One of the most-asked questions from clients and potential clients is how do you measure PR? Public relations campaigns have a long-standing reputation for being difficult to measure. Unlike advertising efforts, which often produce quantifiable metrics like direct sales, PR is typically design to increase brand visibility. The challenge is that “visibility” is a vague goal and one that’s not always easy to quantify.
The first step to measuring PR efforts is to define the organization’s goal for public relations. Do you want to increase thought leadership? Through which channels? Which audience are you trying to reach? Answering these questions will help you decide which PR metrics to track.
A PR agency can help leadership narrow their objective enough to track progress. Once these goals are clear, you can identify the right metrics to effectively measure return on investment (ROI).
Establish Consistent Goals
Too often, PR teams, whether in-house or agency partners, are not fully integrated with the broader organization. This can lead to miscommunication and fragmented reporting.
Leadership should ensure PR goals align with the company’s overall business strategy. For example, if your objective is to increase sales in a new vertical, your PR team can develop campaigns targeting decision-makers in that market.
Without specific, measurable goals, PR results may fail to support the company’s mission.
PR Metrics that Matter
Remember, PR metrics vary depending on objective, but the following are a sample of which to track:
Website Traffic
Most website dashboards allow you to track results over a period of time. Analyzing website visits and engagement offers a clear, quantitative look at audience interest.
Take additional steps to set up UTM tracking codes on embedded links in news releases and social media media posts around specific campaigns to measure audience action. For example, a PR campaign to announce a new product or service could monitor overall website traffic, the most viewed pages before and after the launch, and traffic to specific pages.
Media Coverage
Monitoring media mentions can reveal the reach and impact of thought leadership. Media mentions also provide additional insight into:
- Share of Voice: Your company’s mentions compared to competitors in a given time frame.
- Sentiment: News coverage is positive, negative or neutral. This is particularly helpful after a crisis situation, or when there are misconceptions about a brand.
- Domain Authority: A ranking score predicting how likely a site is to appear in search results.
- Potential Reach: The estimated number individuals exposed to your media coverage.
Social Engagement
Experiencing an increase or decrease in engagement across social channels is an indicator of how your company or brand is connecting with its target audience.
Monitoring performance on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and other channels provides insight on how your brand is being perceived, while also building trust with your audience through real-time conversations.
Sales
While PR doesn’t always translate into direct sales, PR most often impacts the lead-to-sale. Ideally, strong communications to key audiences will shorten the sales cycle because you've built awareness and trust.
In addition, it is possible to measure PR by tracking qualified leads versus unqualified sales leads to understand campaign effectiveness. For example, if a company executive recently presented a new offerings at a trade show, monitoring the sales pipeline afterwards can reveal audience response.
Plan for PR Measurement Success
The most crucial factor in PR measurement is knowing your target audience. High volumes of media coverage won’t provide value is the right people aren’t seeing it.
Create specific, measurable goals with your target audience in mind and align them with overall business priorities to set PR measurement metrics. From there, your company can implement effective campaigns.
Whether your company is an industry giant or a small startup, it’s always helpful to consult with PR professionals to create or optimize measurement strategies.
Schedule a free consultation with our team to learn how to get the most from your PR investment.