Best Practices, Measurement & Reporting

Measurement is one of the biggest challenges when it comes to public relations. There is no standardized way to measure and report the value of PR and ROI. Here are some questions to help you determine which approach is best for your brand.

1. 1. What are my measurement criteria? You must determine which measurement criteria are most important to your brand. Be sure to discuss the criteria with key leaders of your organization to ensure you agree with what will be tracked and what is feasible to track. Criteria to consider for analyzing coverage:
      • • Number of placements
        • Reach of placements (impressions, circulation, UMV, etc.)
        • Sentiment of coverage (positive or neutral)
        • Key message pull-through (does it mention a brand pillar, key event, specific messaging?)
        • Number of visuals (brand images)
        • Prominence (where is the brand mentioned?)
        • Call-to-action (does it include your website?)
        • Target outlet efficiency (does the coverage reach geographic and demographic targets?)
        • Social media shares
        • Share of voice (amount of coverage vs. competitors)
        • Advertising value (while not an ideal choice, for many organizations it is hard to eliminate)
        • Website traffic

1. 1. Do you have a budget for reporting and measurement? There are traditional and up-and-coming services to help with PR reporting and measurement. Exploring these options can be a full-time job alone. Before setting up your demo, know what out-of-pocket budget you have to spend. This will help determine which, if any, third-party services are right for you. There are many tools to explore, including Cision and TrendKite. Keep in mind, none of these platforms can do it all and you should still be prepared to manually track and report in some capacity.

1. Are you taking your PR coverage one step further? Once coverage is secured, are you promoting through other channels to maximize the effort? There are many ways to extend the life of your media coverage and drive brand messaging. See our tips for maximizing earned media coverage:
   • • Plan ahead; Prepare to mobilize marketing resources
     • Share via social media:
       • Acknowledge journalist and outlet by tagging and hashtagging their channels (a digital pat on the back!)
     • Employ social media advertising
     • Feature excerpts from articles in your press room in an “In the News” section or on your blog
       • Always credit the outlet
     • Include the coverage in your email newsletter to consumers and/or corporate stakeholders
     • Share with employees, partners, members, and supporters and ask them to share on social channels
     • From your email signature to your Wi-Fi login page, there are lots of way to cross-promote – add a blurb mentioning the recent coverage
     • Select pull quotes for “testimonials” pages or in sales presentations (with permission)
     • Get digital PDF’s, reprints created – arm your sales team!
     • Frame it and hang it!