I received the May-June 2009 edition of Communication World, the member magazine from IABC, the other day and, boy, does it have some outstanding content.

For instance, if you want access to some of the best thinking around about organizational communication, social media tools and communication measurement, this is the edition of CW to get hold of.

Three features from three communication measurement experts:

• Measuring to Demonstrate Value in a Tough Economy
  Which metrics should you use and when?
  by Merry Elrick
• Goodbye, Eyeballs. Hello, Engagement
  When budgets are tight, try using new tools and measuring the results to improve your communication efforts.
  by Katie Delahaye Paine
• “Audience-Free” Measurement: High-quality metrics without surveys
  There’s a good chance that the data you need already exists in your organization. You just need to find it.
  by Angela D. Sinickas, ABC, IABC Fellow

Note that the links above connect with PDF versions of each story which you will be able to access only if you’re an IABC member. If you’re not a member, sorry – but what a great opportunity to become one!

Each of these articles is very much worth your time. Katie Paine’s in particular resonated strongly with me, primarily because of her clarity of focus on topics about which I speak a great deal (as well as the eye-catching mix of image and typography, above, used in the printed magazine to illustrate her piece).

For instance:

[…] It used to be that communication professionals were charged with influencing the influencers, be they media, analysts or thought leaders. Increasingly, influencers are friends, family or anyone else who shares a similar interest. Thus, reaching the intermediaries becomes a waste of time when you can go straight to your target audiences and watch how they respond to whatever you send out.

And this:

[…] The additional advantage to social media tools is that you can use them to find out what your customers actually want. It’s essentially the cheapest form of research ever devised. Just imagine what you could learn by listening to what your customers are saying about your brand, the competition and the marketplace. Whether planning a product strategy, assessing competitive advantages or evaluating customer service, the voice of the customer should be playing a key role.

Doesn’t that make sense?

Great collective insight from Merry Elrick, Katie Payne and Angela Sinickas.