It’s Not Too Late for a New Year’s Resolution: Start 2025 With A Meaningful Measurement Plan

Amidst a flurry of activity to kick off the year, the holiday break can feel like a distant memory before January has barely begun. However, before diving headfirst into new campaigns and projects, it’s useful to carve out time during this month for reflection. Measurement and analytics are disciplines where having the right objectives at the get go is integral to delivering meaningful insights, and looking back can help avoid some of the prior year’s pitfalls. I connected with colleagues across Havas Media Network ’s Mx (Media Experience) Measurement practice to distill best practices for creating effective and reliable measurement. Below you will find overarching guidance which, regardless of industry or scope, will set up your organization for success in 2025.

 -- Jorge C. (Chial), Global Director, Mx Analytics, Havas Media Network

EMBRACE AND LEARN FROM SHORTCOMINGS

It can be easy to wince at less-than-desirable campaign results, but the analytics from an activation that did not achieve expectations can be equally, if not more valuable, than those from a successful one. In 2025, commit to embracing, rather than ignoring, negative feedback. Massaging data for favorable outcomes not only skews understanding of a brand’s public perception, but it also deprives the invaluable opportunity to learn from these shortcomings and continually refine and tailor a media strategy towards measurable business objectives. Create a 2025 measurement plan that leverages the full richness of analytics by:

• Determining and measuring the metrics that represent real success. Vanity metrics can turn any campaign into a winner. Before an activation, determine the metrics that indicate the actual engagements or conversions that deliver against a brand’s objectives and focus on these results in reporting.
• Benchmarking, benchmarking, benchmarking. Determining success requires not only accurately looking at one’s own performance, but also at peers and industry standards to contextualize analytics. Identifying and benchmarking a brand’s competitors provides a comprehensive understanding of performance that delivers meaningful analytics.    

QUALITY INSIGHTS REQUIRE QUALITY INPUTS

No matter how intelligently data is analyzed and interpreted, this analysis will be limited by the accuracy of the data that it is built on. Performing data quality checks must be the cornerstone of any meaningful approach to measurement. Once this requirement is fulfilled, implement the following strategies into your 2025 analytics approach to ensure your measurement is deep and comprehensive:

• Assessing external factors. To avoid confusing causality, adopt a holistic view that includes external events, seasonality, competitors and market change. Incorporating these considerations into analytics will provide the depth of data to confirm the relationship between campaign inputs and performance.
• Going beyond historical data. While previously successful campaigns are important reference points, they can lead to inaccurate predictions of performance that fail to incorporate current market trends. Ensure data is current to deliver analytics and insights that are rooted in present conditions.

USE DATA TO TELL A STORY

Last year, my CSA colleague Mitzhajalla Ortega published an article on “A Meaningful Approach to Data Storytelling.” In it, she shares that, by some estimates, 2.5 exabytes of data (7,500X the entire content of the Library of Congress) are generated every day. As analytics and measurement professionals, we have an unbelievable wealth of data at our fingertips, and the art of our discipline is transforming it into a clear and concise story that is actionable for the brands we champion. In 2025, avoid reporting that obscures impactful insights with an overabundance of information. Focus on clarity and accessibility by:

• Customizing and evolving your reporting framework. Standardized templates fail to account for the specific audience for your analytics, their level of technical sophistication, and the format that will make these insights most actionable for them. Start with a customized framework that takes these factors into consideration and consistently evolve it based on feedback to ensure it drives relevant and critical insights that further business objectives.
• Depicting the entire customer journey. Siloed data analysis leads to skewed insights that fail to tell a comprehensive story. Instead, analyze data across channels and platforms in concert – taking into account their individual nuances – for a rich depiction of the customer journey with all of its touchpoints.

Interested in learning how Havas Media Network can create a measurement and analytics approach to drive success for your brand in 2025? Contact hmncomms@havasmn.com to get the conversation started.