By Johanna Baker-Dowdall and Iggy Pintado
As a senior marketer for many years, it’s been difficult to almost impossible to justify a return on investment on media and communications. At the same time, I’ve worked in organisations that wouldn’t flinch in spending money on communication agencies, professional spokespeople, publicists, and lobbyists to develop and execute impactful messaging.
It seems that the “return” is more qualifiable around planned proactive and reactive outcomes. I wanted to find out more about best practice in this space, so I approached Media & Communications Specialist, Johanna Baker-Dowdall who has been practising her craft for over 25 years. I posed these three questions to her:
Iggy: Is Return on Investment (ROI) a consideration for people wanting to invest in communication activities and initiatives?
Johanna: The idea of ROI on media and communications can be a difficult one to quantify. I have run my own writing and public relations agency for more than two decades and I’ve been asked to quantify the service I provide on numerous occasions. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for measuring your investment to make sure you’re hitting the mark (otherwise why are you doing it?), but when the activities you are undertaking for an individual or organisation are designed to position their name or brand top of a consumer’s mind it can be hard to specifically measure that success until the sales start to roll in for the business, tickets are sold for the event or the person is booked for that big speaking gig.
For example, if I was to ghost-write an opinion piece for a daily newspaper on behalf of a client and then pitch it, the ROI could simply be seeing the piece published. However, I would take it a step further and suggest it is what happens after the piece has been published and the client has been contacted by a different media outlet to comment on a breaking story as an expert in that space that is the real measure of success. The same goes for drafting and sending out a media release for an event. Is the ROI the number of times the event is mentioned in the target media, or is it the buzz built by attendees who tell others how good the event was so there are people waiting eagerly to book for the next event, even if it’s not for another year?
Iggy: Should people consider Return on Outcome (ROO) factors such as contextual messaging, brand reputation and impactful engagement with their audience/constituents?
Johanna: The questions I’ve posed about taking ROI a step or two further to realise true value is really the sweet spot for media and communications activity, and that is where ROO comes into play. When you consider Return on Outcome factors, a good strategic media/comms plan that spans multiple activities across varied media targets will build a brand’s reputation over time to encourage consumer trust. This makes it more likely that consumers will be willing to engage with that person or organisation in the future. Good strategic communications activity builds over time; it’s not something that happens within a week, or even a month. ROO factors like increased credibility, stronger name recall, and better brand recognition are all the result of financial investment but, more importantly, they build to create better outcomes.
“When you consider Return on Outcome factors, a good strategic media/comms plan that spans multiple activities across varied media targets will build a brand’s reputation over time to encourage consumer trust”
My current boss, for instance, is a politician. Our communications plan includes a mix of daily social media activity, monthly opinion pieces, regular e-newsletters and ad hoc media releases, media commentary and letters to the editor, coupled with regular speeches in parliament and updates on committee activity. This strategic plan has resulted in better name recognition (both within parliament and throughout the state), growth in social media following and engagement, more opportunities to connect with constituents and more interviews with media.
A consistent plan and strategic messaging have built over time with the result being a combination of objective and subjective measurables. Obviously, re-election is the ultimate in measurable results, but we’re not quite at that stage yet!
Iggy: What other OUTCOMES need to be considered in the communications space e.g., response management, potential damage control and follow up messaging?
Johanna: Communicating when things go wrong is something that is often forgotten from planning. Everything can be going swimmingly, with brand recognition high and great consumer engagement, but nothing defines how a brand or individual will be remembered as how they respond in a crisis. In the heat of the moment, when all you want is for the drama to end, it can be easy to try to explain it away or blame somebody else to protect yourself/the brand.
Instead of panicking, think beyond the crisis to how you want to be remembered and then work backwards from there. Someone/a brand that gets out in front of a crisis, explains the situation, outlines a plan to respond to the event and then follows through with that plan is going to be in much better control of the message. They will realise better reputational outcomes and gain greater respect. And who knows, they might even pick up some new fans in the process.
That’s a great outcome!
More about Return On Outcome at www.returnonoutcome.com
