You've just reviewed the final results of your last proactive media campaign and now you want to measure its success.

The numbers look pretty good: media impressions were in the millions, coverage was evenly split between broadcast and print, and a leading national paper ran three stories on the launch - pretty impressive. But what is the ROI (Return on Investment)?

Analyse this

Analysing issues or campaigns is the first big step in truly understanding any communications success or failure. With busy schedules and/or tight client budgets, more often than not, media analysis isn't always carried out.

A big investment is being made in gathering the media content, but not on measuring and analysing the trends, successes, and areas for improvement. Stories are often filed away immediately or distributed to a limited group, never to be looked at again or analysed at all.

If you're already conducting ongoing media analysis half the battle is won. But if not, you can bet a stakeholder or director will want it soon. New analysis technologies combined with increased expectations to determine communications ROI are making analysis a must, not a should.

Agree on the definition of success

Once you've determined the need or importance of analysis, what's next? This is where the confusion can set in. As can be expected, everyone has their own definition of how media content should be analysed based on their own experiences or different objectives.

And sometimes the issue of PR standards, formulas, and old-school measurements are debated, so it’s important to agree on the definition of success for each campaign before you start.

Here are a few considerations to determine what blend of qualitative and quantitative data is important to you and what to track; 

• Track success in key publications and mediums based on demographic suitability 

• Evaluate key message penetration in media stories 

• Track quality, not just quantity, of coverage 

• The success of spokesperson pick-up 

• Determine campaign ROI based on awareness, sales, or foot traffic

• Measure advertising equivalency (AVE) - this was developed in the 1940s and the industry moved away from it in the last decade but we understand some companies need a financial benchmark. This number is highly debated so proceed with caution if you must include it!

• The number of media inclusions

• The approximate reach or impressions which is normally included in a media monitoring service or provided by the publication 

• Shares, comments, customer feedback, or letters to the editor 

There are endless ways of analysing and cross-referencing the information. You can accomplish all of the above considerations without getting into confusing PR multipliers or complex formulas. The key is to determine what you're interested in evaluating and create benchmarks for future comparisons. 

Simplifying multipliers

There is a lot of data that can’t be captured so the PR industry used to factor this in with multipliers. If you still want to add in PR multipliers you can, this essentially factors in word-of-mouth and information sharing between family or friends.

For example, Vogue tracks how many magazines are sold but can’t factor in a daughter giving her mother the magazine once she’s read it or people reading the same issue of National Geographic in the waiting room at their doctor's office.

As long as you consistently keep to the same formula, whether you're multiplying by a factor of 3 (industry standard), 5, or 10, evaluate coverage in a consistent fashion so it can be viewed as an unbiased and accurate portrayal.

Go real-time

Reviewing the success of a new product launch, the impact of a crisis on your organisation, or a monthly comparison after the fact can provide valuable insight for future planning. But imagine the change you could make if you have real-time data available to you at your fingertips in an instant. Using real-time data you could monitor: 

• What regions are having the most success and which need attention 

• Misinformation is being published so you can correct it 

• Which publications need another follow-up call 

• Which issues are getting the most attention 

• The quality and tone of the coverage 

• The impact on your organisation 

• What tactics are working and which aren't 

• How you can piggy-back on recent media trends or competitors' tactics or success 

The benefits of real-time analysis are endless and important. Knowing that you can have a timely effect on the final outcome of a new product launch is empowering and helps speak to the real power of PR.

A combination of real-time analysis and benchmarking will provide you with the tools to improve the results of a campaign mid-stream and properly analyse its success using a predetermined set of objectives and consistent criteria.

Want to learn more?

Can’t decide what the next steps are to build awareness for your brand? PR Insights has everything you need to know to start thinking about a new media, influencer, or marketings campaign.