There are all sorts of methods to evaluate the effectiveness of communications tactics but there’s one thing for sure - the only way you can improve is to measure where you are now and use it as a baseline from which to build (whether that’s an educated guess or backed up by market research).



Of course, it should go without saying that a good brief with a set of clear and measurable objectives is essential, but it’s amazing how these are sometimes missing at the crucial stage.

Communications objectives often get mixed up with business objectives, and sometimes they just aren’t measurable in any way. On occasions there are so many objectives that they read like a wish list and so have little likelihood that they can all be achieved. And of course you need to be realistic – you might like the idea of national and international media coverage but it isn’t always realistic or appropriate.



We believe the best campaigns are integrated but you can’t always afford to do everything that you would like to do. Nevertheless, the size of the budget you have isn’t always proportional to the results you achieve. What matters most is finding the best use of what you’ve got available. That’s where having the skills and understanding across the full range of tactics really counts. If all you specialise in is one area of work, that’s inevitably where you’re going to focus the spend; rightly or wrongly.