Leah Schmerl is a senior vice president at Kaplow, a New York City public relations firm. She is the leader of the firm’s Internet and e-commerce practice. Leah also spearheads Kaplow’s measurement thought-leadership and oversees the development of the agency’s measurement programs. Leah earned her Master’s degree in U.S. History from the University of California, San Diego, and is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Rochester.

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the PR News PR Measurement Conference, and grappling with some of the toughest issues the PR industry faces.

In my mind, the fundamental question that united the day: how do we make sure the decision-makers within our organizations understand the value public relations brings to their businesses? The speakers who asked and answered these questions were brilliant and the attendees thoughtful.

Here’s my biggest “a-ha” related to the day: when presenting PR results to the C-suite, we need to “talk the talk” of those executives. Meaning, we need to make PR results relevant to the issues and concerns most critical to them.

To do that well, we must fully understand the business objectives against which executives hold PR accountable. Stop being preoccupied with delivering the fanciest metrics on the block (“marketing mix modeling” or “weighted media costs” at the end of the program. The best investment of time and resources is spent at the very start of the PR planning process. This time should be spent clearly articulating the relevant business objectives, and creating clear, measurable PR goals that map to those business objectives. If that’s done at the outset, good measurement becomes so much easier. And our results will be the kinds that make the C-suite sit up and take notice.

Another great take-away from the day: PR has many illustrative metrics available that make setting PR goals (and delivering the corresponding results) much more impactful than ever. It’s critical to examine the measurement tools available (quantitative and qualitative) and hand-pick the ones that will best “make the case” for the positive impact of PR on the organization’s specific business. This reinforced my belief that PR cannot live in a silo. We need to access the metrics available from other teams – like sales and marketing – to help us create the richest measurement reporting possible.

I left the day feeling inspired by the work my PR colleagues are doing in measurement. We’re facing some of the industry’s most challenging times. We’ve got some really smart people asking (and answering) tough questions. I’m excited by where we’re headed.