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How Do You Measure Your Company's Public Relations
Impact?
Many companies -- big and small -- view public relations the same way a
person suffering from a head cold views the curative potential of a bowl
of hot chicken soup.
Will it help? Who knows? But it can't hurt.
Executives remain unclear of their organizations' PR effectiveness because
they don't engage tools to measure PR program impact on desired audiences.
But they soldier on anyway because they consider "getting good PR" a
desirable objective.
Typically, PR programs use press releases, media interviews, newsletters,
seminars and a wide variety of other communications vehicles to deliver positive
messages to key audiences via print, broadcast and digital media.
Measuring your PR program's effectiveness enables you to gauge return on
investment and determine if your messages are reaching target audiences.
You can save time and money by applying measurement information to refocus
your PR campaigns as needed.
Measurement techniques usually start and -- unfortunately -- end after totaling "hits" such
as how many column inches or broadcast minutes your story gained in the press,
on radio and TV and across the Internet. You also want to know your exposure
-- calculated by totaling all readers, viewers and listeners you've reached.
You compare the cost of this total to the same exposure achieved through
paid advertising.
Many companies stop the measurement process after totaling their media hits
and calculating exposure. They fail to take this next very important step:
An assessment of their PR program's impact on desired audiences. You can
make such an assessment by applying a number of simple techniques.
PR program impact measurement tools you can use
- Perception surveys. By asking a cross section of individuals important
to you to give you their perception of your organization and its services/products,
you can benchmark awareness among key audiences. You'd repeat this exercise
to update perception information after completing different PR campaigns.
- Opinion polls. Adroit pollsters use smart polling to determine subtle
opinion and perception changes. They can go beneath people’s superficial
opinions to detect not just what they’re feeling, but why.
- Focus groups. You can pull together a focus group relatively quickly
to gather at least grass-roots opinions. Such groups do have limitations
regarding their input. Be sure to use competent researchers who know how
to recruit group members and can manage the group's discussion fairly and
dispassionately.
- Media content analysis. The media's opinion won't necessarily track
the same as public opinion. You should evaluate media and Internet coverage
for content including message pickup, reach and frequency. Compare this information
to your program objectives.
- Consultative audits. These audits are highly managed and targeted
one-on-one conversations with key opinion leaders. Your aim is to determine
how people important to you feel about your company and why they feel that
way. The consultative audit is most effective when you're seeking input from
highly expert but hard-to-reach individuals such as investment analysts,
CEOs, members of editorial boards and government policy advisors.
All organizations want to make and save money, and that's what measuring
PR can help you do. Measuring PR can increase your communications efficiency
and your ability to reach the right people with the right messages. It can
also help you build credibility and a positive reputation.
By measuring your PR impact, you can determine your public relations program's
effectiveness and make sure the money you spend on PR is spent wisely.
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