The dreaded M word - 4 ways to measure PR

Prospective and existing clients often ask us: how do you measure PR and more generally success? While clearly not the easiest of tasks, as we all know PR is inherently hard to measure; my top 4 ways to measure success would be as follows:

Customer leads and increased awareness – Albeit not an everyday occurrence due to PR’s role as a subtle influencer, we have had clients tell us of leads that they have had as a direct result of PR. For example, one customer got a lead off the back of a case study, and another increased sales off the back of a product review. The real value to be had though as I see it, is in increased awareness of a company and exactly what it does: it was very rewarding to have a client tell us recently that now in sales situations companies know of them, have read of the work they do and see them as the key player in their space. Similarly, we had a client tell us we played a key role in their successful acquisition. However, examples like this don’t happen overnight, so what are other ways to measure success?

Effective messaging – Any PR programme should start with a messaging session that effectively translates what you do as a business into content that works for the media; while subtly communicating what makes you unique. If the team you hire immediately make it their business to get to know you and create insightful messages, then you are on to a winner. This messaging will then filter into any content developed to ensure any written materials convey these messages, influence your prospective customers and support inbound sales efforts.

Strong media coverage – While PR measurement shouldn’t focus solely on media coverage, it is a very important gauge on how successful content and campaign ideas created are. If you are consistently getting in your top ten press titles, through a variety of tactics that demonstrate thought and market leadership, then the programme is working effectively. Top ten being the real measure here, rather than re-prints and tier two pieces, though important in an increasingly SEO-focused world, it is the top pieces that will truly change perceptions. Depending on the space you operate in, this might be a mixture of business and national titles like the FT or BBC, technology titles like CBR or Computerworld, or customer specific titles such as Retail Week, The Banker or Global Telecoms Business. Look for an agency that is confident enough in its content and execution to give you a written guarantee on this.

In-bound-led content – Last, but certainly not least, is the content developed as part of your PR programme. While difficult to measure, the content should be insightful, interesting to read, offer real advice to potential customers, convey core messages and ultimately draw prospective customers in. A client recently told us the most respected industry expert in their space said their blog made great reading – a real measure of its success and reach! Their sales guys also use the content from this blog with prospective customers, showing true marketing integration. In an increasingly inbound marketing world, PR has a critical role to play in establishing authority, building a reputation, raising awareness and creating advocacy.  Getting this content right is no mean feat, it requires extensive client and industry knowledge, writing skills, an understanding of what the media wants, backed by an in-depth technical understanding.  Choose an agency that knows as much, or more, than you about the company, so that can they write content from scratch and with very little input.

(Image: William Warby via Flickr Creative Commons)