They say “measurement and evaluation is important to improve the probability of achieving program success..” but how?
So previously we learnt that evaluation can be conducted in the beginning of a campaign to inform about the cost, etc; throughout the life of a campaign (process), or at the end of event to sum up research and campaign activities. Now, I will discuss the 3 ways in which evaluation can be done as a formative and summative measurements tool, such as by:
Metrics: it’s a method of evaluation to uncover precise characteristics about reporters or journalist in the way they cover stories. That is, a measurement of the work behaviour of certain journalist. It is to know their position in a story, rather than what is published. It is important because once we know their characteristics/position in a certain issue, a media profile can be built.
For example, there is one newspaper that cover on the development of a small town. You live around there and you are not in support of the construction due to environmental issues. Then, you can collect all the articles about the development written by a journalist over a period of time. After that we can do coding (or by content analysis) to find out what is his/her stand is in the development. It will reveal the level of hostility, dismay, or hope that the individual composes around the subject. Then, since we know their position, we can do something to bring them to a more pleasant situation.
Message exposure: is a way to evaluate how the media and other stakeholder might view the event. Usually involves collecting clippings about our issue/event. Then we look at the style and tone of language used in those published material. There are 3 chances of our event to be reported: objectively, positively, or negatively. It could be a success if the event is reported positively, and vice versa.
& Finally is by Media Impressions: by measuring the number of audience who are exposed to the material in the media. We can measure effective cost per impression by dividing the total cost of the campaign by the total effective impressions (target audience).
These 3 methods are beneficial to maintain cost-effectiveness. We can also use that to bill clients.. Other ways to measure success is by surveys or focus groups which most of you readers are more familiar with. we can use either of these methods or a combination of these for a campaign to be successful.
So.. which one you think is the best way to evaluate? Feel free to comment!