The following article is an excerpt from "PR News' Guide to Best Practices in PR Measurement (2006 edition)" written by Lori Copple, deputy managing director of Ruder
Finn/Chicago.
As the business world evolves and the C-level becomes more attuned to the value of marketing, CMOs are finally starting to get a seat at the table. As this happens, there is
increasing pressure on marketing initiatives to impact lead generation, as opposed to simply building a brand.
Nowhere is this being felt more intensely than in the world of public relations. And increasingly, the traditional measurement tools of advertising equivalency and media
impressions are falling by the wayside due to a lack of sophistication and inability to truly measure the impact of a PR program beyond the more intangible metrics of message
reach and awareness building.
To combat the age-old dilemma of bridging the gap between tangible business impact and public relations, in 2002 Ruder Finn developed a PR measurement model in
conjunction with Dr. Frank Mulhorn, associate dean and chairman of Northwestern University's graduate program in Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC).
The model, called Ruder Finn Measurement and Integration Model (or RFMIM), is designed to meet two very important objectives: (1) make PR measurement more relevant to senior
management, and (2) use it as a platform to help drive integration of PR with other aspects of marketing, as well as sales.
Before moving forward, it is important to communicate what we mean by "true integration." Nine times out of ten, when asked this question the answer will focus on the need to
align the various marketing disciplines to ensure maximum impact. However, alignment only takes an organization so far. True integration must center on the integration of
marketing, sales and customer insights into the strategic development and execution of marketing programs to drive business growth.
As measurement tools, advertising equivalency and media impressions do nothing to address this issue. They merely look at outputs of PR in a vacuum, not outcomes. More
sophisticated tools are emerging, however, that do take into account the integration issue and, in the process, help take PR measurement to a more meaningful level.
Measuring Outcomes: Sales Lead Tracking
Many companies still rely on advertising equivalencies and media impressions simply because those are the only tools they know. While such tools can be effective for measuring
awareness, as a program builds in sophistication and the company wants to measure the impact of PR on behavior and sales, it's necessary to employ a more advanced measurement tool
such as sales lead tracking.
Before embarking on a sales lead tracking measurement initiative, there are three crucial steps that must be taken:
- Learn the Sales Process. Meeting with company executives to learn about ins and outs of the sales process is the first step in developing an effective sales lead
tracking program. Find out how many sales leads it takes to generate a deal and the average length of the organization's sales cycle. Additionally, the PR professional should
learn the customer's touch points and the message and materials currently reaching the customer. This provides the PR professional with the opportunity to evaluate what message
and delivery tactics are working and which ones need to be adapted to better reach the target.
- Assess Existing Tracking Mechanisms. Also at this time, the PR professional should assess any of the client's existing sales tracking mechanisms. Following an audit
of the company's current practices, the PR professional can make recommendations to improve the tracking methods to better capture the origin of the sales leads. The challenge
here is gathering the proper intelligence from the company that will allow the PR professional to provide an accurate assessment of integration challenges and to then deliver
effective counsel around how to achieve integration.
- Set a Realistic Program Goal. In order to accurately tie PR to sales, it is important to set a realistic goal at the start of a program. The goal needs to have a
clear desired result and a set amount of time to achieve the result. For example, the goal may be to increase sales by a certain percentage, generate a specific amount of revenue
or to sign a specific number of customers in a set amount of time as a result of PR. It is also important to take into account that there are intangible factors that PR impacts
that can indirectly increase sales such as increasing market awareness. These intangible factors need to be measured and communicated to the C-level executives, as well.
As more and more companies begin to expect public relations to generate sales leads, the pressure to justify PR spend and rationalize agency usage will continue to grow. The
answer is to implement a measurement program that encourages integration between PR and a company's sales, marketing, and other strategic objectives, in order to present
measurement in terms more meaningful to the C-level. The end result will be a win-win for the client and the PR firm - the ability to accurately track the genesis of leads to
illuminate the programs that are most valuable to the organization.
To order the complete copy of "PR News' Guide to Best Practices in PR Measurement (2006 edition)," please go to http://www.prnewsonline.com or call 888-707-5814.