| | Ask ten PR practitioners what constitutes the Return On Investment (ROI) of their PR efforts and chances are their answers will be as varied as the industries they represent. We asked some of our clients to give their defintion. Read their opinions here. | |
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Measuring the ROI of PR - How to Get started?
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| | If it is already hard to determine what the ROI of PR is, agreeing on a technique to measure it seems like 'mission impossible'. However, calculating the ROI of a PR programme is a crucial element of an overall business strategy. So, when measuring the impact of your public relations efforts, follow these tips: | |
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1. Consider a third party
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| | Measuring the ROI of PR is complex. You will find all sorts of models and systems on the market. Let the specialists handle it. The use of a third party organisation gives your survey, results and conclusions more credibility with senior management. | |
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| | If you start out too big, your evaluation programme will be unmanageable. It is best to do the basics first. You should not expand the programme until you understand the measurement process and can put the results into context. | |
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3. Avoid a rigid programme
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| | You must constantly be able to change the programme depending on what's hapenning in your company. Company strategies tend to change fast. It is important that the measurement programme is flexible enough to change if you want to track a new message or specific programme. | |
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| | Generally, quarterly reports are more useful than monthly reports. They allow you to spot trends and to draw conclusions. Monthly reports will not give you a good evaluation of trends and patterns because it is too short of a time period. | |
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| | Speak the language of your public. If you present before the management, stress how PR has contributed to the firm's overall goals, rather than drown in PR speak like Advertising Value Equivalency. | |
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6. competitive Benchmarking
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| | Competitive benchmarking is always a good idea. It gives you an insight in the effectiveness of your programme. But competitive benchmarking is also a good way to keep your company from cutting the PR budget. You have the numbers to convince them that if PR stops, your competitors will likely leap ahead in press coverage. | |
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