Is Combining PR Strategies the way to go?

I often hear PR pros debating the best way to effectively measure PR.  I recently found this article over on PRMoment looking at the tools that are available: http://bit.ly/XVzl4u.  It is an interesting conversation.  I think measurement progress is happening, as clients are demanding it to happen.  Data driven PR strategy should be the goal as we look to meet these needs, but is there a combination of factors we should consider when looking at this?

Plan for Measurement and Incorporate it in the Budget

I had a conversation today with a PR colleague who is struggling to come up with funding for measurement. My reminder for all of you out there is that it is important for PR pros to plan for measurement and incorporate it into the budget from the beginning. That way you can set aside resources to cover it, rather than having to scramble to come up with a way to measure and analyze data once you are knee-deep into a campaign.

Are Industry-Wide PR Standards the Only Solution?

Are setting industry-wide PR standards the only solution to moving PR measurement and analysis forward?  Sometimes I worry that with so much focus on measurement standards, tunnel vision will set in. Can we address industry standards and other measurement issues at the same time? And, can we also appreciate that some flexibility to customize certain areas of measurement is a good thing?

Check out Alex Singleton’s blog post “Measurement: the weapon that makes PR deliver better results”, It is a good read and a reminder that even without measurement standards (and even with other barriers to adoption) there isn’t an excuse for not measuring PR.

Find a Baseline to Grow Measurement From

Happy Friday! Here’s a tip for all of you that are just getting started with a measurement program: Go back six months and collect the coverage from that time frame. This will give you a baseline to grow from.  Then once you begin to collect and measure new data, you will understand where you came from and whether you are making forward progress. Doing this takes time, but it is a great way to invest in successful measurement and get your efforts off to a good start.

PR Measurement and Social Media

Most PR professionals agree that measurement is a necessity.  We understand that using measurement, including analysis, can give a clear picture of where our PR efforts are going.  So why aren’t we more focused on getting it right when it comes to measurement? Are there too many barriers standing in the way?  Check out this article by Russell Working that highlights survey results surrounding social media measurement and offers some insight: http://bit.ly/14dUxYu.

Creating universal industry standards for PR measurement

I frequently hear people talking about the lack of universal industry standards for PR measurement.  Would it make it easier to meet the needs of our clients?  I believe to an extent, yes.  We could have a consistent set of terms and expectations for our clients.  But, I also believe the flexibility to measure exactly what a specific client wants and alter that for a different client gives us the freedom to secure meaningful agency and client relationships.  David Geddes recently explored the possibilities and benefits behind industry-wide standards in his blog post, highlighting the ability to learn what works and doesn’t work, the ability to sell firm services and ability to compete based on smart, creative application of the standards.

Developing and Documenting Search Terms

Are you frustrated by clients asking, “Why wasn’t this specific coverage included in our PR report?”  or by having your agency accused of “missing coverage”?  I think this is a very valid problem for agencies.  It is not uncommon for clients and agencies to have misunderstandings about coverage reports.  But, I have found that establishing and documenting clear search terms can be a good way to avoid these kinds of problems.

Clarify

When you work with your client to establish a definite list of targeted search terms, you can decide together what is worth measuring and what is not.  As you begin to use search terms in your tracking, it is important to explain to your clients that they can expect reports to reflect only coverage that includes one or more of their key terms.  Then reinforce the fact that measurement is not meant to cover everything, only the most important information.  If all coverage is tracked, they will just be inundated with too much information that is hard to analyze and doesn’t help them meet their goals.

Agree

If specific keyword terms are generated together with an agreement that they are appropriate based on PR and business goals, then a client has no reason to get upset when a piece of coverage that doesn’t fall under the established terms is excluded.  (Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean  clients won’t ever question reports!)  Remember to document which 10 – 20 terms will be used, to protect yourself from any future problems.  It may be necessary to gently remind clients that there are budgetary and strategic reasons behind capturing their data.  And clients will likely respond better if you have documentation of your agreed upon search terms available for reference.

Great Results

Once you begin creating reports with your data, both you and your clients will see the benefit of a well defined search strategy.  This type of PR measurement produces great results, which means satisfied clients.

If you want to learn about Wallop! OnDemand’s PR measurement and monitoring services, visit www.wallopondemand.com, request a Wallop! demo, or contact me directly:  kristin@wallopondemand.com

Give thanks for the “little” PR tasks

As Americans take a break from business as usual to celebrate Thanksgiving, I would like to wish those of you in the U.S., and everyone else reading this blog, much to be thankful for. I hope that during the holiday, and in the future, you are surrounded by the people and things that are most important to you.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I thought I would share a post about showing gratitude to PR team members for an important, yet underappreciated task…that’s right, I’m talking about measurement.

Ask a junior PR staffer, an intern, or anyone else responsible for doing PR measurement, and they are likely to tell you that it is often a thankless task. That’s because, a lot of times, the people tasked with capturing data, tagging it, and so on, don’t get to see the benefits of their work. However, the people using the data and benefiting from its insights, are the ones that receive recognition for PR wins.

When PR measurement is done well, it can be an absolute game changer for a product or brand. The end results of measurement are exciting and clear to those using the data and analysis. But the advantages aren’t always felt by those who are responsible for tediously tracking coverage and tagging articles. That is why it is nice to show appreciation for coverage tracking, monitoring and measurement work.

One way you can do this is to implement a rewards program for relevant and valuable PR information. For example, you could offer rewards for accuracy and quality control. Reliable analytics and PR recommendations start with accurate data. To show appreciation for hard work and accuracy, and to promote quality work, provide performance incentives for assignments like reviewing coverage for relevance, and tagging data correctly.

Another reward worth implementing is a contest for PR insights. Consider asking PR teams or individuals to submit a data driven insight each month. Then, at the end of the month, choose the best insight and reward the person who submitted it. Not only will a program like this show team members appreciation, it will also give employees a reason to care about measurement. Ultimately, your entire PR team will feel motivated to not only do the basic measurement work, but also to think more about how to use measurement data for strategy and PR recommendations This is a win-win scenario – junior staff will be better trained AND feel more appreciated.

I believe that thanking team members for their work is an important part of creating a happy, successful PR team. And finding ways to provide recognition for tasks that generally go unnoticed can have a big impact on productivity.

Are PR budgets under attack?

Survey responses from the PR and Measurement Survey.

Last week Wallop! OnDemand released a survey report containing information about current PR budget trends. One of the things the report revealed was that for most PR professionals, budgets have either shrunk recently, or they’ve remained static. Very few agencies or businesses have had the luxury of seeing their PR budgets grow. In fact, according to the report, 42 percent of PR pros have recently experienced a budget cut, while another 46 percent are stuck with static budgets. Only 12 percent of PR professionals have experienced budget growth in the last 12 months.   

So, what do these numbers mean? Are PR budgets under attack? Are companies losing faith and pulling their money out of PR? Should industry professionals be worried that 38 percent of communications professionals saw a company cut PR entirely in 2010?

Not necessarily. Here’s my take on these numbers…

When you pair these budget trends with the rising expectations clients have for their PR programs, it seems likely that what businesses actually want is for PR to optimize programs and produce more with less. Agencies and PR departments that can find a way to do this will be able to deliver what their clients and executives want: great results and great value.

When your clients expect bigger and better results without a bigger investment, you have your work cut out for you. In this case, you need to seriously evaluate your campaign and identify what is working and what is not. By doing so you’ll be able to capitalize on the areas of your campaign that are producing the best results. Then you can adjust or eliminate PR efforts that aren’t delivering.

Take a look at the business outcomes your execs expect PR to accomplish, and revisit the PR goals your team has set. Ask yourself how successful you’ve been at reaching those goals, and determine if there are ways to streamline efforts and make the program more efficient. Be sure to use actual data to help you evaluate and improve your strategy. When budget dollars are on the line, you want to be making informed decisions and not just guessing. The unfortunate truth is that when PR teams don’t deliver what clients and executives want, their budgets are in jeopardy, and they may even run the risk of being replaced.

Continuing to measure results and evaluate your program will allow you to make better decisions and fine tune your strategy so that your campaign will be in top working order. That way you’ll be in a position to impress clients and executives by giving them what they truly want – a PR program that can achieve more with less.

Bouncing back after a budget cut

Recovering from a PR budget cut can be challenging. If your budget decreased at any point during the last several years, and you want to get it back to at least where it was previously, there are a few things you can try:

One strategy is to take advantage of a pain point that clients and executives care about: losing to competitors.  If executives think the company is faring just fine with the (smaller) budget you have now, there is no real reason to increase the budget.  But, if you can prove that PR was helping the business stay competitive – and that once the budget was cut, the company lost ground to competitors, you may have a shot at retrieving those lost dollars.

In order to make this strategy work, you are going to need to collect data from the year prior to when the budget was cut. Then, also collect data for the period of time when you were working from the smaller budget – after the cut. You’ll need data for your company and your competitors. Why? Because you need to show that during the time when the budget was higher – you were on par with (or beating) your competitors.  Then you can make the case that once the budget was cut, competitors gained ground and you lost ground.

I should point out that taking this approach with executives means walking a fine line. That’s because, on one hand, you really should be striving to show that your program has gained efficiencies and you’re able to do more with less. On the other hand, you also need to show that adding to the budget will help the company get a foothold on the competitors once again.

Another thing to note about trying to get a budget back on track is that you’ll have to prove there is a real business case for a budget increase. This means presenting some compelling projections to prove that increasing the PR budget will help achieve the company’s business goals. It is critical to convince executives that more money equals more returns, be that in the form of sales, new leads, faster growth.

You may need to go back to square one and ask some probing questions to make sure you have a true understanding of what the actual business goals are. Let’s face it, if your budget was cut in the first place, there is a possibility that there was a disconnect somewhere that caused the cut. So, you want to be sure that you do, in fact, understand what is most important to executives, and you know what PR is expected to achieve. That way you can build a solid strategy around achieving the company’s goals.

Your PR strategy has to be on target if you are going to be awarded more money.  If the sales team is tasked with selling a high margin product – and you’re focused on promoting a commoditized offering because it’s a hot topic – you may need to adjust your strategy to ensure it maps to the company’s sales objectives. 

Part of your strategy for earning back the budget dollars that were cut should be making sure you are completely in tune with business goals, so that you can map all PR efforts to those goals. Showing executives you understand business priorities, and you have a plan to achieve goals and meet PR’s expectations, will help you make your case.