The age-old question that has kept many a public relations practitioner up at night focuses on how to accurately measure public relations. Today, that question is even more baffling when you consider that traditional media relations has become only one aspect of PR’s scope, and an increasingly narrow aspect at that. Because the business landscape for PR has become so vast and diverse – covering social media and areas that were previously considered the domain of marketing and creative advertising – it has become increasingly difficult to accurately measure and evaluate the contribution of public relations.
PR continues to bring considerable value to an organization. An article that appeared in Forbeson PR ROI noted that, “in today’s socially connected world, public relations is more important than ever before. A simple tweet from the right Kardashian could be worth more than your entire ad budget. Consumers are looking up your business online, reading reviews, tweeting about products and crowdsourcing their experiences with your brand.”
With deference to this much broader scope of public relations, it is time to move beyond the standard Advertising Value Equivalent (AVR) measurement that has been the protocol for measuring PR for years, and develop a new standard of measurement. The question though, is what should that new standard be?
While the industry is working on developing new measurement standards, it might help to take the following into consideration when determining how best to measure the results of your PR activities:
With regard to social media – don’t measure ROI for social media like you do for traditional media. Measure social media ROI independently of other communications channels but apply the same standards to both. Also:
While people still use traffic and page views to measure social media, consider criteria such as keywords, bounce rates, time spent on site, pages per visit and repeat visitors. These will provide better indications of audience engagement.
Also, and perhaps most importantly, don’t be wholly focused on the ROI of PR.
PR hits are never guaranteed. When you do get a hit, the ROI for brand affinity will most likely fall outside traditional dollar-for-dollar measurement criteria. Particularly with the explosive growth of social media, it’s important to realize that PR results are about more than just metrics. They’re about:
While these might seem like more intangible than specific metrics, they are certainly essential for a company’s success.