Due to the nature of the industry, public relations efforts can be difficult to quantify to clients. Because of this, justifying return on investment (ROI) for PR tools such as news releases can be tricky, and depending on the purpose of the release, reporting may vary drastically. It is important to measure PR programs against specific goals, which makes public relations reporting even more difficult. However, there are a few statistics PR professionals should keep in mind when measuring and reporting the success or effectiveness of a news release.
Shares
The "press" is a digital space nowadays. While news was once quantified in column length or section of a newspaper, publications now have a much more prominent digital presence which spills into social media. The fastest, easiest way to share information now is through Twitter, Facebook and other social platforms. Most news distribution services have built-in features to track these shares; however they are not always accurate and generally under-report. The good news is that these features generally track fewer shares than you actually receive!
Referrals
Whether you're introducing a new product or announcing a merger, there is almost always a page on your website to direct interested readers for additional information. Once your release is distributed, check and see how traffic changes for pages you linked to in the release. Increased traffic to linked sources shows that readers aren't just skimming your headline and moving on. Rather, they are actually reading your content and are engaged enough to seek more information from the resources you've made available.
Views
Some of the first statistics you'll receive from your distribution software are almost always the number of headline impressions and the number of views your news received. While this statistic does not reflect on the quality or level of engagement of your release, it does provide insight into your distribution tactics. High numbers of impressions or views show that you are choosing outlets with a fair amount of traffic to push your news to. Of course, if these websites are not relevant to your news or industry, those impressions will not necessarily increase sales, so make sure you are familiar with relevant publications and direct your releases accordingly.
While charts, graphs and big numbers are often the most impressive statistics you can show to justify the ROI of a news release, PR professionals must always understand the implications of these numbers in order to truly evaluate the quality and effectiveness of PR efforts. By choosing the statistics that are most important rather than the biggest numbers, you will continue to improve your ROI and do more than just impress your client.
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