Media relations management and measurement often go hand in hand, and the results of a recent PR News/Vocus survey underscore that reality. More than 400 PR and communications
professionals in the agency, corporate and nonprofit sectors responded to the "Managing Your Media Relations" survey, highlighting the growing role measurement plays in executive-
level conversations.
Sixty-seven percent of respondents said that they are required to measure PR activities and report the results to C-level executives. This reiterates the common notion that
the C-suite speaks a very specific language, and numbers are the best way for communications professionals to have a share in the conversation.
What's more, the most substantial percentage of respondents cited their reasons for reporting measurement results as the need to align PR goals with overall corporate goals
(26%) and prove the value of PR to management (25%).
"We have to [measure our activity and report results] to justify our budgets," says David Brunet, a communications specialist for State Farm Insurance. "There are also themes
that the C-suite wants to communicate to the public, and we need to demonstrate that we can be successful in doing that."
Not surprisingly, the most common mechanism for respondents' media measurement efforts remains clip counting, with 68 percent of those surveyed spending one to eight hours per
week on that activity (fifteen percent report spending between nine and 16 hours per week). This is still representative of an output-based measurement standard rather than an
outcome-based one, as the majority of respondents monitor and track news coverage based upon company, products and executives (79%), date of coverage (66%) and outlet and
journalist (57%); a minority of people report the ability to monitor and track coverage of competition, and monitoring for tone is absent altogether. Most surprising, though, is
the fact that one-third of respondents aren't required to measure and report results to the C-suite.
"Companies that don't track and measure their coverage, as well as their competition's coverage, are putting themselves at a disadvantage," says Kelly Brighton, director of
marketing communications at Vocus. "Measurement should always be tied to overall goals."
Contact:
David Brunet, 651.365.9310; Kelly Brighton, 301.683.6079, [email protected]
Managing Your Media Relations: An Exclusive Survey
1. How many PR people do you have in your organization?
1 26%
2-5 50%
6-10 13%
10+ 11%
2. How many hours per week does your PR team spend on compiling and managing news clippings?
0 11%
1-8 68%
9-16 15%
17-24 3%
25+ 3%
3. Are you able to track all your journalist conversations and view the complete history of any correspondence or conversation?
Yes 36%
No 64%
4. Are you able to monitor and track the news coverage by: (check all that apply)
Your company, products and executives 79%
Your competition 33%
Date of coverage 66%
Outlet and journalist 57%
5. Are you required to measure and report on PR activities (news coverage, progress of campaigns) to C-Level Management?
Yes 67%
No 33%
5b. If so, what is the basis for that reporting (choose all that apply):
Plan PR budget 4%
Align PR goals with overall corporate goals 26%
Prove value of PR to management 25%
Involve and engage management in the PR process 13%
Don't know 2%
No response 30%
6. How much do you spend annually for your PR management tools/ services (e.g., news monitoring, clip management, list services)?
$0-2500 39%
$2501-5000 21%
$5001-10000 17%
$10001-15000 5%
$15001-20000 2%
$20001-50000 7%
$50000+ 7%
No response 2%
7. How do you most often collaborate with your PR team on projects and activities (including agencies)? Check all that apply.
E-mail 87%
Phone calls 58%
Weekly meetings 55%
Shared database of project status, activities 35%
No response 3%
Other 7%
Source: PR News and Vocus