How do you report on Public Relations campaign results?

1 Define your goals and objectives

Before you start collecting and analyzing data, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve with your PR campaign and how you will measure it. Your goals and objectives should be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. For example, if your goal is to increase brand awareness, your objectives could be to generate a certain number of media mentions, reach a specific audience size, or improve your brand sentiment score within a given period. Having SMART goals and objectives will help you align your PR activities with your desired outcomes and set the criteria for evaluating your performance.

2 Choose your metrics and tools

When reporting on your PR campaign results, you should select the most relevant and meaningful metrics and tools that align with your goals and objectives. For example, media coverage can be monitored and measured with tools like Google Alerts, Meltwater, or Cision to analyze reach, impressions, share of voice, or sentiment. Website traffic can be tracked with tools like Google Analytics, Bitly, or UTM codes to measure sessions, bounce rate, conversion rate, or referral sources. To measure social media engagement, you can use Hootsuite, Sprout Social, or BuzzSumo to analyze followers, reach, impressions, engagement rate, or sentiment. Lastly, business outcomes can be tracked with CRM software, sales reports, or surveys to analyze leads generated, sales closed, customer retention, or customer satisfaction.

3 Collect and organize your data

Once you have chosen your metrics and tools, you need to collect and organize your data in a way that is accurate, consistent, and easy to understand. You can use spreadsheets, databases, or dashboards to store and manage your data and ensure that it is updated regularly and verified for quality and reliability. You should also categorize and segment your data according to different variables, such as media type, channel, audience, or time frame, to help you compare and contrast your results and identify trends and patterns.

4 Analyze and interpret your data

After you have collected and organized your data, you need to analyze and interpret it to extract meaningful insights and conclusions from your PR campaign results. You can use charts, graphs, tables, or infographics to visualize and present your data in a clear and engaging way. You should also use descriptive and inferential statistics, such as averages, percentages, ratios, or correlations, to summarize and explain your data and highlight the key findings and implications. You should also compare your results with your goals and objectives, as well as with your competitors or industry benchmarks, to evaluate your performance and identify your strengths and weaknesses.

5 Write and share your report

The final step is to write and share your report with your intended audience, such as clients, partners, or bosses. Your report should be concise, coherent, and compelling, and tailored to the needs of your audience. It should include an executive summary that provides an overview of the PR campaign goals, objectives, activities, results, and recommendations; a background section with context and background information; a results section that presents and explains data analysis and interpretation; a conclusion section summarizing main findings and conclusions; a recommendation section suggesting actions or improvements for future campaigns; and an appendix section with additional or supplementary information. Additionally, you should use a clear, professional tone and language in your report, proofread it for accuracy, clarity, and consistency, format it according to brand or industry standards, and share it in a timely manner through the most suitable channel. Finally, solicit feedback and questions from your audience.

6 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?