Fun With Measurement Math!
By Angela Jeffrey, APR
Recent research tells us that 97 percent of all public relations departments
are involved in media relations, and 88 percent evaluate their campaigns
using media analysis. On one hand, industry leaders urge us to measure the
results of our work via business outcomes; yet on the other, communicators
are still asked to supply output results as 'proof of performance.' Is there
some link between the two that can cover both?
Fortunately, yes! Extensive new research conducted by Philadelphia-based
Surveillance Data, Inc. (SDI) now PROVES that "business outcomes" ARE
impacted by a company's media coverage. Any PR pro worth his or
her salt already knows that, but it's nice to see the proof with
actual business metrics! In fact, a new term, "Share of Discussion
(SoD)" - has been developed, which is defined as the "quantity
and quality" of media coverage (unpaid) that a company receives
compared to that of its competitors. Correlation between business
outcomes and media coverage are much stronger when shown as a comparison
to competitive coverage.
Here are some relatively easy ways to make your media results
speak with numbers that management will respect and understand.
You don't have to settle for clip books to tell your story, or
rely solely on soft qualitative judgments!
I. The Metrics you want and why:
- "Media Value" - new studies show that using
Media Value in the calculation of Share of Discussion improves
correlations to business outcomes over impressions or article
counts. Media Value takes into consideration not only the size
of the story, but the reach and relative credibility of the media
source itself.
- "Audience Impressions" - while audience impressions
are perhaps the most recognized and accepted metric, they don't
correlate as well as Media Value. An insignificant mention scores
the same for audience impressions as a substantial feature;
- "Share of Discussion" - this new metric measuring
the Quantity & Quality of your coverage compared to your
competitors' is most powerful of all. In more than 130 studies
utilizing 5 million clips, SDI has found that this metric consistently
correlates with outcomes!
II. Start by doing it Quantitatively:
Obtain audited data and calculate Media Values and Impressions by the
amount of coverage occupied by your firm in media placements:
- For PRINT, use audited OPEN B/W and Color rates and
Circulation from sources such as SRDS, Burrelle's, American Newspaper
Representatives, Luce or Bacon's;
- For BROADCAST, use "Negotiated" spot costs
and 18+ "Gross Impressions" from reliable, third-party
suppliers like Arbitron, Nielsen Media Research and SQAD.
- For INTERNET, use Negotiated CPMs by Industry for a
468 x 60 banner ad as the value for every 50 words of Internet
coverage, and Daily Average Visits, from suppliers such as comScore
MediaMetrix, Nielsen Media Metrics and SQAD. (Do NOT use "hits" or "impressions" as
both are highly inflated.).
III. Refine it Qualitatively:
Determine if the coverage obtained is positive, negative or neutral based on
whether it delivered your message, held you in a positive light, and reached
your target audience.
Once this is done:
- Tally the number of key message points or brand mentions in
each story.
- Deduct all negative coverage, leaving NET FAVORABLE
MEDIA VALUE and NET FAVORABLE IMPRESSIONS, which will be used
in algorithms which follow.
IV. Make the Numbers Talk to You:
Now, utilize this data in a way that's relevant to management. It is not enough
to calculate big totals, and then tout them as evidences of success. Rather,
for each calculation below, COMPARE your results against: campaign objectives,
other campaigns, specific time periods, competitors, and the results of other
marketing departments to truly gauge success!
A. Cost-per-Impression (CPI)
1. Add all costs of publicity campaign (or of entire department).
2. Total number of NET FAVORABLE AUDIENCE IMPRESSIONS for campaign.
3. Divide line 1 by line 2 to get Cost-per-Impression.
Example Cost-per-Impression:
- Cost of Publicity Campaign: US$12,000 (500 Articles generated)
- Total Impressions: 3.0 million
- US$12,000 divided by 3.0 million Impressions = US$0.004 CPI or US$4.00
CPM
- COMPARE this result as described above |
B. Cost-per- Media Value Dollar
1. Add all costs of publicity campaign (or of entire department).
2. Take NET FAVORABLE MEDIA VALUE for campaign.
3. Divide line 1 by line 2 to get Cost-per-Media Value Dollar
Example Cost-per-Media Value Dollar:
- Cost of Publicity Campaign: US$12,000 (500 articles generated)
- Net Favorable Media Value: US$48,000
- US$12,000 divided by US$48,000 = 25 cents per Media Value Dollar
- For "proof of performance," divide US$48,000 by US$12,000 =
4x
- COMPARE this result as described above |
C. Cost-per-Message Point (CMP)
1. Add all costs of publicity campaign (or of entire department).
2. Determine all POSITIVE or NEUTRAL Message Points and total.
3. Divide line 1 by line 2 to get number of Message Points delivered = CMP
Example Cost-per-Message-Point:
- Cost of Publicity Campaign: US$12,000 (500 articles generated)
- 10 percent had 4 MPs = 50 x 4 = 200 MPs
- 30 percent had 3 MPs = 150 x 3 = 450 MPs
- 50 percent had 2 MPs = 250 x 2 = 500 MPs
- 10 percent had 1 MP = 50 x 1 = 50 MPs
- Total Message Points: 1,200
- US$12,000 divided by 1,200 = US$10.00 CMP
- COMPARE this result … |
D. Share of Discussion:
For more accurate correlations across all media relations
efforts:
1. Capture your coverage and that of key competitors.
2. Calculate Net Positive Media Value for each.
3. Divide each company's Net Favorable Media Value by the total of all competitors
to obtain Share of Discussion (SoD).
4. Correlate SoD metrics to event attendance, sales, or other outcome results.
Example Share of Discussion:
The chart below illustrates how Firm B had the most Total Media Value, but
Firm A had the highest Net Positive Media Value, and thus owned Share of
Discussion.
Example:
Share of Discussion |
Total Media Value |
Negative Media Value |
Net Positive Media Value |
Share of Discussion
|
Firm A |
US$100,000 |
(US$40,000) |
US$60,000 |
44.4 % |
Firm B |
US$150,000 |
(US$100,000) |
US$50,000 |
37.0 % |
Firm C |
US$50,000 |
(US$25,000) |
US$25,000 |
18.5 % |
TOTALS: |
US$300,000 |
(US$165,000) |
US$135,000 |
100 % |
V. Evaluation Metrics Resources with links
· American Newspaper Representatives - www.anrinc.net
· Arbitron - www.arbitron.com
· Burrelle's Information Services - www.burrelles.com
· comScore MediaMetrix - www.comscore.com
· Nielsen Media Research - www.tvratings.com
· SQAD - www.sqad.com
· SRDS - www.srds.com
For more help, download the following FREE White Papers at www.prtrak.com:
"A PRIMER: Measuring Media Coverage Effectively"
"IT WORKS: Correlating Outputs to Outcomes."
Angela Jeffrey, APR, is a multiple Gold quill and Silver Anvil
award winner who developed PRtrak, a do-it-yourself media measurement
tool providing standardized, audited metrics. For more information,
visit www.prtrak.com.
Discuss this topic with other IABC members at: www.iabc.com/memberspeak.
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