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creativecommons.org/by carbonnycUntil someone identifies an innovative new way to put a hard dollar value on PR results, it is time to give the endless discussion about measurement a rest.

There is nothing more to say.

As PR professionals dive deeper and deeper into the swirling abyss that is the debate over measurement, we see all the detritus of previous attempts to establish new practices, paradigms and buzzwords. It’s like the scene in Alice in Wonderland where Alice has slipped down the rabbit hole and falls past old mirrors, lamps, grandfather clocks and Victorian furniture on her way to Wonderland.

But the PR measurement rabbit hole is full of discarded white papers, surveys, blog posts, blog posts about other blog posts and tweets retweeting links to blog posts about blog posts. It’s endless. And it doesn’t lead to Wonderland (though there might be an angry client at the bottom ready to shout, “Off with their heads!”).

One recent survey suggests PR pros typically fall into one of two camps when it comes to measurement: those who measure outputs (clippings and advertising value equivalents) and those who measure outcomes (internal reviews, opinion polls, etc.). I would suggest that there are two other camps that should be considered in this debate: those who remain dissatisfied with current measurement practice and those who are engaged in an effort to constantly dodge and defer providing an answer to the basic question of how PR results translate into real business outcomes.

Many of the approaches to measurement proposed by the second camp have become “curiouser and curiouser,” to use Alice’s phrase. Most center on some variation on the concept of engagement, a halfway point between a PR result and a real business outcome. To be fair, engagement metrics (website visits, opt-ins, social media comments, etc.) do feel like a more satisfying measurement criterion than the much-maligned concept of media impressions, but soon the same clients who were asking, “What is the real value of a media impression?” will be asking, “What is the real value of a website visit or a retweet?”

It’s time for a confession. The comedian George Carlin’s famous saying “Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist” probably applies to me. I have personally tried every measurement trick in the book. I’ve created new graphs and PowerPoint templates, explored new vendors and used the same buzzwords I’ve accused others of relying on. I’ve read white papers, blogs and reports from special committees. I’ve “engaged” in speculation about the implications of social media on PR measurement. I’ve done it all and for the most part have little to show for it.

The programs I’ve been most proud to work on in my career have usually led to positive stock movement for my client’s company: a Nasdaq opening bell ceremony with a celebrity I helped identify and train, an early-stage biotech data announcement that made it onto CNBC, an issues management campaign that helped my client’s stock recover after a potential crisis. Point to the place on the stock chart where your communication campaign began, then show that the stock price went up after it. Results like this are easy for the client to understand. The sense that somewhere there are actual dollars flying around is comforting.

But should we automatically dismiss any communication program that doesn’t generate an immediate bump in stock price or sales? What about PR results that are hard to isolate because they are part of a broader marketing mix? How should we measure programs that are designed to build or protect a reputation instead of sell a product? Just what is the real value of someone visiting a website?

I haven’t found the answers to these questions yet, and I see no compelling evidence that anyone else has either.

But I just can’t stop—a little bit of the idealist remains.

In the end, whether you’re a Tweedledum who is still relying on impressions to measure media hits or a Cheshire Cat trying to grin and spin your way out of every uncomfortable question about how PR results translate into real business outcomes, PR professionals should agree on one thing: We have reached a crossroads, and the growing pressure to identify ways to measure social media has only increased the urgent need to choose a path forward.

We can go on rehashing the same debates, repeating the same hollow jargon and reconvening the same committees, but until we prove our results can deliver real business outcomes, we will never climb out of the measurement rabbit hole.