What is PR's value to the bottom line? This is a frequently asked question by pharmaceutical marketers, and PR professionals must be able to provide a realistic response.
One suggestion is to talk in advertising terms so that clients have a familiar reference point when evaluating your PR campaign.
Pharmaceutical marketers understand the importance of establishing a majority or competitive share of voice to drive product awareness.
Share of voice benchmarking helps direct marketing expenditures. Product managers plan their media schedule based on share of voice analyses.
Why not sell PR's worth to executive management by applying some basic share of voice metrics to the development, execution and measurement of media relations programs? Reach and frequency is a great place to start.
Reach and frequency analyses
Publicity can become a more powerful and measurable marketing tool. Reach and frequency- typically used in advertising - can lead to optimal selection and tracking of PR media targets. This means maximum control over the number of potential customers exposed to the targeted media outlets over a period of time.
A PR program that includes national and local media relations, advocacy relations, special events and publication strategies can lead to a greater frequency of message exposure within a target audience than could a program with a single communications element.
Also consider pre-testing the PR positioning message before launching a full campaign.
In advertising, pre-launch resources are allocated to message and concept testing to evaluate an ad's impact. Why should PR be any different? Confirming that the chosen PR positioning is relevant and motivating to target audiences (end user as well as the media) is one way to maximize return of subsequent PR outreach plans.
Share of voice analyses should be used to complement more traditional forms of PR measurement. These include qualitative measurement via "message analysis," including:
- physical placement of a designated message or theme within a story;
- favorable or unfavorable slant; and
- product endorsement by a third-party source;
- "target audience profiling," which compares the demographic profile of the media outlet's audience to your audience targets.
Add advertising dollar equivalents to the amount of editorial coverage and audience reach and you have a compelling case for executive management.
Cost -Effective PR
This is particularly true for marketers who are running campaigns for drugs with high consumer demand. PR is one of the most cost effective ways to go directly to the consumer.
PR can cost-effectively deliver broad messages to mass audiences or tailored messages to very specific audiences. This allows for smart allocation of communications resources by spending directly against target groups.
And as with other promotional tactics, marketers can also evaluate PR's impact on consumer behavior by measuring the number of calls to an 800 #, coupon redemptions and requests for brochures.
In some cases, we can measure PR's impact by looking at requests made to a healthcare professional in a particular area, during a specific time frame coinciding with PR activity.
In today's competitive and fragmented healthcare information environment, we have the responsibility to provide our clients with new ways to demonstrate the true value of a strategically planned and executed PR campaign.
No one can argue that the credibility factor inherent with public relations makes our discipline extremely valuable. The majority of clients understand that a message delivered by a trusted reporter or third-party expert (the basic tenet of PR) is far more compelling than a paid-for ad.
No one can argue that a message carries greater weight when someone other than the direct commercial beneficiary of a product extols its virtues.
As every consumer marketer knows, targeting key audiences with the right positioning and enough reach and frequency can convert awareness into action.
If we can answer questions about PR's value using tried and true consumer marketing techniques, we may ultimately satisfy the quest for a better return on every PR dollar spent.
Ilyssa Levins is chairman and chief creative officer of GCI Healthcare, a global full-service healthcare firm in New York. She is responsible for global new business development, new ventures and acquisitions and worlwide marketing. She can be reached at 212/886-3500.