Measuring the Impact of PR

One of the most common questions that companies have when looking to promote themselves or their solutions is whether PR even works. While it’s not always easy to track the benefits of public relations in comparison to other promotional strategies, such as advertising or marketing, it doesn’t mean businesses should overlook the power of PR.

Media Impressions

One of the ways that companies can assess the performance of their PR efforts is to keep track of the number of media impressions a company gets over a certain period of time. This goes hand in hand with the number of press clippings that mention the company or its products and services. When the number of press clippings is multiplied by the total circulation of the outlet where it appeared, the company can get a number that details its media impressions. If a large number of outlets mention the business or its solutions and they’re the target media outlets, the company is successfully raising awareness through its PR efforts. For example, if the WSJ mentioned a company, and the outlet has a total circulation of five million, the business achieved five million media impressions.

Website Traffic

Another great way that companies can measure the performance of their PR efforts is to track the amount of traffic a company’s business website receives before and after launching a PR campaign. Most sales that companies generate come from CTAs that are listed on a company’s website. That means if a business’ website traffic is performing better than before its PR campaign, the PR efforts are working well.

Content Analysis

Aside from the number of articles a company receives in outlets, and the impressions they get, companies can also evaluate the content of the articles themselves in order to assess the performance of their PR campaigns. Quality is important when it comes to content, which is why the most effective content is that which portrays businessesin a positive light and mentions their key messages. If the press coverage a company gets results in valuable content, then the campaign is performing well.

Social Media Mentions

This is a relatively easy metric that companies can track because most social media platforms notify users when they receive a mention on the platform. However, social media mentions should also include any conversations about a business, even if the business isn’t directly tagged in the conversation, which is achieved through social listening. If the number of social media mentions ends up increasing after the launch of a company’s PR campaign, there’s no need to wonder whether the PR efforts are working.