The new survey asked communications professionals how they are using analytics and how they expect the methods to change in the future. The results were of particular significance, so we posed a number of the thought-provoking questions to our #CommsChat audience.

We were joined by Matthew West from Cloud Media Insight, who offered his own opinion of best practice.

Here is a selection of our top tweets of the evening:

@Cloudinsight: It’s more than just ‘hits’, it’s about reaching the target audience with the right messages #commschat

@EdwinAgboPR: #CommsChat pressure from businesses evaluating their investments in comms and PR. AVE’s are not the most accurate metrics for evaluation

@CatN101: Good to be able to prove ourselves in a way others understand but subtlies of some comms activity still need to be understood! #CommsChat

@aimee1986 I now make analytics a core part of any new project I take on, it helps win and retain business if you can demo results #CommsChat

@ukpublicom: educating clients when it comes to measuring is important #commschat

@NRCUK nobody owns “your brand” PR monitors reputation, social has big brand impact so monitoring social rarley has 1 owner/budget/roi #commschat

Please find the full transcript here: CommsChat14May

We surveyed communications professionals on how they are using analytics at present, and how they expect that to change in the future. The results were extremely interesting, so we thought we’d extend some of the questions to our #CommsChat audience.

Topics for tonight will include:

- Does your company regularly report on communications analytics?
- Where does pressure for comms analytics come from in your business? And who do you report them to?
- Almost 75% of our respondents said that social media analytics were conducted in-house through a licensed tool. How is social media affecting analytics in your business?
- Who uses the analytics, and for what, in your company?
- Is there justification behind the idea that analytics are a question of “box checking”?
- Did you spend more on analytics in the last twelve months than in the year before that? And do you expect to spend more, less, or the same in the future?

We’ll be joined by Neil Scaife from Integrasco and Matthew West from Cloud Media Insight to discuss these questions and more this evening.

As ever, #CommsChat kicks off at 8pm (UK time) on Monday evenings. You can track the conversation at www.commschat.com/commschat-now, or by doing a twitter search for #CommsChat. A transcript of tonight’s chat will go up on Tuesday. We hope to see you online later!

You can get a full transcript below, but here are few of the tweets that caught our eye:

@RobinsonRG: If you have local marketers then make sure you are using their skills. Don’t use purely for implementing centralized campaigns #commschat

@BryanFoss: @RobinsonRG #commschat When you write T&Cs its important to highlight which country’s legal system is referred to, for later case claims etc

@LisaHutt: #CommsChat Should companies use their HQ Facebook page or have their own local language version?

@debbiemwilliams: #CommsChat #idmb2b Don’t forget – leverage the knowledge of integrated marketing agencies re international responses to different mediums

@jennycub: Its combination of traditional methods and real-time tehniques that is the future of researching for B2B marketing. #Commschat

@Communicatemag: Whilst, obviously , markets are different, do we exaggerate them? An audience is an audience, a customer a customer? #Commschat

Read the transcript at: 30 April

The next #CommsChat will be on 14 May – see you then!

This coming Monday on #CommsChat, we’re delighted to have Richard Robinson, head of retail and B2B Markets at Google, and a member of the IDM B2B Marketing Council, joining us. Ahead of the 9th IDM B2B Marketing Conference on 24 May, we’re going to be thinking about marketing between businesses, and the best approach to researching your markets.

Topics for the chat will include:

• What are the best b2b research techniques to quickly understand the dynamics of different international markets?
• Where do you go to to learn more about cultural, behavioural and attitudinal differences?
• Integrated marketing is best practise, but how do you know which countries respond to different mediums due to cultural and behavioural differences in order to maximise ROI?
• What is the impact of translating copy vs leaving it in English as the universal business language?
• Is on the ground presence really necessary? What benefits does this bring?

#CommsChat will take place at 8pm UK time on Monday 30 April, and will last for about an hour, with a transcript going up on the site the next day. To take part, simply go to http://commschat.com/commschat-now or include the #commschat hashtag in your tweets.

To book for the IDM B2B Marketing Conference, go here.

Richard Robinson has spent almost 15 years assisting companies in the development and implementation of effective go-to-market strategies. Prior to Google, Richard was VP at IDC, where he led its consulting and marketing services business in Europe. Richard also led the client services division of IDG’s International team based in EMEA.

Cornelius and Brandi’s expertise proved invaluable, with their respective positions within the CIPR and the PRSA  meaning the subject has been under their radar for some time now.

The key topics discussed were:

• For PR to be successful in the future the profession should reflect our diverse society. What is the business case for diversity?
• What steps need to be taken to tackle both the glass ceiling issue and return to work/re-employment for women?
• Is PR an accessible profession for individuals with disabilities?
• Four different generations with four approaches to work. How should PR best manage age and skill set difference in the workplace?
• What initiatives are you looking to drive forward in 2012 and beyond?

Here are some of our top tweets from the evening:
PRSADiversity A1. There have been so many studies that show organizations with a diverse workforce outperform their peers. #Differenceswork #Commschat

dr_tindall @PRSADiversity Social scientists have seen a correlation between diversity and creativity in groups: http://t.co/T7QCqeDf #commschat

cornucopuia To keep the industry relevant we need to improve the talent pool and this means we have to look beyond the ‘usual’ haunts #commschat

SpectorPR Diversity is more than just culture and ethnicity. It is a mix of socioeconomic factors as well. #commschat

CarolinaMadrid The logical case is that our #PR workforce should reflect the audiences it serves – in order to genuinely understand them. #commschat

elliscatherine As long as s/he can effectively tell a story… RT @CommsChat Is PR an accessible profession for individuals with disabilities? #commschat

Social_Madi @ECGreaves Diversity of thought should include the intelligence of communication within diverse groups & cultural sensitivity #commschat

Please find the full transcript here: 23 April

The working groups of the CIPR and the PRSA have been tackling this subject for some time now, so Cornelius and Natalie will be bringing some very interesting perspectives to the table.

Here’s some of the topics we’ll be discussing:

• For PR to be successful in the future the profession should reflect our diverse society. What is the business case for diversity?
• What steps need to be taken to tackle both the glass ceiling issue and return to work/re-employment for women?
• Is PR an accessible profession for individuals with disabilities?
• Four different generations with four approaches to work. How should PR best manage age and skill set difference in the workplace?
• What initiatives are you looking to drive forward in 2012 and beyond?

#CommsChat takes place on Twitter every Monday evening, from 8 – 9pm (UK time). Anyone can take part – simply go here or add the #CommsChat tag to your tweets. A transcript usually goes up on this site the next day.

A full transcript can be downloaded below, but here’s a few tweets that caught our eye:

@GemmaPhelan Timeline is more visual – 2012 is all about visual content. And the new FB supports that trend

@SDElsden Hate the timeline. Makes it almost impossible to see latest posts and comments

@AlexPackham Facebook has an incredible governance problem. Brands spend incredible amounts of $$ on their platform and it’s amazing that FB … … gets away without policing its own platform. The scale and size of marketing on FB justifies a team policing campaigns on there

@AmelieMet The world is slowly being gamified. Everything has an app now… No surprise that FB wants to have part of that w/ instagram

@TeminaMoledina The move to pro-am content appears to be a permanent paradigm shift

@CommsChat This crops up in almost every topic we discuss here – engagement beats sales every time

Make sure you take a look at the full transcript for plenty more content: Facebook – 16 April

Topics for tonight will include:

• How has the roll-out of Timeline affected brand presence on Facebook? Is it a positive or a negative change?
• Does Facebook have a governance problem?
• Is Facebook moving towards a more image-centred platform? And will the acquisition of Instagram affect how brands organise themselves on the network?
• What are your favourite brand pages on Facebook? Who do you think handles its challenges and potential brilliantly?
• Which are the best audiences to target on Facebook? Or is it audience-agnostic?

#CommsChat takes place from 8pm UK time on Monday 16 April. You can join in the conversation here, or by tagging your tweets with #CommsChat.

We’ll put up a transcript tomorrow morning with all the content from tonight’s chat. See you later!

It was a very animated chat with a variety of insightful contributions, on a subject which really got people talking.

We were lucky enough to be joined by Rich Leigh, who works for 10 Yetis PR Agency and runs PRexamples.com. The blog is dedicated to celebrating the best in PR/social media marketing, has around 50 contributors from all over the world. He tweets from rom @PRexamples and @GoodandBadPR.

Topics of discussion included:

• Do PR stunts work? Or are longer campaigns more successful?

• Do stunts and campaigns have to cost a fortune to succeed?

• Why is there a negative perception of the term PR stunt?

• What’s the best course of action when a stunt doesn’t go as planned, or a campaign starts to backfire midway?

• How has the open nature of new media channels affected PR stunts?

Please find below a selection of our top tweets of the evening:

@LiamFurther: Yes PR stunts do work – look at last year’s 2011 royal wedding Tmobile dance video. Viral success!!! #commschat

@AdamAzor: I also think labelling “stunts” plays down activity which can also be very strategically thought out experiential activations #commschat

@PRexamples: case of horses for courses. PR stunts can plug into wider audiences, or give short, sharp bursts of media attention. #commschat

@jgombita: @CommsChat short-term eyeballs and attention, rather than stakeholder “consumers” methinks (for the most part). #commschat

@CB_PRandPA: Making them come to life can be expensive. The idea / concept can take no time to come up with #commschat.

@AndyGarner09: Success rate of stunts very much dependent on branding, if you can weave messages naturally you’re onto a winner #commschat

@AmelieMet: Open media has made it easier and harder for PR stunts. They spread faster but are destroyed faster #commschat

Please find a full transcript of the CommsChat here:

commschat 020312

Topics for Monday’s chat include:

• Do PR stunts work? Or are longer campaigns more successful?
• Do stunts and campaigns have to cost a fortune to succeed?
• Why is there a negative perception of the term PR stunt?
• What’s the best course of action when a stunt doesn’t go as planned, or a campaign starts to backfire midway?
• How has the open nature of new media channels affected PR stunts?

The chat will start at 8pm on Monday evening and last for about an hour. You can follow it here or by using the hashtag #commschat on Twitter. A transcript will go up on the site the next day.

PRexamples.com is a blog dedicating to celebrating the best in PR/social media marketing, established by Rich Leigh, who works for 10 Yetis PR Agency. He tweets from @PRexamples and @GoodandBadPR. PRexamples.com has around 50 contributors from all over the world, looking at stunts from an Ann Summers march down Oxford St, London, to the “flying people” spotted in NYC, promoting the film Chronicle.