PR measurement is already influencing real business decisions. In 10Fold’s 2026 Integrated Communications Survey of 400 B2B technology marketing and communications leaders, 84% said earned media and content measurement sometimes or very often affects strategy or budget decisions. Yet only 49% said they were very confident in the accuracy and completeness of their communications data.
That gap should concern every communications leader. When a CEO asks whether PR deserves more investment, the job is not to produce the biggest number we can find. It is to make the strongest claim that evidence can credibly support.
The Missing Links Are Between the Metrics
Most communications teams do not have a data shortage. They have a connection problem.
Only 35% of leaders in the survey research have fully integrated reporting across earned media, paid social, content and digital channels. That makes it difficult to follow what happens after someone encounters a company through an article, social post or piece of content.
What matters also depends on the business objective. A company entering a new category may need to know whether credible publications are accurately explaining its point of view. An established company may care more about whether communications is driving engagement and inquiries from target buyers.
In either case, a placement is the beginning of the measurement story, not the end.
Follow the Evidence as Far as it Goes
Consider a contributed article read by prospective buyers. The placement establishes visibility. Accurate treatment of the company’s expertise can provide third-party validation. Tagged website visits show an observable action. If those visitors later request information or enter a sales conversation, the evidence becomes stronger.
The goal is to follow the path from visibility to trust, action and, ultimately, business growth. But PR pros do not need to wait until they can draw a straight line to revenue before reporting anything meaningful. They simply need to be precise about what they know.
If an article generated 500 tracked visits, say that. Do not automatically turn those visits into “PR-generated pipeline.”
Make PR Measurement Fit the Method
This is where communications needs an evidence standard. The survey found that 43% of marketing and communications leaders use multi-touch attribution to connect communications to outcomes, while 25% use correlation or directional analysis, 18% use first-touch attribution and 8% rely on anecdotal or qualitative evidence.
Those methods are not interchangeable. A tagged link can identify the source of a tracked visit. First-touch attribution identifies the first recorded interaction. Multi-touch attribution can show that communications played a role among several interactions. If media coverage and branded search rise together, that correlation may point to a relationship worth investigating, but it does not prove causation. A buyer who says an article helped them understand the company provides valuable context that a dashboard cannot.
Each is useful evidence. Each supports a different claim.
Consider this line from a quarterly report: “The PR program drove increased buyer demand and pipeline.”
If the evidence only shows that earned coverage generated tracked website traffic while branded search increased, the defensible version is: “Earned coverage generated tracked website visits during a period of increased branded search. Our next step is determining whether those visitors converted into inquiries from target buyers.”
The second version may sound less dramatic. It is also far more credible—and more useful.
Give Leadership the Receipts
PR does not need another universal ROI formula. It needs discipline around evidence.
Before a result goes into an executive report, ask four questions:
- What did we observe?
- How did we measure it?
- What conclusion does that evidence support?
- What remains uncertain?
Then use the answers to find the next link in the buyer journey.
Communications teams already have more metrics and tools than ever. Credibility will come from knowing what those numbers actually prove and resisting the temptation to claim more. Overstate causation often enough, and the C-suite will stop trusting the story. Match the claim to the evidence, and measurement becomes something much more valuable: a guide to what the business should do next.
Susan Thomas is CEO at 10Fold.