Public Relations Measurement … It's All About Being "SMART"

Ever since the dawn of public relations, PR practitioners have worked hard to identify a link between PR and ROI (return on investment). Professional communicators have been using PR to deliver their messages for decades, and eventually, those professionals are scientifically proving how to generate ROI from their PR activities by linking them with sales revenues. ROI objectively measures the economic benefits of public relations against its associated costs and relative to other forms of marketing. As time passes on, PR consistently outruns other forms of marketing and at a fraction of the cost.

Accountability is the key issue facing the PR industry today. The ability to prove value and ROI may be the crucial issue on getting approval on a budget or not. Given the variety of possible public relations objectives,

ROI is not always about linking PR investments directly to sales generated. For example, if the PR objective is to generate web traffic, then Cost per Click-through may be the best metric. If the objective is to change perceptions, then Cost per % Point of Change may be measured and calculated. Likewise, if the PR objective is to stimulate product trial, Cost per Trial User may be the most meaningful metric.

As the above intro implies, the days of counting press clippings are over, and no longer can PR practitioners rely on press clippings to prove whether or not they have achieved the objectives of their PR campaign. Business executives are more concerned with changing attitudes and behaviors, which are reflected on sales and revenues, website hits, or any other measurable tool rather than compiling press clippings.

The question that arises is: "How would PR contribute to a business?"…

In order to answer this question, a PR program must include clear, pre-defined, and measurable objectives. Yet before the goal-setting phase, PR practitioners must identify the type of results to be achieved through a PR campaign or program.

All businesses need to set objectives for themselves or for the products or services they are launching. What does your company, product or service hope to achieve?

Setting objectives are important, as it focuses the company on specific aims over a period of time and can motivate staff to meet the objectives set. As there is now true ROI measurement, this added with other matrices can really help clients to get a clear understating of the impact of their PR campaigns.

A simple acronym used to set objectives is called SMART objectives, or what we call the "GCI Method". SMART stands for:

Specific – Objectives should specify what they want to achieve.

Measurable – You should be able to measure whether you are meeting the objectives or not.
Achievable - Are the objectives you set, achievable and attainable?
Realistic – Can you realistically achieve the objectives with the resources you have?
Time – When do you want to achieve the set objectives?

Today, it is imperative to measure the ROI of PR by linking public relations impacts to business results… only by clearly being SMART.