Measuring Internal Communication Metrics: Qualitative and Quantitative Data
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Measurement matters – especially in internal communications. Measuring your communication effectiveness means you can determine if your communications are making a difference in your business. It can also help you make better communication decisions. Don’t know how to measure your efforts? We’re here to help. In this first blog about measuring internal communication metrics, we show you how to measure internal communication with qualitative and quantitative data.
When you have to convince leadership that internal communications work (and money is well spent), it helps when you have solid numbers. If you can prove the ROI and impact of internal communications, leadership may be more receptive to additional communication efforts in the future. Publishing, increasing your reach, and sharing the right content through the right channel can be optimized with data.
Collect qualitative data
When you start collecting your solid numbers in your internal communications measurement process, it’s wise to look at qualitative and quantitative data. Qualitative data can reveal people’s feelings and opinions about your communication.
A poll or (pulse) survey is a great way to get qualitative data. Surveys offer insights into your colleagues’ preferences. They can be conducted with a platform like Netpresenter, which allows you to send surveys from the same CMS you use to send your internal communication messages. Interviews and focus groups will also provide qualitative data.
Collect quantitative data
Quantitative data is numerical data that can be ranked, categorized, and measured – such as how many employees have read your latest message, have clicked on a hyperlink, or have left a comment on an article. This kind of data answers close-ended questions, such as ‘how many’ or ‘how much’.
Collecting quantitative data may sound like a cumbersome job. That’s why we’ve designed our statistics feature to provide quantitative data automatically. Our statistics show reach, connectivity details, and click-through rate. You can also track user engagement and discover helpful details such as reads, clicks, likes, and comments.
Our statistics show data for the whole organization, specific channels, or even individual employees over a chosen time period such as a week, a month, or a year.
Better insights with combined data
What someone says on a survey when you’re collecting qualitative data, may not necessarily correspond to their actions. Colleagues might say (in an interview or a survey) that they like to read internal communication messages on Friday afternoon, but statistics show the messages you send out on Monday morning have the highest reach and reads.
This doesn’t mean you should stop publishing messages on a Friday afternoon, but it can help you determine when you can best send out any important messages. Combine your qualitative data with your quantitative data to get the most useful insights for your communication strategy.
What is your IC team’s approach to measuring internal communication metrics? Get in touch with our consultants for advice on measuring your internal communication efforts; they are happy to look into your specific situation and help you get the most out of your internal comms. Would you like to see how Netpresenter statistics can contribute to your internal communication strategy? Schedule a free 30-minute demo to see everything Netpresenter has to offer.
