We predict that 2011 is the year when the mainstream business community will get web serious. Significant additional resources will be ploughed into the hiring of new staff and the up-skilling of existing staff. As a medium term consequence, there will be less outsourcing of the core internet marketing functions.

We have identified 7 business trends that we believe are responsible for driving this wave of interest in internet marketing related training:

1. Marketers are being forced to up-skill – they’re being pressured to take greater direct responsibility for their website content, the online management of their brands, and new media platforms encompassing PR and social media. The days of the IT dept managing website content and all things internet are drawing to a close.

2. Established marketing agencies are struggling to keep up with the online play – clients are starting to question why they should pay a premium for L Plate campaign results. This is particularly true across the sub-disciplines of search marketing, i.e. website search engine optimisation, paid search, and digital asset optimisation.

3. As the importance of the internet from a lead generation/ ROI perspective steadily increases, so will the investment in human resources – there is now a strong business case for organisations to consider bringing on additional staff into newly created roles to support the Marketing Manager, e.g. Online Marketing Manager, Community Engagement Manager, Content Manager and Analytics Manager.

4. The rise and rise of social media – there is a shift away from the question of ‘should we?’ to one of ‘how should we?’ Even organisations that aren’t ready to actively participate in social media are realising that the market research or ‘listening insight’ potential of the medium is too valuable to ignore.

5. Everyday Public Relations within an online context doesn’t require an intermediary PR agency – a basic understanding of keyword discovery techniques and search engine dynamics enables any organisation to release their own costless, targeted and measurable online communications. The businesses community are just starting to get this.

6. Website Content Management Systems (CMS) are now affordable to any sized business, and more can be done with them – organisations can now easily and quickly produce, optimise and publish their own website multimedia content. Quality content production has become an important online business objective.

7. Analytics have come centre stage – cheaper, faster, user-friendly data reporting has facilitated better and more frequent decision-making. Online campaign success relies heavily on a feedback cycle of data analysis and campaign setting adjustment.

A summary of the principles:

1. The Importance of Goal Setting and Measurement

Fundamentally important, goals should be as quantitative as possible and address who, what, when and how much impact is expected from a public relations campaign. Traditional and social media should be measured as well as changes in stakeholder awareness, comprehension, attitude and behavior.

2. Media Measurement Requires Quantity and Quality

This principle acknowledges that overall clip counts and impressions are usually meaningless. Instead media measurement should account for impressions among stakeholder audiences and quality (eg. tone, credibility of the source and media outlet), message delivery, inclusion of 3rd party spokespersons, prominence and visual dimension. Importantly, this principle also suggests that quality can be defined as negative, positive or neutral.

3. AVEs are not the Value of Public Relations

There was near-total agreement on this principle in Barcelona (92%) but the group was split on what other validated metrics to use in place of AVEs. (Weighted Media Cost was one suggestion.). The legitimate intent here is not to debate the validity of AVEs (which simply measure the cost of media space) but to move beyond this measure once and for all. Also, this principle acknowledges that multipliers are “silly” and should never be applied unless proven to exist in a specific case.

4. Social Media Can and Should be Measured

• Organizations need clearly defined goals and outcomes for social media
• Evaluating quality and quantity is critical just as with traditional media
• Media content analysis should be supplemented by web and search analytics, sales and CRM data, survey data and other methods.
• Given the scale and volume of social media, technology-assisted analysis may be necessary.
• Measurement must focus on conversations and communities, not “coverage”
• Understanding reach and influence is important, but existing sources are not acceptable, transparent or consistent enough to be reliable. Experimentation and testing are key to success.

A recent paper published by the Institute’s Commission on Public Relations Measurement and Evaluation (download here) outlined practical steps for public relations practitioners who want to adopt web analytics as part of their media measurement strategy.

5. Measuring Outcomes is Preferred to Measuring Media Results

• This principle suggests that: Outcomes include shifts in awareness, comprehension, attitude and behavior related to purchase, donations, brand equity, corporate reputation, employee engagement, public policy investment decisions and other shifts in audiences regarding a company, NGO, government or entity as well as the audience’s own beliefs and behaviors.
• The proposal that “benchmark and tracking survey research are the preferred practices for quantitative measurement” almost certainly will be expanded to include and acknowledge the value of qualitative research methodology. (Some researchers suggest that in addition to being descriptive, PR research is dominated by a short-term quantitative tradition. Some contend “that no everything that counts can be counted and not everything that can be counted, counts.”)
• Standard best practices in survey research — including sample design, question wording and order and statistical analysis - should be applied in total transparency.

6. Business (read: Organizational) Results Can and should be Measured Where Possible

• Models that determine the effects of the quantity and quality of PR outputs on sales or other business metrics, while accounting for other variables that drive sales, are a preferred choice for measuring consumer or brand marketing. Related points are:
• Clients are creating demand for market mix models to evaluate the impact of consumer marketing
• The PR industry needs to understand the value and implications of market mix models for accurate evaluation of consumer marketing PR in contrast to other measurement approaches
• The PR industry needs to develop measures that can provide reliable input into market mix models
• Survey research can also be used to isolate the change in purchasing preference or attitude shift resulting from exposure to PR initiatives.

An important point for consideration was made by Ketchum’s John Paluszek, also chair of the Global Alliance: “The results of other organizations that we serve are critically important. Our field is growing in its service to NGOs, charitable organizations, governments, the military; organizations that fall outside the business perimeter. We should be talking about ‘organizational results’ instead of only ‘business results.’”

7. Transparency and Relicability are Paramount to Sound Measurement

• PR measurement should be done in a manner that is transparent and replicable.

Source: SYDNEY MORNING HERALD - 30/12/09

Source: MASHABLE - 29/12/09

Source: NETT - 24/12/09

Source: NETT - 23/12/09

Source: MASHABLE - 22/12/09

Source: MASHABLE - 21/12/09

Source: NY TIMES - 18/12/09

Source: NY TIMES - 17/12/09