Your last communications or marketing campaign netted 100,000 click-throughs, 500,000 “likes” and 1 million impressions. You proudly take those numbers to

your general manager or marketing partner, and the response is somewhere between watching paint dry and selling hot chocolate in a sauna. It’s just not – well — selling.
Whether it’s internal or external communications, many of us have made some good strides in quantifying more measureable results we’ve achieved with the time and resources our businesses have invested.

The key now for more of us is to move beyond flat statistics, and toward meaningful numbers that show an impact on the top- or bottom line: what I call the move from outputs to outcomes. They’re two concepts that mean a world of difference to anyone with a P&L accountability. And it should make just as much of a difference for those of us in marketing and communications roles.

A simple example would be moving beyond what used to be traditional media placements or impressions (outputs) to showing an increase in sales in markets where a story appeared (and no other paid/earned/owned media played).  One is a number; the other connects the number to a topline business result.

With internal communications, the same concepts apply.  Measuring how many employees read an article or attended a town hall is an output; showing their response to key information presented at the meeting or in a story, and its connection – for example – to key employee engagement or retention strategies and results is quite another. It’s all about taking that proverbial next step. And it takes work.

Of course, the complexity of the digital world makes it increasingly challenging to illustrate a direct connection, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done with discipline, aligned metrics and agreed-upon sources of data.

With social media in particular, the trends of reporting outputs prevail — with “likes,” “shares” and “clicks” owning the day for many who are trying to show the impact of their work. I’m not discounting what they may signal or contribute to a business result, but I am suggesting we can push to show how they better connect to a top or bottom-line goal.

In fact, there’s rarely a single metric that truly shows the impact of a well-done marketing or communications effort.  The more we can connect a number to the result that directly impacts the business, the better we influence executives, and better we secure funding for future programs.

So how do we make the move toward real business outcomes with social media and other communications strategies?  Here are a few tried and true ideas to get the ball rolling.

• Confirm what matters with the P&L owner: It sounds amazingly basic, but aligning on what metrics matter is the critical first and last step in any well-managed communication or marketing effort. Get specific up front, and keep every interim and final report targeted on what you’ve agreed upon.
• Align on the sources of measurement: It’s not just the metric that matters. You need to agree on any sources of data that define that metric. Maybe you use Nielsen or a proprietary data source.  Maybe you don’t. Whatever sources you intend to use, make sure your “customer” agrees that data is coming from a supplier he or she trusts and values. And while you’re at it, you should agree on reporting protocols for results – timing and format.
• Move the dial with each new effort. Maybe you’re starting with so-called “vanity metrics” in social media: “likes,” Twitter followers, email-newsletter open rates and such. That’s an okay place to start, but begin to introduce additional metrics that carry additional – arguable stronger  — metrics.  Customer retention, relevant revenue, sales volume and relevant growth are emerging as those types of metrics, but the point is we should push to drive more direct connections and build from our experiences each time. Read more about social media metrics in this Harvard Business Review link: http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/12/why_your_social_media_metrics.html
• Share wins and losses. In the never-ending quest to “get measurement right,”  you’d be doing a big favor for your organization/function and personal reputation if you share what works and what doesn’t through your experiences. Whether it’s the right or wrong metric, data source or reporting mechanism, accelerate the learning curve for the business/brand you’re supporting by sharing wins – and losses — with lessons learned along the path.

The discipline of measurement doesn’t just happen spontaneously; it takes time, and we’ve all seen how quickly the rules of the game can change. But following a few simple steps can keep us all in-step with the right outcomes. That’s a result worth measuring.