Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

hi Matthijs,

what are you trying to accomplish?

One step is to quantify your pr efforts. after all how can you show improvement if you don't have a benchmark.

several years ago, we added seo to a pr campaign and salted our electronic releases with the same keyword phrases we put in title tags. we could then track the web traffic coming from the releases.

could be a good starting point.

Steve

You have to first find a source for tracking all placements you receive whether online, in print, etc. (there are companies that provide this service). The provider should be able to provide the circulations of each vehicle.

Next, you needs to evaluate the quality of the placement (how targeted was it, where was it placed, how big/noticeable was the placement, how favorable was it, did it mention only your brand or was it a general industry/category piece that also mentions competition, etc.). These factors need to be quantified – even if it’s as simple as tiering into Excellent, Good, Average, Below Average/Poor.

Finally, you need to develop a weighting to monetize the placements you get to determine the ROI. Compare results to other, paid placements, to assess returns, but also consider that PR is generally better received than general advertising as it’s perceived as being more neutral/informative than just ‘selling’.

I’d be glad to further assist if needed.
-Steve Udell

It would be nice if you could give a little more specific info so that we can provide answers.

From past experience, I have run PR campaigns tied to a specific event or activity in a short time frame.

'Generalised' Pr is not interesting for the publishers / editors nor is it measurable in terms of results.

Example " Company X invites Celebrity X to cut the ribbon on their new store in downtown X".

Here you have a specific event 'Opening or launching' on a specific date. You have a 'Celebrity' (already news worthy) and you have a specific location of interest to people in that area and to local press and media in that area.

Push your press pieces out a few days in advance (depending upon the medium) and you can measure the effectiveness by :

How many people showed up at the event on the date
How many people wanted to see the celebrity?
How many wanted to see your new store?

Over the next three of four days, you will still see people arriving at the location wanting to see the store - these are much more important than the day 1 visitors who just wanted to see the celebrity.

Push out your follow up PR pieces immediately after the event (same day) with pictures of the store and pictures of the celebrity etc. video if possible.

Celebrity X launches new downtown location for company X etc.

Now you have real pictures of the launch with the celeb so you should get some more press coverage. Even better if the press sent a rep to do an interview. Make sure that the press don't just interview the celeb but that they also interview a representative from the store too :)

Once these pieces come out, you can measure any rise in traffic at your store location.

This is just one example of how you might manage a FOCUSED PR activity and have a real shot at measuring its results.

So called PR on the web, is very different from REAL PR with the press and media so don't confuse the 2 activities.

Good luck.

Matthew

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