How To Measure The Impact of Your PR Campaign

The first rule of PR is that nothing is guaranteed, so you cannot predict for certain how a campaign will perform ahead of time. Even afterwards, you cannot analyse and measure earned media in exactly the same way as paid media tactics, such as PPC.?

Whilst the success criteria of every campaign will be different, there are some clear signs that a campaign has been successful. Here are some of the ways in which we measure success and impact of PR campaigns.

Media Mentions

One of the clearest metrics for success is where, when and what mentions appear in target media. This will include long-form articles (thought leadership), comments and soundbites, as well as interviews, brand and product references. This metric assesses the number of placements secured within a fixed campaign period and indicates the cadence of a campaign. Relevance, timing, competing stories and intensity of campaign will all impact this number.?

Brand Sentiment

The phrase 'all PR is good PR' is not strictly true, and certainly not when it comes to B2B PR. Assessing brand sentiment ensures that the publicity generated is either neutral or positive, and is reflective of the overall brand positioning objectives. Negative brand sentiment would indicate that the media and/or the public are not responding well and would require an immediate assessment to identify the route cause of the issue. A crisis comms strategy could kick-in at this point to help bring the brand sentiment back where it needs to be.

Third Party Sourcing

It's great to see direct placement of articles, interviews and comments on target publications, but what's even better is when you are quoted as an expert source within another independently written feature. This indicates that the writer has conducted their research, used their due diligence and cited you as a credible expert on the subject matter. This process in itself reinforces that the PR campaign is succeeding in positioning you as the 'go-to' expert in your field.

Improved/Shortened Conversion Time

Positive publicity can help to improve and/or shorten conversion time for prospective clients by providing third-party credibility and endorsement. When a prospect is on the fence, or comparing your product or service to another, third-party publicity can help them to make their decision. A noticeable improvement in customer conversions/sales is a strong indicator that a PR campaign is working effectively.

Increased Social Engagement

Sharing positive publicity and media achievements via social media profiles typically results in greater engagement. This can be through likes, shares, comments or through direct messages and new followers/connection requests. A noticeable increase in social engagement can be positively aligned with PR efforts, particularly when coverage is being shared regularly and journalists or publications are being tagged. Another indicator of PR success is when others are independently sharing and commenting on your media coverage, such as sharing your article and recommending it to their own network.

Linked Successes

Many of the campaigns we work on result in successful award nominations, project wins and other exciting brand partnerships. We assess these linked successes and how the work we have conducted has improved the brand presence, credibility and influence that has facilitated these successes.

Improved Organic Search Visibility

Most prospects will conduct due diligence before choosing to work with a supplier or purchasing a product/service. Successfully securing online media coverage allows us to help control the key messaging and first impressions that they gain about you on the first pages of search engines like Google. Clear first and second page placement of media coverage for clients indicates that the PR is succeeding in improving organic search visibility for individuals or keywords.

Improved Domain Ranking

Media coverage on high quality ranking sites will naturally increase the domain ranking of your own website. An improvement in domain ranking during a PR campaign can be an indicator that the publicity efforts are working in generating quality media coverage links that are improving the ranking, and therefore, natural visibility of the website.

Increased Traffic & Leads

An increase in website traffic, duration on the page or interaction with the site (such as completing a scorecard/quiz or signing up to the newsletter) are all indicators that the PR campaign is successfully driving traffic and interest to the website. For added clarity, you can even create a tracked link which is exclusively used for PR activities to further quantify how much additional traffic the PR campaign is bringing to the site.

Want to find out more?

The team at AmbitionPR are committed to helping our clients to navigate their PR journey with clarity and confidence, with a clear understanding of the impact PR brings to their brand and their business.

Contact us today to find out more on 01603 743 363 or email [email protected]