There was a time not so long ago when PR coverage was measured in Advertising Value Equivalent (AVE). Simply put – it was deemed to be worth 1.5-5 times what the space would have cost as a paid advert.
Things have moved on a bit and although it’s still important to demonstrate the value of a campaign, thanks to metrics and social media, measurement of how successful a campaign has been can be pretty comprehensive.
It’s important to agree what the objectives are at the start of a campaign, i.e selling more products, growing a Facebook following, clicks on a website, recruiting key staff etc.
With digital communications such as social media, blogs and websites now an integral part of PR campaigns, there are several aspects that should be considered when seeing how well your PR has measured up. We use a tool called Coveragebook to capture online news pieces and to highlight key digital data. Below is a helpful list of what they suggest is evaluated when measuring PR:
- Pieces of coverage
- Reach
- Estimated views
- Type of audience reached
- Target market
- New audiences
- Channel specific indicators (likes, retweets etc.)
- Brand awareness
- Brand mentions
- Comments
- Key messages
- Engagement
- Social shares
- Links to the website (This will also impact SEO)
The key messages is an interesting one as its important to see if journalists are reproducing your key messages and getting the facts about your business correct. We had one client where journalists routinely didn’t read the press release properly and were reproducing the stories incorrectly, which was more than a little frustrating.
We solved the issue with a couple of phone calls to journalists to explain the business once more and very careful rewording of the key message. As ever, talking to journalists and giving them what they need, when they need it, is fundamental. It’s a partnership.
I hope this is helpful – to pick a few of the measurables above should give a good overview when seeing how you and your PR are measuring up!
We relish seeing our PR efforts and news about our clients’ work published in leading magazines, newspapers and websites, both nationally and internationally. We work across the South East, London and Wales, providing a tailored, professional service.
Here’s a snapshot of our coverage for one client:
riversimple-coverage-april-november-2016