When I was setting up 9mm I spoke to a number of high profile entrepreneurs to see why they did PR and find out how they measured the benefit to their business.  They told me that they did PR because they knew it was important but were unable to give any hard evidence that would suggest why that was.  In many cases they said that they just knew in their gut that it was worthwhile and something they must do.

While this gave me some comfort – that people would do PR without a clear success measure – it didn’t clear my concern.  In the past I have lost some good clients because although I could deliver books of coverage, I couldn’t tell them whether any of it had lead to new business.

Clearly the media is a very powerful influencer and so it makes sense that companies who appear in its pages, on its screens and over its airwaves can enjoy the borrowed credibility and influence it offers.

Measurement is tough.  As you may well be aware, the PR industry tries to quantify its efforts in terms of clippings, column inches and tone of voice.  While they tell you whether the PR company is doing a good job engaging with the media it doesn’t tell you a great deal about whether there has been any benefit to the business.

I believe that the challenge we face as an industry is that we are looking at the wrong end of the problem.  We feel that it is our responsibility alone to provide the data needed to measure what we do effectively.  This will never work.

The truth is that the effectiveness of PR can be measured but it can only be done through a combined effort between PR company and client.  Only together can the right systems and processes be put in place to capture the data needed to efficiently measure the effectiveness of campaigns.

To measure the effectiveness of PR, a company must first work out what it wants the campaign to achieve, e.g. sales, data capture, donations, service sign ups, etc.  Once it knows what it wants to achieve it should then ask the following questions,

1. Who do we need to attract to get the result we want?
2. What is going to motivate them to take the action we desire?
3. What information do we need to give them to help them make their decision?
4. Which media will reach them best?
5. How do we use the media to get our message across?
6. What other channels can we use?
7. How will the campaign integrate with our sales process?

Then the real work starts.