The importance of evaluation in communications

EVALUATION IS THE KEY TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

A couple of months ago, it occurred to me that it was taking an inordinate amount of time to write, edit, design, and deliver the Beaumont newsletters (sign up here). We were creating graphics, trawling the internet to find the perfect picture, agonising over word choice. Not a productive use of time.

Collectively, we went through the newsletters we personally get. Which ones do we read? Which ones do we delete? How do we make that decision? When assessing the subscriptions, not once did we think “yeah, the content’s boring but it has such lovely pictures.”

We therefore decided it was time to test our theory: we were going to send out an email with no pictures – just text and links – and see what happened. The result? More people read the email, more people read our article on tone of voice, and more people got in touch.

WHY DOES EVALUATION MATTER?

If you’ve ever been in a strategy call or meeting with one of the team (you can book your free 30-minute strategy call here) you know that, along with the importance of clear objectives, we continually stress the requirement for ongoing evaluation during a campaign.  Once you know where you’re going (your objectives) you need to make sure you’re on the right path to get there (ongoing evaluation).

And yes, the detractors will have their say. Evaluation is costly and time-consuming. But, think of it this way. If you get your communications wrong, or your campaign doesn’t achieve anything, it’ll be more costly, more time-consuming, and more frustrating (and, potentially, more likely to result in your unemployment.)

Evaluation is important.

This month, we’ve put together a short infographic giving a brief overview on how you can start evaluating your communications campaigns. It covers:

• why evaluation is important;
• what the purpose of evaluation is;
• what you can measure (and ideas how); and
• why it should be part of your business culture.