What does the future of PR measurement hold?

Measurement professionals, PR agencies, and clients from 33 countries met in Lisbon to determine the future of PR research, measurement, and evaluation. Dr. David Rockland, partner and manager director of Ketchum's Global Research Network, led the discussion.

The result was the Measurement Agenda 2020, which is billed as a “series of action steps to build upon the outcome of the Measurement Summit one year ago in Barcelona, where a similar international group of delegates created the Barcelona Principles of Measurement.”

“In Barcelona, we created immutable principles about how you evaluate PR,” Rockland said. “Now, in Lisbon, we have set a course for the future and where this field needs to head in the next several years.”

To help determine the most important issues facing the industry, delegates voted from among 12 topics. The top-ranking ones were:

1. Determining how best to measure public relations' ROI (89 percent);

2. Creating and adopting global standards for social media measurement (83 percent);

3. Solidifying campaign and program measurement's role as an intrinsic part of the PR toolkit (73 percent);

4. Instituting client education programs such that clients insist on measurement of outputs, outcomes, and business results from public relations programs (61 percent).

The industry organizations taking part in the Lisbon Summit were the Public Relations Society of America, the International Communications Consultancy Organization, the Institute for Public Relations Commission on Measurement and Evaluation, the International Association for Measurement and Evaluation of Communications, and the Council of PR Firms.