Having trouble comparing blogs, text messages or word-of-mouth to other forms of communication modes in terms of how they influence your brand?

That’s understandable, given the tremendous escalation in communication channels, according to TNS Healthcare. The firm has a new methodology designed to measure the cost effectiveness of an array of media, to help marketers make sound budget allocation decisions.

“There’s so many different ways that consumers or physicians can encounter brands,” said David Kweskin, TNS Healthcare SVP and practice area leader. “Through this method, we put them all on the same playing field and come up with a metric—called the ‘brand experience point’ [BEP]–which allows us to compare and contrast the different contact points.”

BEPs let clients put measured media–TV, radio, print–and non-measured media side-by-side, TNS said. The metric, dubbed “MarketContactAudit,” tracks up to 35 different contact points, including point-of-care channels.

Determining “cost per BEP,” basically allocating cost to customer contacts, may help achieve marketing accountability, TNS said.