understanding, influencing opinion and motivating behaviour.

CLAIRE WATSON, ABC, APR 

Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada