PR measurement was never meant to be an exclusive club

Posted on June 16, 2011 by Rebecca Denison

Originally posted on PRBreakfastClub.

OK, maybe I have a biased opinion about this, but I don’t think PR measurement was ever intended to be an exclusive club.

I remember learning about measurement during the first week of my first PR course in college. We even learned an acronym that included research and measurement: RACE (Research, Action, Communication and Evaluation). Research and evaluation were engrained in me right off the bat.

Perhaps this made me wrongly assume that measurement was already an integral part of the PR industry, and I’m still continually surprised by how few professionals talk about it.

Not to say there aren’t a handful of incredibly knowledgeable folks out there who always share amazing thoughts and advice, but c’mon, y’all!

I know it’s been said time and again, but measurement has to be a part of each and every campaign or project. Whether it’s as simple as tracking an increase in fans or followers, or an intricate equation balancing numerous metrics, measurement is required to show success.

Think about how you determine success, and I don’t just mean at work. How do you determine whether or not you’re successful in your personal life, too? You set goals, right? And you measure against those goals in real outputs.

If you want to run a marathon by the end of the year, odds are you will measure your success based on whether or not you complete a marathon. Easy enough, right?

So why when it comes to measuring a PR campaign does everyone run for the hills or try to pass the buck? Measurement does not have to be complicated. It can be as simple or extensive as you want it to be.

It may require one extra step or keeping track of a few numbers here and there, but I promise you, anyone can measure. You do not have to have a background in advanced mathematics or be an Excel spreadsheet master. But if you know that 2+2=4, you can measure your next PR campaign.

Let’s step it up! We’re always talking about it in theory, but I want to hear more about how you’re using measurement in your every day life. There shouldn’t so few voices talking about PR measurement.

What do you measure every day? What do you keep track of? Do you find personal metrics can be applied to your job, too?

About Rebecca Denison

Passionate UNC graduate (and basketball fan) interested in social media and measurement. As a biochemist-turned-communications professional, I spend my days as a senior social media analyst at Digitas in Chicago. Through my work, I have been able to establish social media monitoring and measurement best practices. I’m excited to explore more aspects of online measurement like traditional Web analytics, search metrics and integrated data models as I continue to learn and grow.
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  • Gordon G. Andrew

    Rebecca: This is a very delayed response to an important question that you’ve posed (so many blogs, so little time). The PR profession finds it difficult to produce a quantitative response to “How do you measure PR?” because, for the most part, they are selling media exposure as a business solution. But media exposure (print, electronic, online, whatever) is a tactic, not a solution. Most PR firms hand their clients a pile of media “clippings” each month to validate their ROI. And amazingly, for decades, clients have accepted this “trust me, it’s working” relationship…despite the lack of a tangible or consistent connection between publicity and meaningful business outcomes such as lead generation, revenue, etc. The intrinsic value of publicity as a business tactic is the inherent 3rd party endorsement it can deliver…but ONLY if that endorsement is properly merchandized, which means doing something with it other than posting it on a website. Publicity, which is PR’s #1 menu item, is simply a means, and not an end, to tangible ROI. And the reason why the profession can not provide a valid response to your question is twofold: 1. They are content with simply serving up publicity as a deliverable, because clients don’t push them to make a connection between tactics and outcomes; and 2. Being accountable for actual business outcomes is very scary, and makes for much shorter relationships with clients. 

  • http://rebeccaadenison.com Rebecca Denison

    Thank you for a thoughtful response! It’s never too late to contribute a great perspective. :)

    I think you’re absolutely right, too. It’s easier to ask clients to trust us and not prove what value we are really driving. I hope those days are quickly coming to an end, though.