Political Measurement

Chapter 4 of Paine’s “Measure What Matters” is all about choosing the right measurement tool, and this past Tuesday I ran across a very timely article on PR Daily connecting Election Day and measurement tools. The article talked about how Heather Whaling, founder of Geben Communications, once worked at an agency specializing in political campaigns. She says a very basic and obvious measurement tool her agency used was whether or not its candidate won at the polls. Paine would say this type of measurement indicator focused on outcomes.

Whaling also discussed another important measurement tool used to gauge her agency’s success. Whaling says it didn’t matter how many people saw a piece of the agency’s campaign material, what really mattered was if the agency was able to “sway votes.” In Chapter 4 of “Measure What Matters” Paine describes this concept as engagement and defines engagement as someone taking some action beyond viewing or reading. 

Paine also says measuring engagement is a way to determine if you are making connections with your audience. Whaling’s agency understood the importance of engagement as a measure of campaign success and connection with voters on Election Day.

This example goes to show how measurement becomes applicable in places outside the realm of strict PR and place a part in important event such as Election Day. Whaling’s experience measuring engagement on the campaign trail shows we all have something to measure regardless of our field of work.