5 questions to ask when taking the temperature of your corporate comms

Analytics are a blessing for corporate communicators who have been trying for decades to accurately and reliably measure their value. These advances, however, also mean added pressure to perform as executives hold their marketing pros to new standards.

Meanwhile, content marketing and brand journalism are blurring the lines between marketing, communications and public relations, resulting in internal battles over limited corporate real estate.

With budget wars afoot and growing executive involvement in measuring marketing, it’s time to end corporate communications inertia. Where better to start than with a thorough self-assessment? Try these questions to get a feel for where you are:

1. Why are we doing that?

Consider this old Jewish tale:

A young wife is preparing her first brisket for the Jewish New Year. Following her mother’s recipe, she lops off the ends of the meat and throws them away. Her husband asks, “Why do you cut off the ends?”

“That’s how my mother always did it,” she says.

The next week at lunch she asks her mother, “Why do you cut the ends off the brisket before you cook it?”

“That’s what my mother always did,” she replies with a shrug.