Constantly improving skills is inherent in the work of a PR professional. Only by doing so can we ensure that our actions are effective and tailored to the needs of our Clients. We also cannot ignore important industry discussions that may impact the entire PR market in Poland. That is why, on Friday, September 15, the entire Good One PR team participated in a training titled “Measuring the Effectiveness of Public Relations Activities,” led by expert Anna Miotk.During the full-day training, the expert shared her extensive knowledge of measuring Public Relations activities with our team. The training emphasized practical exercises, during which we evaluated completed PR campaigns and, based on the acquired knowledge, built a strategy “from scratch” and developed measurable goals along with methods of their measurement. We left the training enriched with many new, useful insights that will help us work even better for our Clients.
Below, we share the most important conclusions from the meeting:
- Measuring PR activities should be considered already at the strategy creation stage – not after the project is completed. However, first it is necessary to define measurable objectives, for which a thorough analysis of the initial situationis helpful. This involves gathering as much data as possible to create a picture of the Client’s current situation. Important information includes those regarding the communication target group (such as which media they consume, their current level of knowledge about the Client and its products), the company’s current situation (including changing consumer trends and legal environment changes), and the results of previous communication activities. Only with such knowledge can a PR professional set realistic and achievable goals. It is also important to constantly verify the accuracy of the collected information because, according to the IT maxim “Garbage IN, Garbage OUT,” the worse the input data, the harder it is to plan a measurable PR strategy.
- A well-defined communication goal is primarily measured by its precision. At its core lies proper operationalization of concepts (for example, by which values we will measure brand awareness among recipients), enabling precise measurement of change (in this case, an increase in awareness) over a specific time frame. It is essential that after performing a thorough initial situation analysis, the target is set at a level that is challenging but still achievable (e.g., a 5% increase in spontaneous brand awareness in the target group within six months). The SMART method helps in properly defining goals, which specifies all the conditions that a measurable goal should meet.
- Every PR professional’s basic knowledge is that the effects of their work are not immediately visible but result from a process. However, it is important to know that what stages make up such a process and that each of them can – and should – be measured with specific tools. For example – the immediate effect of distributing a press release about a contest will be the published articles that will consequently translate into increased awareness among the target group about the contest, and ultimately result in a higher number of contest participants. Correct measurement of each aspect of this process allows not only to determine how our actions contribute to the Client’s success but also serves as a valuable source of guidance for adjusting the current strategy to maximize future results.
- Due to the fact that there are never two identical PR campaigns, there is no universal method for measuring them. PR professionals have a whole range of methods, tools, and metrics that allow for obtaining the necessary data, so they must choose those that best fit a given project. Among the methods are content analysis, statistical data analysis, surveys, but also less popular ones such as focus groups, participant observation, or psychophysical measurements (e.g., eye tracking). Each method has its own set of tools. For example: the tool for content analysis of press materials will be media monitoring, as it provides information such as the number of mentions about the Client, the type of media in which the mentions appeared, or the tone of the publication. Ultimately, the PR specialist must also define a metric that confirms the occurrence of the given phenomenon. It should be remembered that in the case of tools coming from different sources, metrics with the same name may be defined differently and, importantly – calculated differently. This is worth keeping in mind when working with several research institutes and receiving differing data from them.
As you can see, fluent navigation in the subject of measuring the effectiveness of Public Relations activities is key not only in terms of PR actions themselves but also in the context of cooperation with the Client. Only through effective measurement is it possible to precisely present how our actions translate into achieving their business goal. Furthermore, the ability to plan measurable objectives is crucial if the PR specialist wants to be a real advisor to the Client.
Author of the text: Krzysztof
