data driven ways to prove pr value
TRANSCRIPT
"It's hard to show immediateROI with PR,it's more of a long
term investment."
"PR is one ofthose
intangiblethings..."
"You can't expectpublic relationsefforts to tiedirectly to
sales."
These blanketstatements (pulled
from actualagency websites)
show exactlywhat's wrong with
the PR mindsettoday
Good PR practitioners Showreal, impactful results thatalign directly with larger
business goals
Story Time
A long time ago, in a land far far away, PR used to be a wholelot simpler. Specifically, it was about 9 years ago and the citywas Seattle, but still, it was a softer time.
Back in those days, when we reported to our clients, it lookeda lot like this:
- Stories pitched - Coverage gained- Awards/Speaking opps submitted- Upcoming press releases- One wild creative idea we knew we'd never do, but we stillput in there because it showed how "out of the box we were"
Story Time
These days,reporting looks alittle different
Referral TrafficIf you don't already haveaccess to your client's GoogleAnalytics data, now is thetime to get on it.
Analyzing referral traffic on aregular basis allows you tosee which outlets are sendingthe most relevant traffic backto the website, and also helpsyou to demonstrate PR ROI ina tangible way.
How To
Once you have GoogleAnalytics access, navigate tothis tab by scrolling down the
menu on the left
How To
Set daterange here
Report onthis trend
Using thisinformation
Caveat: Not all media outlets will link
back, so make sure you're trackingall hits using a tracking tool,
Google Alerts, or manualsearches
Pro Tip
Share Of VoiceMeasuring share of voicecan be a powerful indicatorof brand momentum, as longas you're calculating itcorrectly.
We like it, because it notonly takes into accountyour top competitors, butalso measures overallindustry buzz.
How To
Every client'sSOV calculation
may be a littledifferent
depending ongoals, but here is
one method offinding a SOV
percentagewe've found
helpful.
Find a reportingtool you like - we're
using Mention.
Step 1:Set up alerts foryour company,
plus mentions ofthe givenindustry
Step 2:Do the same forany competitors
you want totrack
Step 3:Set up generalalerts for the
industry you'retargeting
Example Alerts:
Pro Tip
If you wanted to track Nike's SOV in the running category,you'd set up your alerts like this:
Alert #1: Nike + Running (mentions of Nike that also includethe running keyword)
Alert #2: Competitors plus the same keyword (Adidas +Running, Brooks + Running...etc.)
Alert #3: Mentions of running in general
How To
Calculation Time
Like party time,but way less fun.
Total mentions of Nike
+ Running = 1000
Total mentions of Running
= 15000 - divided by - = 0.06 so
6% SOV
Repeat for competitors tocompare results
Total MentionsMore of a traditional PRmetric, but still important.
We measure all mentionsfor our brands and theirmain competitors, andmake sure the number istracking up and to theright at all times.
At the end of the day, a lotof coverage still equals avery happy client.
How do you measurePR success?
Share your top metrics with us inthe comments below?
Your Turn
