Measuring PR Success: Metrics and Analytics for Performance Evaluation

PR is broken.

Within the world of public relations, The Big Problem is measuring success.

Compare PR for a conglomerate like GE or Coca-Cola to Facebook ads for a small ecommerce website.

The ecommerce website can dial in Facebook ads and tracking such that they can say, “For every $1 we spend, we get $1.93 back.” They can literally track their ROI to the penny.

On the other hand, the large conglomerate spends $10M on PR and then asks, “Did that do anything?”

Sure, maybe there was some buzz and media coverage, but those aren’t the results we really care about, are they? PR results should also be measurable and tied to your overall business goals. To determine the impact of your PR efforts, it's essential to leverage metrics and analytics for performance evaluation. In this blog post, we will explore key metrics and analytics strategies to help you measure PR success and demonstrate the value of your PR initiatives.

Setting Clear Objectives

Before diving into measurement, it's crucial to establish clear objectives for your PR campaigns. These objectives should align with your overall business goals. For example, if your goal is to increase brand awareness, your PR objectives could be to secure a certain number of media mentions, reach a specific audience size, or increase website traffic. By defining these objectives upfront, you can effectively measure and evaluate the success of your PR efforts.

Media Mentions and Reach

One of the primary metrics for PR success is media mentions. Keep track of the number and quality of media mentions your brand receives. Look beyond traditional media outlets and include online publications, blogs, and social media influencers relevant to your industry. Additionally, measure the reach of these media mentions by considering the audience size and demographics of the publications. Tools like media monitoring software and social listening platforms can help automate this process and provide comprehensive coverage analysis.

Example: By implementing a targeted PR campaign, XYZ Company achieved a 56% increase in media mentions, with coverage in top-tier publications such as Forbes, Inc., and Entrepreneur. These media mentions reached an estimated audience of over 5 million, significantly boosting brand visibility and awareness.

Is that pure ROI? No, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore it. Any metric, even if it’s only a loose proxy for what you really care about, is better than nothing (if you keep your eye on the big picture).

Website Traffic and Engagement

Monitoring website traffic and engagement metrics can provide insights into the effectiveness of your PR campaigns in driving online interest and conversions. Measure the increase in website visits, unique visitors, and the duration of their stay. Additionally, track specific actions such as form submissions, downloads, or purchases related to PR-generated content. Utilize website analytics tools like Google Analytics to gather this data and identify the impact of PR efforts on website performance.

Example: After launching a PR campaign around a product launch, XYZ Company’s website traffic increased by 77%, with a significant rise in unique visitors and a 34% increase in average session duration. The campaign's landing page recorded a 23% conversion rate, resulting in a notable boost in sales and lead generation.

Of course, “notable” is the key word. Sometimes, PR efforts get lost amongst everything else. Attribution is a challenge in most cases because you’re not doing just one thing. If you have zero promotion going on, and you run a PR campaign and see a big jump in website traffic numbers, then you can reasonably attribute the jump above baseline to the PR. But what if you’re running 10 ad campaigns and working with 25 influencers? Was it the ads, the influencers, or the PR?

With modern web analytics you can track where a lot of traffic comes from, but it will never be perfect. But again, don’t let the drive for perfection become the enemy of “good enough.” If you can look at a bump in sales and say, “Based on the data we can get, we believe roughly half of this came from our PR campaign and half is from our ongoing advertising and marketing efforts,” then maybe that’s the best you can do and maybe the best you can do is good enough.

Social Media Engagement

In today's digital landscape, social media plays a vital role in PR success. Measure social media engagement metrics to gauge the impact of your PR efforts on audience interactions. Monitor the number of likes, comments, shares, and retweets on PR-related content. Analyze sentiment analysis to assess the overall sentiment surrounding your brand or specific PR initiatives. This data can help you understand how well your PR messaging resonates with the target audience and identify opportunities for improvement.

Example: A PR campaign generated significant social media engagement, resulting in a 214% increase in post interactions across various platforms. The sentiment analysis revealed that 86% of the conversations were positive, indicating a strong brand perception among the audience.

Brand Perception and Reputation

Measuring brand perception and reputation is essential for evaluating the success of your PR efforts. Conduct surveys or leverage online monitoring tools to gather feedback and sentiments from your target audience. Track changes in brand perception metrics, such as brand sentiment, brand awareness, and brand trust. Compare these metrics before and after your PR campaigns to assess the impact on the overall reputation of your brand.

Example: Through targeted PR strategies, a company’s brand reputation improved significantly. Pre-campaign surveys showed a 31% increase in brand trust, and post-campaign sentiment analysis indicated a 49% decrease in negative brand mentions. These results demonstrate the positive influence of PR efforts on brand perception.

Business Outcomes

Ultimately, PR campaigns should contribute to tangible business outcomes. Evaluate the impact of your PR initiatives on key performance indicators (KPIs) such as sales revenue, customer acquisition, lead generation, or market share. By connecting PR activities to business outcomes, you can demonstrate the direct value and return on investment (ROI) of your PR efforts.

Example: ABC Company’s PR campaign led to a 27% increase in sales revenue, attributed to the heightened brand awareness and positive media coverage. Additionally, the campaign generated a 44% growth in customer acquisition, surpassing the set targets and demonstrating the significant business impact of strategic PR.

Conclusion

Measuring PR success is essential for evaluating the effectiveness of your campaigns and demonstrating their value to stakeholders. By leveraging metrics and analytics, you can gain insights into media coverage, audience engagement, brand perception, and business outcomes. Remember to align your measurement strategies with clear objectives and regularly track and analyze the data to refine your PR efforts and maximize their impact. With a data-driven approach, you can continually optimize your PR initiatives and drive tangible results for your brand's growth and success.

ALL THAT SAID…

We don’t do any of this here at Canvas. We occupy an entirely different niche of the PR world. For our clients, the #1 thing they want is to get into publications like Forbes, Inc., and Entrepreneur so they can put “As seen in…” on their website and put a bunch of media logos in a banner.

We make no guarantees about what the articles themselves will do for our clients, but we do guarantee our clients will get into top-tier business publications within 90 days, for a flat fee per publication. If you need deep PR strategy and a traditional PR campaign, there are a lot of great PR firms out there. If you need quick PR placements in top biz pubs, that’s what we’re here for.

Contact us or check out our pricing: