An Analytics Case Study
Executing a Comprehensive Measurement Strategy
Project Type: Research & Analytics
Timeline: March 2021 - March 2022
Project Type: Research & Analytics
Timeline: March 2021 - March 2022
When we think of digital marketing and ad spend, we often picture flashy brands sporting bright colors, sassy social media feeds, and hugely-innovative consumer products promoted in a minimalist way. However, given the highly-interconnected nature of the global economy, and, younger generations’ increasing calls for all brands to work actively in securing consumer trust, no company is too established nor “traditional” to simply sit out from engaging with media and staking out a clear identity.
Our client, a global manufacturing technologies brand focused on clean power generation and sustainability, was seeking a partner in both developing and executing a multi-pronged media communications strategy, while also conducting ongoing performance measurement to allow for refinements overtime. In addition to evaluating the performance of the company’s paid and organic content, the client was also interested in investigating the efforts, successes, and watch-outs experienced by their primary competitors.
There is no such thing as a “one and done” performance measurement strategy. In creating a reporting system to track the client’s media spend and progress towards their goals, we proposed conducting monthly monitoring, through which key company stakeholders would be provided with one-page (front and back) scorecards tracking movement in KPIs (key performance indicators) and identifying potential suggestions for improvement by the third week of each month. For efficiency and clarity, we proposed breaking out the client’s metrics into four coverage areas according to the “PESO” model – paid ROI, earned coverage, social media conversation, and owned performance – and scoring each area against client goals independently. In setting parameters on the data sourced, we looked exclusively at global, English-language coverage.
Success within each of the four “performance pillars” was informed by tracking a specific set of KPIs. To secure consistency in month-to-month tracking, we ensured that there were no discrepancies nor changes in how KPIs were sourced or weighted at any point in reporting. For each of the four pillars, overall scores were evaluated using the weightings indicated below:
Click-Through Rate: 50%
Cost-Per-Click: 50%
Brand Prominence: 25%
Peer Share of Voice: 25%
Total Impressions: 25%
Positive Content: 25%
Twitter Engagement: 25%
TWT Follower Growth: 25%
LI Engagement: 25%
LI Follower Growth: 25%
Page Views: 33%
Loyalty Rate: 33%
Engagement Rate: 33%
Each month, metrics were scored individually based on a proprietary model our team created, blending the past three years of performance data provided by the client, and the client’s identified goals. Metrics were scored on a scale of 1.0 to 5.0, and averaged according to the formulations noted above to arrive at the pillar score. For instance, if in September the client scored a 3.5 on Brand Prominence, a 4.0 on Share of Voice, a 4.4 on Impressions, and a 4.1 on Positive Sentiment, the Earned Media score for the month would calculate out to 4.0 out of a possible 5.0 (3.5 + 4.0 + 4.4 + 4.1 = 16.0 / 4 =4.0).
In addition to providing a breakdown of all KPIs and determining the score for each pillar, we also created a rolled-up score for the month (a direct average of all four performance areas) and developed a bulleted list of insights and actionable findings – “what went well,” “what didn’t go well,” and “what we do next.” Following off the calculation noted above, if the client scored a 4.2 on Paid, a 4.0 on Earned, a 4.4 on Social, and a 4.6 on Owned, their score for the month would come out to 4.3.
Given that these reports were going to be delivered to members of the C-Suite and other high level executives, we wanted to ensure that they were designed to be high-level, actionable, and visually appealing. I was tasked with designing the reporting template for these monthly scorecards. In building this report, I relied upon the brand guidelines passed along to me by the client (heavy on blues and greys, with red and purple accents) and aimed to strike a balance between visual charts showing the client's KPIs and text to provide context around these numbers. I made sure to emphasize the key points (namely, the overall and pillar scores for each month) while also adding space to provide a more detailed breakdown as to how we arrived at these scores.
Below, you'll find the final design for the monthly performance scorecard. Please note that all client-identifiable information has been blinded; the text, data points, scores, and even dates have been replaced with placeholder text and dummy data.
Conducting monthly performance measurement not only provided the client with deep insights into their media strategy on a regular basis, but allowed our communications team to demonstrate the value of their efforts in a specific, measurable way. After conducting a full fiscal year of performance measurement, and now entering a second, the following represent some of the high-level recommendations we’ve made and changes we’ve successfully implemented:
Identified social media as the client’s relative weakness towards the outset of the workstream. Noting that posts drawing on partnerships and showing off big-budget sustainability projects tended to garner the most engagement, especially when multimedia (images and video) were involved, our revamped social strategy leaned increasingly on these elements to boost engagement on Twitter by 104% and on LinkedIn by 72%.
Sought out more frequent opportunities for company executives and spokespeople to share thought leadership through speaking engagements at conferences, panel appearances, and interviews with well-known trade publications. These proactive engagements helped boost monthly Earned Media pillar scores modestly from 3.4 in Month One to 3.8 by Month Twelve, demonstrating the greatest impact on the Brand Prominence and Positive Sentiment KPIs.
More closely tracked paid ad effectiveness and pulled the appropriate levers to maximize ROI and ensure content reached the optimal audiences. Cut low-performing advertising in specific regional publications and focused more heavily on LinkedIn ads, tailoring the specific mix of funding on a region-by-region basis. Paid Media was a high-performing area from the start of reporting, but our efforts were still able to bump scores slightly from 4.3 in Month One to 4.5 by Month Twelve.
While this project has proven successful in helping the client make progress towards their performance goals and prove the effectiveness of our partnership, the work has also provided several learnings for our team.
First of all, the importance of transparency and clarity when managing clients cannot be understated, especially when engaging with stakeholders across international borders. Some initial confusion around the methodology behind our model during the first two months of reporting led us to schedule an in-depth session with the client so we could walk them through how are scores are calculated, step-by-step, rather than leaving the numbers behind some sort of “black box.” Of course, not every KPI demonstrated continuous improvement throughout the project lifespan. In particular, share of voice decreased several points during the year, in part as the client lagged behind some of their more aspirational, highly media-friendly competitors. We also acknowledged that some of the performance boost we saw out of the Owned Media pillar likely owed to the client’s migration away from long-form content in favor of shorter, snappier posts and the associated boost in engagement rate.
This workstream has directly demonstrated the power of a communications strategy that is backed by data and thoughtful, consistent measurement. We are excited to continue on in the second year of this partnership and hope to replicate and refine this process for other clients in the future.