The PR Skill You Didn't Think You Needed

“Math is not my thing, that’s why I’m in public relations.” Press releases, blog posts, email blasts, pitches- after a semester or two of writing, you start to consider that maybe you won’t need to remember what you learned in high school algebra after all. But just when you think you’re finished with math after that final gen ed course, think again. Numbers and calculations are actually vitally important in public relations (and life in general), so here are a few instances when you’ll need to utilize those math skills in PR…sorry.

(Source: Quickmeme)

• Measurement. Advertising value equivalency is what news coverage would cost if it were advertising space. And although AVEs are by no means an accurate way to measure the success of public relations according to the Barcelona Principles (for more info on the these principles, check out a previous post here), they are still widely used. AVEs need to be calculated using ad rates, column inches, and other figures.
• Evaluation. Effectively evaluating the results of a public relations campaign takes more than counting the number of media outlets that have picked up your story. You need to be able to calculate the percentage of increase in followers, page views, and other statistics that show your campaign is positively affecting client. It is one thing to tell your them that your work is making a difference but it’s quite another to show them the numbers to prove it.
• Data analytics. In the last decade or so, there’s been an explosion of data available to, well, just about everyone. The challenge lies is knowing what to do with all this new information. Being able to analyze and apply the information effectively in a campaign or strategy is now a necessary skill to have in PR.
• Research. The hardest part of doing primary research isn’t creating an effective survey or properly moderating a focus group. Like in data analytics, the real challenge is taking the information you’ve gathered and knowing what to do with it.

So learn to embrace math in public relations, because it’s a (very) necessary evil.

The New Rules for Measuring PR

While discussing the difficulties of measurement in public relations, my professor brought up the Barcelona Principles, a newly developed set of standards for PR measurement and evaluation that I had never heard of. The Barcelona Principles are a fairly recent development by the Institute for Public Relations (IPR), named so for the location of the 2nd European Summit on Measurement which took place back in 2010. The summit addressed the need for a clearer set of standards when measuring the results of public relations efforts.

They seem like important principles to know, particularly for up and coming PR practitioners. So if you too were unaware of this important new development in PR, check out my simplified guide to understanding the Barcelona Principles:

1. PR relies on goals and objectives. Well-set goals are vital. They should be quantitative in order to address who, what, when and how much influence a campaign has caused.

2. Media measurement requires both quantity AND quality. Consider this- would you rather get coverage in one article of the New York Times or ten in your best friend’s blog?

3. AVEs ≠ value of public relations. Advertising Value Equivalents measure the cost of media space, not necessarily the success of the message.

4. Social media can and should be measured. When measuring social media, it’s important to focus on communities and the kind of conversations they are having. This should also be enhanced with other methods like survey data or web analytics.

5. Outcomes are preferred to outputs. Outcomes help to understand the extent to which the PR plan has affected awareness, behavior or opinion. This is preferred to output, which is simply pieces like news releases, media tracking or research done.

6. Business/Organizational results can and should be measured. This measurement should take into consideration the effects of a PR campaign on sales, revenue and other business metrics.

7. Transparency and Replicability are paramount. For valid and accurate measurement, it should be done in a way that is both transparent and replicable.

Do you think these principles will help shape the way the public relations industry measures success? Let us know!

The Difference Between the Three "Os"

One of the most common and widely accepted approaches for evaluating the effectiveness of communication-based activities focuses on measuring the three “Os”: outputs, outtakes and outcomes. 

Measuring the effectiveness of your public awareness activities is not an exact science. However, if you build a program that measures your efforts (outputs), stakeholder awareness and knowledge (outtakes) and key stakeholder behaviors (outcomes) you can determine which elements of your program are effectively impacting behaviors and influencing attitudes. 

Outputs, Outtakes and Outcomes connect the dots between communication-based activities in your tactical plan and the impact they have on behaviors and attitudes that result in safer pipelines. 

Outputs are the actions you take to communicate messages to stakeholders. Tracking your 
outputs should be one of the first measurement activities that you implement and can be done 
using a paper-based or electronic database method. Examples of outputs include: 

• Brochures or other direct mail 
• Press releases 
• Face-to-face meetings  
• Social media posts

Measuring outputs allows you to document the opportunities that key stakeholders have to see (or hear) your messages and to analyze the frequency and mix of communication vehicles used to deliver these messages. 

Outtakes are knowledge, attitudes, opinions and levels of confidence. Outtakes also include the self-expressed likelihood of an action or behavior. Samples of outtakes include: 

• Percentage of affected public that recognize the problem or issue
• Percentage of affected public who correctly answer knowledge questions 
• Basically, the takeaways from the experience

Measuring outtakes helps you determine the effectiveness of your tactical plan. Techniques for 
measuring outtakes include surveys, in-depth interviews as well as focus groups. 

Outcomes are stakeholder actions and behaviors.

Measuring outcomes is the holy grail of understanding the effectiveness of your public awareness program. Sample techniques for measuring outtakes include analyzing behaviors, field research and surveys.

How do you utilize the three "Os" within your measurement evaluation? We want to know!

Surveying the Masses: How to Create an Effective Survey

Surveys can prove to be a very useful tool in measuring the success of your client or serving as a learning tool for future improvements. But how do you build a survey that will not only yield maximum results, but can also clarify what audience your client should be reaching out to. Below are some tips on creating an effective survey:

Define your objective: What are you trying to achieve? Are you trying to increase traffic or improving customer satisfaction? Make this clear, and keep this goal in mind when making the survey questions. Make sure the person filling out your survey is aware of what you are trying to achieve by both stating your objective and keeping this objective constant throughout the survey, taking care to avoid jumping to different topics.

Write the questions carefully: Write for the average person, avoid using complicated wording and jargon. You want to avoid confusing anyone and yielding inaccurate results. Holding a focus group may help in the preliminary stages to test-drive your survey and get a clear idea of who to write for.

Consider using an incentive: To show appreciation to the people who took the time to take your survey, offer a small prize or an invitation to enter a raffle for a grand prize. Though this will be harder for you, it will almost guarantee a higher response rate, your ultimate goal.

Manage the project closely: Enlist a detail-oriented staff member to oversee the survey. This individual will make sure that each survey is conducted exactly the same way to ensure a level playing field and minimize errors.

Analyze the results: When presenting the results of the survey to your client, consider your method. Rather than writing a laundry list of numbers, sometimes pictures speak louder than words. Utilize tools like maps and graphs to visually showcase results. Also, take notices on areas of improvement or trends. Why is one group responding more than the other? The answer may point you in the right direction towards a more specific audience.

How do you conduct surveys? What methods to you use for a higher turnout? Feel free to let us know!

Measuring Success

When you are launching a social media campaign, one of the important factors you need to keep in mind is measurement. If you don't measure your success, or failure, then you won't know how you can improve in the future. Now, measurement is an idea that is often tossed around. Is simply counting the amount of "likes" you have on Facebook enough? According

to Shonali Burke's "5 steps to a successful measurement program", it goes a little deeper than that.

Identify the business objectives for your program/campaign: Keep in mind what your concrete goals are. If you are trying to increase client traffic, then focus on tactics that will get more people in your door. Your business objective should be what all of your strategies trace back to.

Identify how you will measure the success of these objectives: Set goals for yourself. If you want to increase sales, then by how much? What percentage of your client base should be purchasing your products? Set a timeframe of when you should reach this goal. This is something that the managers at my job do. They tell everyone what each 2 hour goal is, what percentage of customers walking through the door should be purchasing, and their Average Dollar Sale. That way, we will keep this specific goal in mind when ringing customers up so that if a transaction falls a little behind ADS, we can use tactics to encourage them to buy more.

Outline your communication strategy: It's a common mistake when people frame their strategy around the concept of the bandwagon. "Everyone's on Pinterest so we should post everything there!" Keep your audience in mind, if you are targeting men ages 30-55, do you think they'll be on Pinterest? Primarily, no. Post where it makes most sense.

Keep track of your efforts: Google Analytics is great for this purpose, it tracks the number of views on your website and then compares it on several different platforms like visitors, time on page, etc. across any time frame you choose. Bitly will also track the amount of clicks on your link if you are posting on Facebook or Twitter. Watch what you are putting out and what effect it is having on your statistics. Also, keep the time frame you are measuring the same, this will give you a steady, unbiased base to compare to each time.

How are you keeping track of your success? Are you utilizing Google Analytics? Let us know!