By: Chris Piehler
In a media universe where every blog post, article, and email can be tracked and quantified, the concept of data-driven decision-making is popular among business leaders. Most PR and marketing clients want to see numbers, not just hear “feel-good” anecdotes. When it comes to edtech PR in particular, we can show our clients all sorts of numbers, but the key question is this: what is the most accurate and useful measure of success?
I think we can all agree that it’s not impressions. I liken measuring success by impressions to flying a blimp over a sold-out football stadium: yes, you know exactly how many people might see your message, but what if they don’t look up because they’re distracted by something else, like buying a hotdog or watching the actual game?
When it comes to earned media, reach is similar to impressions in that it shows the potential number of people who could see a given article, but it doesn’t reflect actual engagement. Unique visitors per month (UVPM) is a more accurate indicator of reader engagement because it captures the behavior of unique individuals, and the ultimate goal of PR is to connect with individuals. Looking to place an article in the relevant publication with the highest UVPM is a logical starting point for an earned media campaign.
Except when it isn’t. Getting as many eyeballs as possible on your article makes sense, but the data-driven truth is that not all eyeballs are created equal. Most of our edtech clients want to connect with educators who can make buying decisions, which usually means principals or administrators. As a result, we often suggest pitching smaller, targeted publications over those that boast the biggest numbers.
Except when we don’t. It all depends on what success means to a particular client for a given article or campaign. Over the years, our clients have defined success in a variety of different ways. One wanted only enough earned-media URLs to qualify for its own Wikipedia page; others have had the ultimate goal of appearing in a single, high-profile publication.
Most of them, though, have looked for PR efforts to have a long-term, measurable positive effect on sales. This makes sense; if companies invest money in earned media, they want to see a return on that investment. We’ve seen our share of cases where PR has had a clear influence on sales, but the problem with using sales as a measure of the success of an earned media campaign is that it doesn't take into account the people who may have read an article and started on their buyer’s journey, but just aren’t ready to spend yet.
To get back to our original question, then, how do you measure PR success in a data-driven world? My answer is simple: however the heck you want to. “Data-driven” doesn’t mean that the data is doing the driving. It means that you choose your goal, and you use the power of data to show you whether you have achieved it, are getting close, or need to change direction.
Need some guidance on the road to achieving your PR goals? Download our Quick Start Guide to Data-Driven Storytelling!
Thanks for sharing!