Analyse this: We recently surveyed leading communications professionals on communications analytics: attitudes, resources, and usage. We are pleased to be supported in this by Integrasco, one of the world’s leading specialists in social media monitoring and analytics, and by the research and evaluation firm Cloud Media Insights

We were curious as to how companies are using communications analytics, and how widespread the effects are in an organisation. It turned out that almost two-fifths of the respondents didn’t have key performance indicators to base their analytics on, which was something of a surprise – and an area that we think could really help to improve the usefulness of communications analytics in the future.

It also seems that an actionable point for businesses wanting their communications analytics to work better for them is the relationship between analytics and business plans. Only 37.8% of respondents said that their analytics were tied into the overall business plan of the company, with 31.1% linking them to the comms plan and 10.8% telling us that they weren’t tied in at all. This attitude towards analytics as a mere add-on to a business’ direction is counter-intuitive to spending money on analytics at all – and judging from many of the responses, frustrating for those whose responsibility it is.The results concerning the sources of pressure for comms analytics and reporting are encouraging: although only an eighth of our respondents said the board was pushing analytics, almost a third report on them to the top level of management, and senior management has also taken up the cause, acting as a major driver and receptor of results.

When it comes to social media analytics, almost three quarters said that they were conducted in-house through a licensed tool. The responses as t o how social media was affecting the analytics process were enlightening: “It makes it more complex, as there are more information channels to tap into” was one response, while another added that it was “making it intensely complex and increasingly meaningless.”

Others, however, felt that the true effect of social media on analytics is only just starting to be seen. “Social media is a growing source of traffic with an increasing percentage of visits referred via links on social media platforms. We are using analytics to track this trend,” said one of our respondents, and a second said that there were “increasing quantities of data to analyse – but it’s all useful.”

Analytics are used by many departments within companies, for many different tasks. The dominant area in which they’re used is marketing, but brand sentiment, campaign monitoring, strategy and planning, insight, digital engagement, tracking “hot topics”, driving sales, and investor relations are all in the mix. One respondent summed it up thusly: “Any service using social media uses analytics: to prove to the comms team that it’s working; to provide evidence for other projects; and to justify staff time spent on a project.”

When it came to the question of ‘box checking’ in analytics, almost 70% disagreed. One respondent wrote: “While every penny spent by the company is under scrutiny, analytics is important. Another said “it’s not a box checking exercise here: qualitative and subjective input prevents the drift towards box checking and aids interpretation.” And those who felt that it was at the current time a box checking exercise seemed aware of the need to change, saying that they’d like to invest more time and effort in the area, but that it was difficult to keep up with.

One respondent qualified his answer: “There is an element of being present that could be perceived as box-checking. You have to be present in certain media where your audience is, that’s just box-checking. The rest is building on that initial presence.” Another wrote: “To a degree, it is box checking. But it also provides information on how social media is driving website traffic and sentiment.”

The future looks bright for analytics – 40.8% of respondents spent more in 2011 on their analytics than they had done in 2010, and when it comes to 2012 31% expect their spend will be the same, while 36.6% expect it will be greater.