From volume to value: Three phases of effective communication measurement

Does this sound familiar? 

You spend hours collecting communication metrics, only for them to go unread in a leader’s inbox. You’re asked whether a campaign worked, but it’s difficult for you to answer with confidence. You have data but aren’t sure how to help executives understand what it means and why it matters. 

If that’s your experience, you’re not alone. According to a Ragan Communications Benchmark Report, while 79% of organizations measure internal or external communication in some way, only 3% say their practices are mature, which means measurement occurs frequently, is connected to organizational growth, is supported by proper technology and positions their team as advisors. And just 30% connect communications data to business outcomes. 

That gap is holding communication leaders back from influence and further investment in their teams. 

Strong measurement practices help teams demonstrate value, secure executive buy-in and shape business strategy. Adopting three essential phases of measurement – output, impact and optimize – will help elevate your communication team and demonstrate the value communication brings to your organization. 

1. Output: Start with a strategic foundation 

Communicators often confuse volume with value when it comes to assessing performance, sharing every data point available to showcase how busy their teams have been. But not connecting activity to what leaders care most about can result in missing the mark.  

Before jumping into KPIs, take a step back to identify the enterprise-level priorities your communication strategy supports, such as strengthening organizational culture or improving employee engagement. Then, use these higher-level priorities as a guide to define communication objectives and select data points that show progress. 

Beehive uses a measurement framework that helps communicators connect data to organizational strategies and growth by:  

• Identifying strategic focus areas 

• Selecting business objectives aligned to that area 

• Defining outcomes that indicate progress 

• Determining what communication data helps measure those outcomes 

• Collecting and reviewing data for patterns and insights 

For example, if the objective is to improve employee engagement, the communication outcome might be increased participation in pulse surveys, and a relevant metric could be engagement with culture-related content on the intranet.  

This approach ensures communication performance is directly connected to what matters most in your organization and with your leadership. 

Download our practical guide to measuring what matters to explore this framework. 

Once you’ve identified the right set of metrics to track, establish a sustainable and consistent measurement practice that incorporates a streamlined tech stack and a regular reporting process.  

A tech stack brings together a suite of measurement tools like Cision, Sprout Social, Critical Mention or Meltwater, in combination with internal tools like pulse or engagement surveys, to help teams consistently gather key data across internal and external channels without creating reporting overload. 

Regularly reviewing your metrics, ideally at a quarterly and annual cadence, helps identify trends and ensure communication activity aligns to business goals. 

2. Impact: Translate the data

Many teams share email open rates or social reach in their performance reports. But metrics without context fail to tell a story or provide evidence to drive a decision. 

Your job as a communicator is to translate the data to help leaders understand what it means, why it matters and the broader implication for the business.  

This is where your role shifts from reporter to strategic advisor. Use your data to highlight: 

• What’s working and why 

• Where your organization is seeing challenges or lower than expected (or historic) performance 

• How communication is shaping awareness, understanding or behavior 

• How your work is contributing to strategic focus areas and objectives and overarching business goals 

Executive leaders don’t need more numbers. They need insight, contextualized with benchmarks and comparisons that can help drive decision-making. Translating communication data helps leaders understand where to double down and where to shift course. 

3. Optimize: Use what you learn to improve

Reporting is not the end of the measurement journey. It’s the beginning of your next strategic step. 

Too often, communication teams report performance but don’t adjust plans based on what they’ve learned. This approach denies them a key opportunity to demonstrate growth, agility and leadership – and create a positive impact in their organization. 

Use the data and insights gathered to guide future communication priorities and strategies and answer questions like: What should we stop doing? What should we do more of? How do we refine our messaging or channels for better results? 

Communication data can play an invaluable role in shaping annual planning, improving resource allocation and inspiring innovative approaches. 

–> Explore our approach to bringing together communication and business strategies to support your annual planning. 

Measurement is a critical tool for communicators 

Taking data from output to optimization helps communicators: 

• Demonstrates the value of your team and function 

• Step into a role as a strategic advisor to the business 

• Build credibility and influence across the organization 

Begin your year with an effective measurement approach that moves beyond data-heavy dashboards to deliver insights, action and impact.  

Want to learn how to measure what matters? Download our practical guide or start a conversation with our team.