Integrated approach

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It is not a new subject, but it is one that continues to appeal to the imagination: the measurability of PR . PR activities are very measurable, as long as you make clear agreements about them.


I am not exaggerating when we talk about years of discussion here, also outside our national borders. Recently, research by WARC showed that the most effective campaigns increasingly rely on PR. A good moment to talk about the measurability of PR again.

Barcelona Principles
In 2010 the now well-known Barcelona Principles were launched, in 2015 it was time for version 2.0. Clear guidelines, but they offer no concrete methods.

To have a sense of success, measurability is crucial in any PR strategy. Especially now that you are 'competing' with the online world. Tight reporting, derived from various analytics tools, increases the need for measurable PR. And rightly so, because how else would you know when to pop the champagne?

The good news is that this is possible. It is just not the case that there is only one truth, one suitable method. Every campaign is different – ​​and so is the way in which you measure results. To create some more clarity, I will provide a number of tools in this article to make PR results transparent.

Short-term versus long-term strategy
Whether you roll out a PR strategy yourself or seek collaboration with an agency: insight into results begins before the start. In conversations I often notice that conversion is the magic word for the new generation of marketers. Nothing wrong with that of course, but we should not confuse conversion and measurability.

It seems obvious, but an effective PR strategy must be based on clear objectives. The total communication mix probably contains many components that must lead to conversion, but has any thought also been given to what activities yield in the long term?

For example, consider increasing brand awareness or strengthening an authority position. These are not things you measure based on conversion. It is important to first discuss the short-term and long-term goals with the management. Then you align your strategy with this and determine the various KPIs . These KPIs are then the key to measuring your PR strategy .

Before I go into the different ways to make PR measurable, it is important to mention that PR never stands alone. By using a strategic mix of paid, owned, earned and shared media, you increase your chances of results. On- and offline marketing , social media (advertising) and PR, all means to achieve the objectives.

When you use different channels, you have to make sure that the results are also measured phone number list in an integrated way. Suppose your analytics show that there is a lot of traffic to the articles on your website from search engines, but that this does not apply to Twitter. Does this mean that the time you spend maintaining your Twitter account is pointless?

If the only goal of your communication strategy is to generate traffic, then it may indeed seem like a waste of time and money. But do you also want to strengthen your position of authority and increase your brand awareness? Then Twitter can definitely contribute to this. Just by the fact that tweets are indexed by Google . It is therefore crucial that results are brought together and discussed. Especially if the responsibility for different goals lies with different people.

twitter timeline

The KPIs of PR
As mentioned, there is no single holy grail for measuring PR value. In addition to the fact that it is essential to first set concrete goals, it is also important to continuously re-examine the measurement methods and to continue to innovate. Developments in the field of communication never stand still, so you will always have to keep adjusting.

I do this by, among other things, continuing to talk to our international partners. How do they deal with this issue? And when do they celebrate with the customer? The following KPIs can help you with this. I have divided them into qualitative and quantitative KPIs. For qualitative, think of: