If you doubt the importance of measurement and metrics, consider the results of a recent Gallup Poll, which showed that executives spend 24% of their time on “plan measurement and monitoring,” second only to “strategic thinking/planning.”

Here are some surefire ways to help you measure the right activities and then translate your results—so that everyone gets the message.

Be proactive
Don’t wait to be asked, take control of the measurement process.

Speak the language of business
Measurement starts with the company’s overall business objectives and determination of key performance indicators (KPIs), which in turn should be used to define PR metrics.

Use several angles
Measuring just one form of PR activity, such as print-media mentions, doesn’t offer a comprehensive view of your PR strategy. Use multifaceted metrics so you can start to identify trends in coverage, sentiment, and favorability. Armed with such analysis, you can begin to anticipate the outcome and consequences of your organization’s next move.

Offer strategic advice
With metrics in hand, your mission becomes identifying the opportunities and risks facing the company. You need to understand the key business issues and any “cause and effect” relationships that may result from your communications strategy.

Opinions + observation + viewpoints = perception
PR is all about managing perception. Perception defines the environment in which the company operates and is often a leading indicator of the company’s performance.

Measure the quality of media relationships
Behind the scenes, your team works hard to educate the media about your organization and the issues it’s concerned with. That constant effort not only ensures good coverage but also prevents you from being linked to unfavorable issues that have little to do with your company. So in addition to providing a balanced view of your coverage, consider developing a way to measure the process of educating the media.

Assess the competition
Competitive benchmarking can be done for almost any type of measurement, but it should be based on your company’s objectives. surveys and media analysis can be structured to assess your organization’s results against those of your competitors.

Build and measure strategic relationships
Since PR is primarily concerned with managing perception and building strategic relationships, this should be one of the key metrics that you report to senior leadership. Relationships can be effectively measured through surveys or focus groups.

Presentation is important
Recognize that the presentation of your measurement report is important. You must understand your audience and the type of metrics it needs.