5 Tips for Measuring PR and Catching the CEO's Attention
By Julie McNamara
Measuring the effectiveness of PR is critical to moving PR from a tactical
function to a strategic component of your company's plan for success. But
the old ways of counting clips just aren't good enough to convince today's
management executives that their investment in PR and overall communications
is paying off. Here are 5 Tips about how to measure PR in ways that will
catch the CEO's attention and increase the stature of PR in any organization:
Tip #1: Track Something that Matters to Management
CEO's and senior managers will get most excited about PR when you find a way
to correlate the results of your marketing initiatives to company objectives.
CEO's are constantly under pressure to improve bottom line numbers. You need
to understand what goals they are most concerned about and show how PR initiatives
correlate to bottom line numbers such as revenue growth, operational efficiency
and customer acquisition. Many people say that you can't show a direct link
but there are several ways to show how one affects the other.
For instance, you can show regional media coverage trends for
your company correlated to sales or customer inquiries in that
region. From a global level to a regional level, communications
has a big impact on a brand's reputation and driving businesses
and consumers to try or buy your product. Where possible, analyze
the costs for different campaigns by region, media type etc. in
order to determine the most efficient methods to achieve results.
Then show the trends in sales mapped against the trends in media
coverage, influencer interviews, product reviews, etc. that drive
customers to try or buy your product.
The best way to establish the value of PR to the company in general
and the CEO in particular is by tying your communications objectives
to overall company objectives. Whether your company is focused
on increasing sales to Fortune 500 companies or school cafeterias,
you can show how PR efforts to target those audiences and influencers
are paying off in terms of increased revenue or market share in
that segment. Even softer measurements such as 'buzz' can be critical
indicators in markets that are driven by word-of-mouth promotion.
PR plays a big role in informing and influencing audiences.
Tip #2: Monitor Campaigns While They Are Happening
Many companies make the mistake of marketing from the rear view mirror. They
don't take a look at how well they are reaching their objectives while a
campaign is in full swing. Oftentimes they get clipping books every 3 to
6 months that show how much coverage they've received but the information
is delayed beyond the point of being actionable. By looking backwards months
after a campaign has ended, they miss out on the opportunity to change the
perception of journalists and analysts while they are writing about their
product area or market. By measuring message pickup, the impact of spokespeople
and the issues that authors and publications focus on, you open up the opportunity
to adjust your communications strategy during a campaign. This can result
in increased coverage, deeper coverage and more favorable mentions resulting
in increased company reputation and sales. Furthermore, by monitoring and
tracking issues and spokespeople in real-time, you can learn about problems
instantly and manage crisis before they get out of control.
Measuring communications initiatives on an on-going basis enables
you to demonstrate the effectiveness of your communications group
on the spot helping to justify a reasonable budget level throughout
the year rather than scrambling to find resources during a product
launch or company crisis.
Tip #3: Avoid Tunnel Vision: Track Competitors Too
Take a broad enough view of metrics to include your key competitors. Just comparing
your company's results from time period to time period provides a limited
perspective. You could be doing well or poorly but it doesn't mean much if
you don't know how your competitors are doing.
For instance, your media share could be decreasing overall but
as compared to competitors you might be doing great. Conversely,
your coverage could be increasing month to month but there could
be a new competitor gaining share at a faster rate and with more
a larger percentage of influential media outlets.
By tracking competitors and industry leaders in comparison to
your company and products, you can defend your strategy, gain insight
to your competitor's strategies and identify new industry trends
and emerging issues.
Tip #4: Take a Holistic View of Measurement
Blend quantitative and qualitative metrics to get a holistic view. Not all
communications initiatives can be measured but there is always some useful
information that you can report on to convey that you have achieved your
objectives. Quantitative measures such as clipping counts, impressions and
numbers of quotes provide valuable comparative information. Enhancing this
data with qualitative measurements such as message adoption, favorability
and brand strength provide meaning and context and can increase the value
and perception of the PR function with management.
In short, there are many aspects of PR that can be measured in
many ways - but each on its own tells only part of the story. In
order to fully measure and report the effectiveness of your communications
initiatives, you need to tell your audience what you're objectives
were, what you did, what happened as a result of your efforts,
why it was effective in relation to your competitors, the market
and the media opportunities available and how it impacted the overall
company objectives.
Tip #5: Turn Every Employee into a PR Advocate
Last but not least, it's important for communications professionals to inform
their internal audience about the role of PR and its impact on the success
of the company. Within most companies, PR is valued differently throughout
each organization. Many departments such as engineering, operations, purchasing,
customer support and even sales may not really understand the role of PR.
They may think that PR is only responsible for issuing press releases. Many
times employees get excited when an article appears that mentions your company
and come running to the marketing group to ask them if they knew about the
article. They have no idea that the PR group has been working for months
with the publication and journalists to develop a relationship, pitch an
idea, help to craft the story and line up references and experts. They may
have no idea about the number of pitches and the overall strategy behind
marketing communications required to deliver the high visibility results
the employees love to see.
By communicating PR metrics, campaign results, competitive positioning,
what people are saying about your company on a regular basis with
your internal audience, you will gain credibility and strategic
importance within the company. When it comes time to review budgets
and resources, everyone will understand the reason why PR is so
important and many will become true PR advocates. In addition,
you will help to reinforce the company mission and turn every employee
into a spokesperson about the company's strengths and objectives.
That's something that every CEO would love to hear.
Julie McNamara is EVP of Product Strategy at Cymfony, Inc.,
a media analytics software and services company based in Newton,
MA. For more information on Cymfony, please visit our website
at www.cymfony.com.
Discuss this topic with other IABC members at: www.iabc.com/memberspeak.
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