Google Analytics can help PR professionals track the effectiveness of their campaigns and media relations efforts. It shows how visitors arrived at a website through channels like organic search, referrals, social media, and email. Key metrics include traffic from specific sources, landing pages, and goals like form submissions. Segmenting the data by date range, channel, source, and landing page provides insights into what is driving traffic and conversions for media placements, social campaigns, and award submissions.

1. Google Analytics for
PR Professionals
Brannan Atkinson, APR

2. About Me
• Started PR career in 1992
• City of Richmond, Va.
• Atkinson Public Relations
• Raven Internet Marketing Tools
• Amy Atkinson Communications
@AmyAComm

3. amyacommunications.com/
google-analytics
!

4. Where to start?

5. Google Analytics is mile
wide and a mile deep.

6. GA in a Nutshell
• How visitors came to your website
• What they did on your website
• Whether visitors did anything that helps your
business

7. Data Analysis

8. Aggregate data can tell if
something is happening.

9. Avinash Kaushik!
Google Analytics Fellow
Author of multiple books

10. “All data in aggregate
is crap.”
Avinash Kaushik!
Google Analytics Fellow
Author of multiple books

11. Segmented data can tell
you what is happening.

12. 0"
20"
40"
60"
80"
100"
120"
Week"1" Week"2" Week"3" Week"4" Week"5" Week"6" Week"7"
SALES%

13. 0"
20"
40"
60"
80"
100"
120"
Week"1" Week"2" Week"3" Week"4" Week"5" Week"6" Week"7"
SALES%BY%MEDIUM%
Observation #1:!
Adverse change in AdWords campaigns
Google AdWords Email Everything else

14. 0"
20"
40"
60"
80"
100"
120"
Week"1" Week"2" Week"3" Week"4" Week"5" Week"6" Week"7"
SALES%BY%MEDIUM%
Observation #1:!
Adverse change in AdWords campaigns
Google AdWords Email Everything else

15. 0"
20"
40"
60"
80"
100"
120"
Week"1" Week"2" Week"3" Week"4" Week"5" Week"6" Week"7"
SALES%BY%MEDIUM%
Observation #2:!
Positive impact of email
Google AdWords Email Everything else

16. Language of GA

17. Mediums tell you how
visitors arrived at your
site

18. Important Mediums
• Organic — any search engine, e.g. Google or Bing
• Referral — any website with a link to yours
• Social media — links in Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.
• Direct — use your website address or a bookmark — good
indicator of brand strength
• Email — all campaigns
• RSS — blog subscription feed
• CPC — cost-per-click advertising, e.g. AdWords

19. Sources tell you
where visitors
clicked a link
to your site.

20. Sources
• Anywhere there is a link to your website
• Search engines
• Other websites, e.g. Chamber of Commerce
• Email campaigns
• Text and display ads
• None = direct traffic

21. Mediums and Sources
#AA 1843 Amtrak Bus
#WN 249
Long Island
Rail Road
Uber
Mediums
Sources

22. A landing page is
where a user entered
your website.

23. Goals are activities
important to your or your
client’s business.

24. Three types of goals
• Time on site
• Number of pages visited
• Visits to a specific page!
• Completing a contact form
• Downloading a report
• Registering for an event

25. Goal value
• Always add a goal value, e.g $100
• Even it it is arbitrary

26. Navigating!
GA

27. Acquisition!
How visitors arrived

28. * Show where to find

29. Behavior!
What visitors did

31. Conversions!
Important activities, e.g Goals

32. * Show where to find

33. Date ranges

34. * Show where to find

35. Changes Date Range
Add Comparison

36. GA for PR

37. Three scenarios
• Media relations
• Social media campaigns
• Awards

38. Truth in Segmentation
• Medium
• Source
• Landing pages
• Goals

39. GA for Media
Relations

40. GA for Media Relations
News
Release
Your
Website
Media

41. Did the news release
generate traffic to the
website?

42. Set the date range

43. Acquisition -> Channels

44. Acquisition -> Channels ->
Referral

45. Acquisition -> Channels ->
Referral -> Sources

46. GA for Social Media

47. GA for Social Media
Content
Your Website
ContentContent Content
Facebook Twitter

48. Which social media is
sending the most traffic
to the website?

49. Set the date range

50. Acquisition -> Channels ->
Social

51. Acquisition -> Channels ->
Social

52. Enhance insights with
landing pages

53. Enhance insights with
landing pages

54. Dark!
Social

55. Dark Social is
social media traffic
that GA thinks
is direct traffic.

56. Example of Dark Social
Did they really type
http://www.amyacommunications.com/!
brannan-atkinson-apr-joins-firm-as-partner/?
Landing Page = http://www.amyacommunications.com/
brannan-atkinson-apr-joins-firm-as-partner/

57. Campaign Variables
• Use them every time you share a link for your
company or a client
• Lets you set:
• Medium=Social
• Source=[social network]
• Campaign=[campaign name]

58. Campaign Variables
http://www.amyacommunications.com/brannan-
atkinson-apr-joins-firm-as-partner/?
utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&
utm_campaign=announcement
Google URL Builder
www.gaconfig.com

59. GA for Awards

60. GA for Awards
Content
Your Website
ContentContent Content
Social
Media!
Relations
Email

61. GA for Awards
• Use goals to track conversions - add a goal value
• Add annotations
• Monitor channels regularly
• Monitor landing pages for your PR campaign
• Use campaign variables on all social media links
• Use date comparison to show change
• Create custom reports for landing pages

62. Channels with
Landing Pages

63. Campaigns

64. Goal -> Goal Value

65. amyacommunications.com/
google-analytics
!
email: brannan@amyacommunications.com
Twitter: @AmyAComm
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/brannanatkinson