How to Effectively Measure the Impact of a Pr Campaign
INTRODUCTION
After and during a PR campaign, it is important to measure and study its impact and see what can be improved upon, and how it has benefitted the client. Press clippings, numeric reports, social media analytics, are all great ways to track the impact of a PR campaign and whether it has achieved all the intended goals. Having metrics on hand can be a way to present tangible and observable results to the client, and even predict the impacts of future campaigns. Periodic reporting acts as a great way to present observable and tangible metrics for clients, enabling them to understand how PR is positively impacting their business and translating into more sales, or increased brand awareness.
FIVE METRICS THAT CAN MEASURE PR IMPACT
Here are a few metrics or parameters that effectively measure the impact of a PR campaign:
PR Value:
A standard metric when it comes PR measurement, the PR value usually highlights the financial value of reaching the same audience via earned media as opposed to paid advertising. This makes for a clear picture as to how effective the PR / media outreach strategies can be and what kind of value addition is done to the business as a result of coverage generated from a PR campaign.
Media Impressions:
Impressions on distributed content and indicate a clear picture on how many people can reach the messages being put out. While it may not directly translate into sales, it can improve brand awareness, and reach more potential customers.
Share of Voice:
Share of Voice refers to the percentage of brand mentions commanded by a brand in the overall market (these mentions are unpaid and organic, and from all over the internet including blogs and discussion forums). It can be tracked by computing the total mentions of a brand in a given time period, and dividing by the total number of brand mentions of all competitor brands in the market during a given a time period. It can indicate the extent of market share a brand commands and can be a useful metric to measure PR impact.
Website traffic:
Website traffic can highlight the impact of a campaign by measuring any positive upticks following any PR activity. This can indicate traffic value and act as a tangible and measurable result that can gauge the impact of a campaign.
Sales:
One of the most direct impacts from PR, sales are the ultimate indicator of how effective a PR strategy has been. Ultimately, other metrics like PR Value and website traffic must translate into sales, as that is the end goal. While there may not be significant changes in the beginning, it is important to note that in most cases PR is a gradual process and results are usually noticeable over a period of time.
CONCLUSION
Understanding these figures can help a PR agency collaboratively effectively with the client to create PR campaigns that are impactful and generate a high ROI. These figures can reveal what is effective and what needs further reworking or reassessment. Moreover, periodically measuring the PR campaign’s impact can help further adapting and optimizing the PR strategy, or plan by revealing its weaknesses, as well as painting a clear picture of its strengths which can be noted for future reference.
In conclusion, it is important to periodically track and measure the impact of a PR campaign, as it allows for reflection if what works and what does not, and space to improve upon weaker areas. Moreover, it enables clients to clearly understand the impact created by a PR campaign and its ROI, and effectively collaborate on an optimal PR strategy.
As a Dubai PR agency, Pop Communications has worked with numerous brands across F&B, Lifestyle, Technology, Beauty, Fashion, Wellness and more. Each of these tailor-made PR campaigns were studied regularly, by observing some of the above-mentioned metrics. This has led to highly effective campaigns that have yielded outstanding results for clients and acted as a knowledge base for newer campaigns.