How can you measure the impact of a negative PR crisis on your franchise's brand?

1 Monitor your online reputation

One of the first steps to measure the impact of a negative PR crisis on your franchise's brand is to monitor your online reputation. This means tracking and analyzing what people are saying about your brand on various platforms, such as social media, review sites, blogs, forums, and news outlets. You can use tools like Google Alerts, Mention, or Brand24 to get notified of any mentions of your brand name, keywords, or hashtags. You can also use sentiment analysis to gauge the tone and emotion of the online conversations about your brand. By monitoring your online reputation, you can identify the sources, reach, and severity of the negative PR crisis, as well as the opportunities to respond and mitigate the damage.

2 Measure your website traffic and conversions

Another way to measure the impact of a negative PR crisis on your franchise's brand is to measure your website traffic and conversions. This means tracking and analyzing how many people visit your website, how long they stay, what pages they view, and what actions they take, such as filling out a form, subscribing to a newsletter, or making a purchase. You can use tools like Google Analytics, Kissmetrics, or Hotjar to collect and visualize this data. By measuring your website traffic and conversions, you can assess how the negative PR crisis affects your online visibility, engagement, and sales.

3 Survey your customers and prospects

A third way to measure the impact of a negative PR crisis on your franchise's brand is to survey your customers and prospects. This means asking them directly about their perceptions, opinions, and behaviors regarding your brand, such as their awareness, satisfaction, loyalty, and referrals. You can use tools like SurveyMonkey, Typeform, or Qualtrics to create and distribute online surveys to your target audience. You can also use Net Promoter Score (NPS) to measure how likely your customers are to recommend your brand to others. By surveying your customers and prospects, you can understand how the negative PR crisis influences your brand image, trust, and advocacy.

4 Compare your performance with your competitors

A fourth way to measure the impact of a negative PR crisis on your franchise's brand is to compare your performance with your competitors. This means benchmarking your brand against other similar franchises in your industry or market, in terms of key metrics, such as market share, revenue, growth, customer satisfaction, and online reputation. You can use tools like SimilarWeb, SpyFu, or Socialbakers to get insights into your competitors' website traffic, keywords, ads, and social media activity. By comparing your performance with your competitors, you can evaluate how the negative PR crisis affects your competitive advantage and positioning.

5 Track your brand awareness and recall

A fifth way to measure the impact of a negative PR crisis on your franchise's brand is to track your brand awareness and recall. This means measuring how well your target audience recognizes and remembers your brand name, logo, slogan, or product. You can use tools like Brandwatch, YouGov, or Nielsen to conduct online or offline surveys, polls, or quizzes to test your brand awareness and recall. You can also use Google Trends, Keyword Planner, or Moz to analyze the search volume and trends for your brand name and related terms. By tracking your brand awareness and recall, you can determine how the negative PR crisis affects your brand recognition and memory.

6 Calculate your brand value and equity

A sixth way to measure the impact of a negative PR crisis on your franchise's brand is to calculate your brand value and equity. This means estimating the financial worth and potential of your brand, based on the expected future earnings and profits that your brand can generate. You can use tools like Interbrand, BrandZ, or Forbes to get an approximate valuation of your brand, based on factors such as market size, growth, profitability, customer loyalty, and differentiation. You can also use tools like Brand Finance, Brandirectory, or Brand Equity to measure your brand equity, which is the added value that your brand provides to your products or services. By calculating your brand value and equity, you can quantify how the negative PR crisis impacts your brand's bottom line and future prospects.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?