Measuring the success of PR – are we long beyond just the ‘ROI’?

When starting a conversation with a potential new client there is always the inevitable ‘ROI’ conversation. Don’t get me wrong, I get it. I know that when money is invested there needs to be a return, which has to be measured in some way or another, and the company brought on to achieve these goals does need to be held accountable in one way or another but I do truly believe that what we do as an agency goes way beyond that.

A measurement is necessary in business, both for the agency to assess the success of a campaign or on-going PR strategies along with for the client who want to know where their money is being spent. In generally the ROI for PR includes PR Values, Ad Values, impressions or a count of how many pieces of coverage. Often it even goes down to specifying the exact titles, something I feel is a big pain point in the initial chats with potential new clients. I stand by the fact that it is impossible to 100% promise that you will get a client a full page of DPS in all the titles they request. This is also the same when it comes to guaranteeing on exact conversion to sales.

Anyone who says they can, are beyond over promising, and in the end will have to under deliver which always looks so much worse than being clear from the beginning.

It’s always better to be honest from the outset. I’m not saying that we can’t get a DPS in The National or Arabian Business, we can, but it very much depends on content, timely responses from clients and what is relevant to the publication, along with relationships with the media. We always have a full launch meeting with new clients where we establish what their long-term goals are, we can then build KPI’s to achieve these, which are regularly reviewed and adjusted where needed.

Setting realistic KPIs which in turn become the ROI metrics will always be there, and that’s fine. Numbers for expected coverage, events or whatever is the main aim over the project or each month for the retainer, but don’t forget to show you ‘intangible’ value. It’s time to really reinforcing your less quantifiable aspects of what you do. I hope that we are on the way to moving away from just setting numbers and more towards assessing the quality and outcomes of a campaign or strategy such as reputation and interaction with consumers.

As an agency we see ourselves as an extension of our client’s team, supporting them with everything from major marketing decisions, connecting them with key consumers in the region or just generally acting as a mentor as and when needed.?

These types of attributes in a company are impossible to put a number to but they should not be underestimated on the overall value they can add.

Natasha Hatherall, CEO and Founder of TishTash Marketing and Public Relations

TishTash is a leading marketing and communications agency in the Middle East Region www.tishtash.com