“Every brand has a reputation – good or bad. It is one of the most valuable asset and it has to be protected and nurtured. That is where brand measuring commences. PR lends a hand to its clients in a situation that threatens their wholeness and protects their reputation in their community.” – Acha Paul
“Knowledge is power” is an acronym that rings true, especially for advertisers who have witnessed a huge campaign go down in flames.
Businesses in Kenya spent about Ksh.154.1Billon on advertising in 2019, and while that figure significantly dropped in 2020, advertisers rightfully expect a positive return.
It is crushing for admen to discern losses and cash burns when creating campaign reports, with unaccountable reasons justifying the expenses incurred to stakeholders.
Wins and losses are part of every PR campaign, but the art of perfecting a great PR campaign stems from guided marketing strategy decisions.
In the data-driven marketing era, failure to acknowledge and differentiate areas of growth and falls can only lead to mishaps.
Often than not, proving return on investment, is heavily attributed to quantitative numbers- Key Performance indicators, Return on Advertisement and more sales figures that overlook other qualitative results that are beneficial to brand health; which is a conversation for another post.
While it is true that every marketer should have their figures right, here is how you can account and prove performance on PR Campaigns in a heartbeat.
Social Media Monitoring & Coverage
Go beyond the likes, comments and shares
The rise of digital marketing has driven effective marketing campaigns to be personalized for audiences across platforms. Its effectiveness has enabled consumers to respond and voice their opinions in real-time.
As an advertiser, you can use social media to prove buying intent through positive and negative sentiments and account for return on investment.
Other immediate reflections of campaign effectiveness are;
Engagement
The greatest quality of social media is an engaged audience. As a business, you should focus on the “quality” of the conversation compared to the “quantity” of people who have seen your social media post.
Do these mentions positively influence your presence on social media? Are the influencers carrying the conversation?
Keep in mind activities and experiences are crucial to building a positive and memorable brand experience that contributes to cultivating meaningful relationships with current and future customers.
Are negative conversations affecting your social media presence?
Community Growth
As an effect of the conversations, the number of people who follow you will increase. Followers on Facebook, Instagram and every other channel of your business build communities. Since the number of followers can be manipulated, you will need to assess the audience’s interest.
– Do they initiate meaningful conversations about you?
-After they follow, do they engage in conversations around the topics you are passionate about?
Businesses that depend on these platforms for growth and engagement; social media intelligence is essential.
At ReelAnalytics, we have partnered with BrandWatch to empower advertisers with social media information that proves their efforts move the needle.
Media Monitoring
Media monitoring is the art of keeping track of what people are saying or not saying about you, your brand, competitors and what matters to you.
Media, entertainment and advertising spending is expected to rise to Ksh. 900B by 2025. Therefore, it is only right that the wealth of information; blogs, social media mentions, user-generated content and news monitoring is monitored to generate insights for your brand.
All of this is overwhelming when trying to keep track of the value of your PR work by yourself. To get started, these metrics should be prioritized.
Share of Voice
When media planning and buying, share of voice is a term that refers to the total media exposures of a paid brand media message compared to the competitors. It is critical when assessing the return of media investment whether it is on television, radio or out of home advertising.
Brand Impact
Campaigns affect both brand awareness and reputation. If your PR Audience views you negatively, it will impact your bottom line. Manual social media tracking and media monitoring tools are the guiding light to assessing public perception.
Media Coverage
Quality trumps quantity. Focus on where your business has been covered; earned media, editorials to attribute where “big-apple” traffic is coming from. Tracking media opportunities is a great way to assess the value of your PR messaging.
Website
Websites are an incredible source of information that provides the source of your traffic; organic search, paid advertising, social media or referral links.
When running a campaign, it would be expected to experience spikes in traffic from these sites depending on your campaign placement.
On Google Analytics, filter out data on traffic, directions and calls before and after the campaign period to get a clear picture of the success.
PR Outcomes
Behavioral Impact
This may be the most important factor of all, because it reflects directly the impact of the campaign.
-Are more people calling inquiring about advertised products and services?
-Are people recommending your brand?
-Are you generating more sales?
Overall growth
The purpose of running a campaign is mostly geared towards consistent growth. If you do not see this, it means the campaign failed.
Earlier, the main measurement criteria were the quantity of coverage, the channel of delivery and media type.
Nowadays, tracking PR ROI also engages in measuring social media ROI, and measuring PR outcomes is the most important aspect of this equation.
While there is still no single mathematical equation to measure success in Public Relations, one might still have a fair idea of the PR’s success through the above metrics.
“Reelanalytics empowers brand owners to identify their target audience, develop effective marketing and communication strategies and execute effective media and communication campaigns.”
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