Evaluating PR Campaigns

Napier Partnership Limited

www.napier.co.uk

@NapierPR

OUTPUT, OUT TAKE OR OUTCOME?

• Outputs – the activities that were undertaken (shooting the arrow)

• Out takes – the results of these tactics (hitting the target)

• Outcomes – the changes in behaviour (winning the archery competition)

Output

Out Take

Outcome

Outputs are meaningless if they don’t generate out-takes or outcomes.

The further down the chain towards the outcomes of the campaign, the better the evaluation, but the more difficult it is to measure.

Cuttings

• Press clippings evaluate outputs.

• By simply flicking through the clippings, it is fairly easy to see the volume and estimate the quality of the coverage.

Reach

• Reach = how many people in the target audience will have seen the campaign

• Adding up readership or circulation estimates reach

• Online reach can be hard to calculate: often estimated based upon overall site traffic

Frequency

• Messages must be communicated several times to have an impact.

• Frequency can be applied to a subset of the total target audience.

• (for example 10% of the target audience saw the message 4 times or more.)

Opportunity to See (OTS)

• Opportunities to see (OTS) is effective measure

• OTS = The number of times that an average member of the target audience is likely to have seen the campaign.

• Combines elements of frequency and reach

Share of Voice

• Rather than setting a bottom-up goal for the outputs, simply benchmark the campaign against competitors.

• Share of voice can be

measured in specific publications

ASSIGNING FINANCIAL VALUE – AVE• Gives a monetary value to PR results

• AVE = the cost of advertising to achieve the same results

• PR is far more effective than advertising so a multiplier is used

AVE is flawed• PR isn’t advertising• Publications don’t always charge rate

card• There’s no assessment of quality

Editorial Impact

Measure using several factors

• The credibility and relevance of the media.

• Where the coverage appeared and how big the article was.

• How many of the target audience would see the coverage.

• The quality of those people• The tone of the article

Surveys

Conduct a survey before and after the campaign to see an improvement in attitudes to the company.

Can be difficult to isolate the impact of the PR.

Make It Up – Your Own Metrics

Developing specific objectives means evaluation talks about real-world business objectives.

Link evaluation to the company’s business objectives.

Business objectives are compelling metrics for the CEO!

About the Author

Mike has directed major PR and marketing programmes for a wide range of technology clients throughout UK and Europe, ranging from technology start-ups to global market leading companies.

Mike Maynard Managing Director of Napier Partnership Limited

www.napier.co.uk

@NapierPR