Obsessed with B2B marketing? You should be a PRO member! Join now at 25% off (or 50% off for teams).

From marketing managers to sales teams to the C-suite, many stakeholders feel the benefits of successful PR campaigns—and use the metrics that measure success to adapt business strategies or make more data-driven decisions.

However, almost half of B2B marketing managers claim that determining real business contribution levels from PR agencies is a difficult task, a recent IBA primary research study found.

For some PR agencies, a high volume of "media engagement" is the most important consideration when measuring PR success, although others—such as SEO benefits, coverage breakdowns, and messaging pull through—are more effective.

Media engagements simply entail a conversation or email with a journalist, and they do not make measuring PR performance or spend any easier for marketing managers or the C-suite.

In fact, 41% of marketing managers said they find their public relations agency to be overly focused on achieving media engagements rather than securing quantifiable content placements, IBA's research discovered.

As for securing actual coverage, many PR agencies are too dependent on familiar media contacts for their placements, the research also indicated: More than one-third of marketing managers experience coverage in the same small selection of media.

Much more can be done to measure the success of media campaigns, and the following three metrics can help organizations successfully measure their PR output.

1. Do a coverage breakdown—collect, log, and assess the data

Quarterly or half-yearly reporting should give agencies and their marketing managers a sizeable sample to work with in dissecting campaign performance, velocity, and momentum—i.e., showing which content formats have performed well, and where.

The value of information depends on thorough data collection. Data entry must guarantee correctly logged and coded coverage and note type of deliverable, release, positioning article, thought leadership, case study, feature, interview, and so on, as well as how it was displayed by the publishing outlet and the format in which it was published (online platform, digital issue, hard copy, or newsletter, for example).

Observe the trends

Once the numbers are collected, trends should become apparent through data analysis.

For a campaign featuring a split of articles, press releases, and interview outreach, organizations can look at the results and consider whether the coverage formats match the levels of activity.

For example, a high volume of news coverage vs. bylined placements may indicate that an organization has not reached "thought leadership status" within their target industries. On the other hand, a lack of news coverage may indicate the company needs to rethink its press release strategy.

Refresh your target media list

Reaching multiple publications with a PR campaign is paramount because it will ensure widespread coverage. As noted earlier, 34% of marketing managers say their public relations agency is ineffectual as a result of repetitive placements in the same small selection of media.

A review of target media must be a priority, and it must be continuously updated.

Come to grips with UVPM

For businesses that use unique visitors per month (UVPM) to determine campaign reach, an analysis of the news item's overall coverage will indicate campaign impressions.

Enter your email address to continue reading

Three Metrics for Measuring PR Campaign and Marcomms Success

Don't worry...it's free!

Already a member? Sign in now.

Sign in with your preferred account, below.

Did you like this article?
Know someone who would enjoy it too? Share with your friends, free of charge, no sign up required! Simply share this link, and they will get instant access…
  • Copy Link

  • Email

  • Twitter

  • Facebook

  • Pinterest

  • Linkedin

  • AI


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

image of Jamie Kightley

Jamie Kightley is the head of client services at IBA International, a B2B PR agency serving global technology clients.

LinkedIn: Jamie Kightley