Adapted from our April 2010 Newsletter. Want to be the first to know? Sign up here…

We’d all love to “set it and forget it” as they say on that cheesy infomercial… But the truth is things change. All the time. In front of our eyes.

Since spring is the time for renewal, now is an ideal time to re-examine your measurement program. Of course, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to measurement, so we’ve compiled a list of five tips to get you on the right track:

Five tips to clean up your measurement program

Tips courtesy of MediaMiser’s account manager, Stephanie Luedee.

Fortunately you don’t need the rubber gloves and mop for this one, but you will need to apply a bit of critical thinking. What you’ll need to evaluate here will of course depend on what you are already measuring and what your goals are. Here are a few factors to look at for your own measurement spring cleaning:

1. Toolkit tune-up
Are you equipped with the right tools? Is each achieving what you need from it? One example: have you started monitoring social media? Are you measuring the right social media? Take a look at the tools you’re using and make sure you’ve got the complete set.

2. Keyword Cleanse
The likely scenario is you set up a set of keywords one day and let your software take care of the rest! The reality is the only constant in business  is change. So it’s very likely your media monitoring keywords change over time. Think about if any of the following have changed:

• Competitors – any new ones on the scene? Perhaps one has fizzled out or changed focus?
• Issues – issues that affect your organization may change over time, make sure you include all the latest.
• Buzzwords – buzzwords come and go all the time, yesterday’s ‘eco-friendly’ is today’s ‘green’ you may be missing key coverage if they’re not up-to-date.

3. Rejuvenate your rolodex
Is your media contact list up-to-date? What about your monitoring distribution list? The longer you put off updating contact lists, then save yourself the hassle later and update now.

4. Polish up parameters
Does your toning scale still make sense? Are ad values and circulation numbers accurate? Look at the values you’re using to measure and make sure they still fit with your overall goals.

5. Prune your process
Have you allocated the proper resources? Are your reports getting out in a timely matter? Take a minute to examine your process and so that your measurement is happening in an efficient and effective manner.

The Altimeter Group and Web Analytics Demystified have joined forces to produce an ‘Open Research’ (read: free!) report about social media analytics and building a measurement strategy. From Jeremiah’s blog post:

Industry Challenge:  ”I can’t measure social media ROI”
Marketers around the globe are ranging from toe dipping to jumping all the way into the social marketing space –yet most lack a measurement yardstick.  While experiments can fly under the radar for a short term, without having a measurement strategy, you run the risk of not improving what you’re doing, justifying investments, and the appearance of being aloof to upper management.  To be successful, all programs (even new media) must have a measurement strategy, and we’ve done just that.

Last month, our PR and social media measurement newsletter, MediaPulse, was all about building a measurement strategy… If you loved the idea, but aren’t sure where to start, then this report is for you!

Read Jeremiah Owyang’s blog post for more info about the report, or skip straight to SlideShare to read the full report: Social Media Analytics, A new framework for measuring results in social media.

During the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, we monitored Canadian English-language online newspapers, news websites, and online magazines to determine the nature and extent of coverage of our medal-winning athletes.  Specifically, we analyzed coverage the day before, the day of, and the day after their wins.

The two athletes with the highest number of mentions were Alexandre Bilodeau (Feb. 14-16) and Joannie Rochette (Feb. 26-28). Rochette, who won a figure skating bronze, came out on top, garnering around 23 per cent more coverage than Bilodeau’s with his gold in moguls.

Rochette’s number one status is less driven by the colour of her medal and more by the human-interest angle. She was set to perform on Feb. 27, however, two days before her competition her mother passed away hours after arriving in Vancouver.  Rochette earned public and media admiration for bravely choosing to stay in the competition and skate in her mother’s honour.

While part of Bilodeau’s media popularity can be traced to his being the first Canadian to win gold on Canadian soil, his story too had a strong human-interest component – one that focused on his brother Frédéric, who has Cerebral Palsy (CP).   Throughout the games, Bilodeau credited Frédéric for his success, calling him “his inspiration.”

This emotional story also affected the amount of coverage about CP.  We found an increase of 943 per cent in online mentions between the week before Bilodeau’s gold medal win (Feb. 7-13) with the week after (Feb. 14-20).

The brothers’ story raised awareness of CP in two ways. First, because Alexandre’s gold medal win was so high-profile, and second, Frédéric brought a touching element to the story making it that much more special for the media and audience alike. This  provided a unique opportunity for audiences to get educated on cerebral palsy, and to broaden the awareness of various charitable organizations dedicated to CP.

See: Bilodeau’s esteem for brother sparks greater awareness of cerebral palsy

To further the human interest element of the story, Alexandre Bilodeau put his money where his heart is, donating his $25,000 cheque for winning gold to the Canadian Association of Paediatric Health Centres in support of research into CP, making the story that much more appealing and genuine to the media.

Has this heightened awareness of CP through Alexandre’s and Frédéric’s story translated into greater donations? We hope so, and if you do too, consider clicking here.