Across all facets of promoting your business, whether it’s sales and marketing or advertising, measuring a campaign’s success and its impact is elementary.
Modern PR is no exception.
Just as we track sales and analyse marketing data, PR has its own set of metrics. But to effectively gauge the success of a PR campaign, it’s essential to identify which metrics to track, and set appropriate key performance indicators (KPIs). And these should always align with the goals the business is trying to achieve.
PR Measurement 101
Metrics are the tools that measure PR activity. KPIs, on the other hand, measure performance against a business goal. In essence, metrics are how you track and report on KPIs. KPIs can include traditional media coverage volume, website traffic, social media engagement, and much more.
KPIs and business goals
As a performance-led PR agency, Whiteoaks doesn’t pluck KPIs from thin air; we ensure they are aligned with what you are trying to achieve in your business overall. This enables us to create a PR strategy that gives you tangible outcomes.
We work closely with you to understand your business objectives. This could be anything from increasing brand awareness to improving reputation or driving sales.
Based on our agreed objectives, we design PR initiatives to support you. We pinpoint the most significant KPIs, essential for tracking the campaign’s progress and ensuring the attainment of the objectives.
Aligning KPIs with specific business goals is critical to ensuring that PR efforts generate a positive return on investment (ROI).
Whiteoaks’ approach to measurement
When we report on our PR efforts, we group KPIs into three distinct categories: visibility, engagement and impact. This audience-centric classification ensures our clients gain a comprehensive understanding of the outcomes of our campaigns.
►Visibility
Visibility measures how the PR activity has reached the defined target audience; it is the exposure generated through coverage and social reach. The key thing about visibility is that it only matters if it’s reaching the right audience via the right channel of communication – not just any old crowd. Quality over quantity definitely applies.
Naturally, visibility directly impacts brand awareness and customer acquisition. It also lays the groundwork for growth by expanding your audience reach and fostering credibility.
In practical terms, visibility can be measured through metrics such as media coverage volume, media impressions and key message penetration. Aligning visibility to business growth involves leveraging these metrics to expand brand reach, attract potential customers, and ultimately drive brand consideration.
►Engagement
Engagement goes beyond visibility. It signifies how the activity has resonated with the target audience, whether good or bad. While visibility gets your brand or content in front of the right people, engagement measures whether they interact with it. Was the content engaging enough to make them act?
In real terms, engagement appears as ‘likes’ and ‘shares’ on social media platforms, clicks through to a webpage, comments, messages and enquiries.
Fostering meaningful interactions and connections with your audience sets a solid foundation for brand loyalty and advocacy. Even if it doesn’t directly drive sales at this stage, engagement is a great measure of your relevance to your target audience.
►Impact
Impact – otherwise known as the Holy Grail of PR measurement – represents the effect the activity has had on the target audience. It can include improvements in brand consideration, perception change, leads generated or partnerships forged.
Measuring impact, and attributing it to a PR campaign is more involved than some other marketing areas. It requires planning, tracking and monitoring, to be able to connect leads to a touchpoint, such as a piece of PR content.
There are various methods to measure impact, from direct audience research, CRM platforms, Google Analytics and call tracking. Also, not forgetting to monitor how leads that engage with content progress through the sales funnel.
Fixed fees for fixed outcomes
At Whiteoaks, we prioritise measuring our campaigns to demonstrate ROI on our work for you. Our ‘fixed fees for fixed outcomes’ model means if we don’t hit the agreed targets, you don’t pay.
Your success is paramount to us, and our model ensures absolute accountability every step of the way. We understand that this approach may differ markedly from what you’ve encountered with other PR agencies – but here at Whiteoaks, we’re all about rewriting the rules and delivering results that defy expectations: we do PR differently.
If you’re interested in learning more about how our deliberately different approach can help you achieve your business objectives, get in touch: https://whiteoaks.co.uk/contact/
