5 KPIs that Showcase PR Value

A top priority of the best PR agency teams is measuring how well we do. In our business, that means establishing key performance indicators (KPIs). KPIs serve as a benchmark for PR performance and help quantify program results. It’s been said that PR results are hard to measure, but in recent years that has changed. Evaluating performance and outcomes is now fairly sophisticated.

However, there’s no one-size-fits-all set of KPIs. Before an agency sets them, it’s critical that they understand organizational goals and what the company hopes to achieve with a robust PR program. Only then can the PR team craft KPIs for clients and map them back to the organization’s broader objectives.

KPIs should align to a client’s SMART goals. As such, they should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-based. For too long, advertising value equivalent (AVE) was used as the only method to evaluate PR. But equating earned media with paid advertising ignores the key differences between the two and is generally considered a flawed way to measure outcomes. Most agencies and organizations have wised up to use more contemporary KPIs that capture the true value of PR. The ideal KPIs align to build brand awareness, determine traffic, and generate leads.

There are five types of KPIs that are essential to any PR program.

Earned media mentions

Earned media mentions – those stories, interviews, or broadcast segments featuring a given company – typically carry the most weight when it comes to PR KPIs. A media mention or feature is generated when the PR team pitches a proactive story to an editor or producer. The coverage may appear online and is likely to come up in search results as well. For many brands, earned media is the most powerful way to build awareness and credibility among a brand’s prospective customers. And when a brand is looking for lead generation opportunities, media mentions in more niche and trade publications can actually help move the needle.

Potential reach

An earned media placement is only as good as the people who see it, of course. Potential reach, the number of people who viewed, read, listened to it, can be a key indicator of performance. This includes social media, website, and page views. A PR program should include organic reach, which usually offers the greatest credibility, but paid reach can also extend the value of earned media coverage via ads or promoted posts. The two work together well and can expand the visibility of a brand.

Share of voice

Share of voice (SOV) is appropriate when comparing media coverage for a given company and one or more competitors. A SOV measurement should include all coverage across these brands, but what makes it useful is its flexibility. It can also be segmented to look at executive coverage compared to brand and product coverage, for example. When kicking off a PR program, the client and its firm should agree on the competitor(s) to benchmark for SOV. The percentage of SOV includes volume or reach of coverage, but also factors in the domain authority, or search engine ranking, of where the coverage is secured. Domain authority is an important factor for SEO, and a single high-domain article can drive search results for months or even years.

Website traffic and referrals

Using Google Analytics, a company or brand can track how a backlink from a media placement has sent a reader or prospect to the company’s website. It’s easy to see the amount of traffic generated from the link. To properly evaluate a PR program, agency teams establish a baseline for referral links and track this KPI for the program. Major placements in publications with a high-domain authority may generate spikes in website and referral traffic to show the impact of PR. Yet, it’s important to note that many media outlets are moving toward not including links to the company’s site as part of their editorial policy. As such, this should not be the only KPI to home in on for the PR program.

Engagement

Measuring month-over-month social engagement can showcase how well earned media coverage is prompting social media interaction. PR teams can easily measure growth across social media channels like Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram, depending on what social platform the company prioritizes. Looking at impressions, likes, shares and comments on posts highlight how the reach of media content is being expanded.

Depending on the goals of the PR program, there may be other KPIs that are particularly significant to a given brand, such as sentiment analysis, domain authority or even content quality. Every organization is unique in their PR goals so agencies and internal teams should listen attentively and pinpoint what KPIs are most critical before starting the program.

Decoding Tech PR Jargon

Tech PR professionals, like all PR people, love their jargon. With its highly technical applications, products, and services, the world of technology startups, ad tech providers, and enterprise “solutions” is ripe with opportunity for creation of buzzwords that can leave non-techies baffled.
Planning a tech PR program means not only mastering what these terms actually mean, but knowing when to use them and when to translate into more plainspoken language. Here are some of the most commonly used tech terms, and our tips on when (or whether) to use.

SoLoMo. An inclusive term for three trends — social media, local commerce, and mobile apps — this term has relevance within the niche world of digital marketing, and continues to be a favored strategy for many adtech companies and startups. The term is believed to have been coined by venture capitalist John Doerr. Use it sparingly, and only when addressing digital marketing and adtech insiders.

KPI. A term that’s been around for a while, “Key Performance Indicator” has become shorthand for a measurable value that helps gauge how a business or program is performing, and is still widely used. Its use extends well beyond technology PR into the business world at large, and most business professionals should be familiar with it.

IoT. Most who toil in tech PR are familiar with the “Internet of things” and its acronym, IoT. It annoys some due to heavy usage in tech circles, but given the boom in businesses built around sensor and software-driven connectivity; the ever-growing interest in the data patterns associated with IoT; and the social impact, we think it’s one that’s here to stay. 

Growth Hacking. There are several ways to define this term. We prefer the one from Tech.Co (formerly Tech Cocktail):  Growth hacking is the “lean startup” term coined by Sean Ellis for using conversion marketing tactics like content marketing, A/B testing, and analytics to grow a company quickly and efficiently. A favored term by techies and entrepreneurs, it’s often used loosely and has the potential to lose its edge, just like the overused terms “innovative” and “disruptive.” Since there is a lot of cross-over between growth hacking techniques and common marketing activities, use it only when truly accurate.

Disruptive Innovation. Invented by Harvard Business School’s Clayton Christensen 18 years ago, the term has been resurrected by the current tech startup boom and overused to the point where it’s nearly meaningless. One acclaimed artist recently created an entire body of work around the term in his latest exhibition, The Innovator’s Dilemma (the name of Christensen’s book describing the concept). Steer clear except in the rare cases where it is actually true.

Gamification. Gamification is the use of game thinking and game mechanics in non-game contexts to engage users and increase user contribution, according to Wikipedia. Applicable in many disciplines, the term has become popular in education circles and even lands in a U.S. News and World Report headline (the publication deems it one of three top emerging trends in online education). As mainstream media adopt the term, we’d say that’s license to use it when appropriate.

Tradigital. The meaning here is pretty clear, given that it’s a blend of the words “traditional” and “digital,” and in PR it typically refers to media or media-driven program components. But given that most clients have made the transition to digital and the lines between on and offline has blurred, we find ourselves using this term rarely.