In today’s fast-paced business environment, every penny counts, especially whilst businesses are under immense pressure to justify every line of their balance sheets. This is where the important of measuring your PR activities comes into play. At Skout, we believe that effective measurement is the key to demonstrating a tangible return on investment in your PR efforts.
We recently launched our very own report ‘Demystifying Measurement: Demonstrating the Value of Your B2B PR Investment’, which delves into the evolving landscape of PR measurement, why it’s so important and what the future holds. We spoke with three industry thought leaders who are pushing the boundaries of traditional reporting to deliver real value to senior marketers:
- Claire James – Deputy MD at Skout PR
- Richard Benson – Founder and Managing Director at Releasd
- Ricky Reemer – Managing Director at Unicorn Partners
The importance of measurement
Did you know that marketers face an on-going struggle to effectively communicate the value of PR to C-suite? Many traditional PR metrics like brand mentions and amount of coverage don’t directly translate into measurable ROI that we know all executives prioritise, especially with budgets seemingly shrinking by the day.
According to Marketing Week’s ‘Language of Effectiveness’ survey, 48% of marketers believe ROI is the most important metric for their employer’s C-suite, and 60% see increasing market share as the top task for a marketing department.
In today’s data-driven business environment, every budget line demands clean justification, and PR’s impact (thought crucial) can sometimes become abstract without the concrete figures or direct links to revenue to back it up. Demonstrating PR’s value involves measuring influence, share of voice, and sentiment, which are all very important, but they become much more meaningful when connected to broader business goals; think market share and brand authority.
So, where should you start?
Claire James, our client services director and very-own measurement expert said “Teams spend hours pulling together reports, but the measurement aspect of a £100,000 campaign might only be worth £2,000. It should be more like five times that to get a genuine view of the campaigns impact.”
To really understand what a campaign’s success looks like, simply tracking metrics isn’t enough. There needs to be not only investment in how you measure, but also investment in learning, so that you can better understand the data that’s in front of you.
Establishing clear measurement goals aligned with business objectives including things like brand awareness, lead generation or website traffic can be your best friend, especially when it comes to campaign evaluation. Once your goals have been decided, selecting the right metrics to measure your success is key.
Key metrics for effective measurement
Effective PR measurement goes beyond basic metrics. It’s about understanding the impact of your coverage. To help build a narrative around any coverage generated, you should also be considering: Salience – the relevance of your coverage, Share of Voice – the proportion of the discussion about a subject attributed to your company,and Sentiment – whether the coverage of your brand is positive, negative, or neutral.
These metrics, when measured with the right platforms, provide a much clearer picture of how your coverage is performing. They can help benchmark your brand against competitors and assess the impact of your PR efforts. Utilising tools like CRM systems and marketing automation platforms, you can track your audience’s behaviour in response to coverage, and then easily link these activities back to ROI. Having a measurement budget relative to your campaign size, as well as a structured framework can help you better communicate the campaign’s impact and also justify the value of your PR efforts to C-suite.
The future of PR measurement
Looking ahead, the focus on measurement will only grow. In the future, it’s likely there will be a rise in ‘Head of Measurement’ roles within PR and marketing teams, taken up by data specialists. It’s expected that the role of AI will also transform measurement, especially in sentiment analysis and predictive analytics. Imagine a future where AI can predict the success of PR campaigns based on historical data, crazy right?
At Skout, we understand that measurement is not just about proving the success of a campaign, but also about learning from it. Knowing what doesn’t work is just as valuable as knowing what does. In our latest report, our measurement experts will provide you with fresh insights and practical advice based on their experience so you (or your agency) can measure your business’ PR activities effectively.
Unlock the true value of your PR investment by downloading our report today.
