Metrics (metriks/)noun: metrics; plural noun: metricses
1. The use or study of poetic meters; prosody.
2. A method of measuring something, or the results obtained from this.
Metrics, a word that can elicit mixed reactions. To some, numbers are cold and impersonal, and to others, measurement is too complex or time-consuming. But wait. Hold my beer.
At its core, communication is about connecting people and ideas. But how do you know if that connection is actually happening? As a communications company that has witnessed the difference proper, accurate, granular measurement can make, and having developed our own proprietary platform – MetricsMatterÔ – let’s set things straight: metrics aren’t just good – they’re essential to every stakeholder in the communications value chain.
And PR is a better industry for it. Here’s why…
2026 will be my 30th year in public relations. As you can well imagine, the industry has gone through many seismic re-evaluations and evolutions in that time. For example, we used to fax out press releases or sit and stuff envelopes to actually mail them out. Press clipping was a physical endeavor (I still have clip books produced for clients).
One thing that plagued the PR industry across the decades has been metrics: reporting return on investment and justifying spend. Influencing opinion and perception has always been an intangible measurement. I mean, how do you know when a person reads a piece of editorial and decides to purchase or simply change their opinion?
And therein lay the legacy challenge: There has been a lack of the ability to track the journey from reader to potential customer to purchase. Thankfully, this legacy challenge is now consigned to the nostalgic waste basket.
Clarity Through Numbers
With the digitization of communications and media, online content becoming metrics provides the accuracy that intuition alone can’t. When we measure open rates, engagement, reach, and conversion rates, we’re not reducing human connection to cold statistics – we’re illuminating what’s working and what isn’t. This wasn’t possible just a decade ago.
For clients, this means no more guessing games. Instead of crossing their fingers that their message resonated with their audience, they can see concrete evidence of influence. A 40% increase in website traffic following a campaign isn’t just a number: it’s actual people taking action, actual engagement happening, and actual business value being created. And those are actual facts. Actually.
Numbers from Pew Research https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/news-platform-fact-sheet/
% of U.S. adults in each demographic group who get news at least sometimes from …
| Television | Radio | Print publications | Digital devices | |
| Total | 63% | 42% | 26% | 86% |
| Men | 61 | 42 | 25 | 86 |
| Women | 66 | 42 | 27 | 85 |
| Ages 18-29 | 46 | 27 | 18 | 91 |
| 30-49 | 51 | 43 | 19 | 91 |
| 50-64 | 72 | 51 | 26 | 87 |
| 65+ | 86 | 43 | 43 | 70 |
| White | 65 | 44 | 28 | 86 |
| Black | 75 | 43 | 26 | 83 |
| Hispanic | 60 | 38 | 21 | 85 |
| Asian* | 47 | 25 | 18 | 91 |
| High school or less | 69 | 42 | 26 | 77 |
| Some college | 63 | 42 | 24 | 89 |
| College+ | 57 | 42 | 28 | 92 |
| Rep/Lean Rep | 65 | 46 | 24 | 86 |
| Dem/Lean Dem | 63 | 39 | 29 | 87 |
* Estimates for Asian adults are representative of English speakers only.
Note: White, Black and Asian adults include those who report being only one race and are not Hispanic; Hispanic adults are of any race.
Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted July 15-Aug. 4, 2024.
Measures also create accountability, and accountability breeds excellence. It also creates agreements and alignment with your clients – avoiding any potential nasty surprises. When communications agencies commit to measurable outcomes, everybody wins. Clients receive transparent reporting on their investment, agencies are motivated to deliver actual outcomes, and the industry in general elevates its standards. It also builds the case for investment in communications, and at a time when the competition for share of voice in pretty much any industry is insane (more players, less media outlets, editors wearing multiple hats, the rise of paid media), building that case has premium value.
This accountability extends beyond reporting. When we consistently track metrics, we find trends that often provide breakthrough insights. Perhaps social media postings in the form of questions generate 200% more engagement than simple statements. Perhaps emails sent Tuesday afternoons have consistently better open rates than Monday mornings. These insights, which come as a result of consistent measurement, equate directly to better results for our clients. And we can go as granular as clients need, which again is incredibly valuable.
MetricsMatter – the platform
Metrics matter so much that 10Fold, as mentioned earlier, developed the MetricsMatter platform, a proprietary platform, available to, and used by, 10Fold clients. You can read more in-depth about the introduction of the platform here, but to summarize, MetricsMatter is:
- An industry-first dashboard that summarizes both communications and marketing results to deliver insights for marketing leaders.
- Retiring perceived value metrics such as “advertising equivalency” or “potential reach” with SaaS software that shows both the results and impact they have on segmented website traffic, as well as other channels.
- Enabling marketing leaders to better optimize strategies, maximize resources and take action based on real-time data.
- Designed for maximum visibility – MetricsMatter allows clients to import any marketing reports or dashboards with open APIs – giving them access to all critical marketing KPIs in one place.
“OK, so show me,” I hear you say. Well, here’s Dez Blanchfield, business and digital transformation MVP and Owner of Sociall with his take on MetricsMatter. Dez’s team surveyed 100 marketing and advertising executives globally, and they found that “80% of these industry professionals’ time is spent sourcing data for reports.”
“Recovering this time is a significant benefit of MetricsMatter 4.0,” Dez adds. “With real-time monitoring, on-demand analysis, and historical reporting, the platform offers an invaluable winning combination.”
Dez concludes that MetricsMatter “is set to revolutionize data-driven decision making in PR and marketing by consolidating diverse data sources into one location, and is the next marketing stack game changer that enables innovators to integrate cutting-edge, enterprise-grade one-stop-shop SaaS-based fully web and mobile ready dashboard, that maximizes ROI and keeps business’ ahead of the competition.”
High praise indeed. And if that wasn’t enough, you can watch an illuminating conversation between Dez and 10Fold Founder and CEO, Susan Thomas, watch the video below:
The Power of Optimization
Of course, one of the greatest values of metrics is that they can inform continuous improvement. With older communications techniques, campaigns took the form of “set and forget” affairs. You’d launch a campaign, cross your fingers, and not review until the end. There were limited options to analyze on the fly and course correct as necessary.
The measurement we now use changes all of this.
With real-time measurement, we can optimize in real-time. So, if a social media campaign is not performing in its first week, we can recommend adjusting messaging, timing, or targeting immediately. This agility makes communications a dynamic, responsive discipline instead of a static process that is attuned to audience needs and market conditions.
Perhaps nowhere is the value of metrics more evident than in ROI demonstration. Communications have traditionally suffered under the reputation of being a “soft” business function – valuable but impossible to measure. Broad-reaching metrics put this myth to rest.
When we can show that a thought leadership campaign generated 150 qualified leads, or an employee communications program cut turnover by 12%, we’re showing actual business impact. This is not only useful in defending budgets but also elevates the strategic importance of communications within organizations.
Building Stronger Client Relationships
Rather than creating additional pressure or scrutiny, as we worried metrics would, we’ve found they cement client relationships. Transparency builds trust. When clients can see exactly what their investment is returning, it creates a foundation for more partnership.
Regular metric discussions become planning meetings with a collaborative twist. Instead of defensive conversations about campaign performance, we’re having strategic conversations about optimization opportunities. Clients become true partners in communications, contributing insights and ideas based on shared data understanding.
Enabling Better Decision-Making
Metrics democratize decision-making by providing teams with objective criteria to judge. Rather than relying on purely subjective judgment or hierarchical fiat, teams can decide based on data. This leads to more effective communications strategies and fewer politics in creative decision-making.
For internal teams, metrics provide learning opportunities. Junior team members can understand why certain approaches work better than others, accelerating their professional development. Senior leaders can make strategic decisions with confidence, knowing they’re backed by solid data.
The Broader Industry Impact
As communications companies pledge themselves to measurement, the entire industry gets better. Common measurement standards enable benchmarking that is more useful, pricing that is more efficient, and expectations that are clearer. Such professionalization attracts better talent and earns more respect for communications as a strategic business practice.
Second, metrics enable innovation. As we are able to precisely quantify what’s working, we can experiment more aggressively with new approaches, knowing that we’ll quickly identify successes and failures.
Moving Forward Together
Metrics aren’t about reducing communications to mere numbers – they’re about optimizing the human impact of our work. When we measure effectively, we ensure that every campaign, every message, and every strategy is optimized for maximum human resonance and business impact.
The companies that embrace measurement today are the ones that will be moving business tomorrow. They’ll have deeper client relationships, more effective campaigns, and improved business results. In our experience, there is nothing cold about numbers that capture real human engagement and real business success.