PR professionals are regularly fighting for every penny they can get – often without the necessary weapons they need to win the battle. While marketing can easily justify their spend with hard numbers, it isn’t as easy for PR. PR has historically struggled to show execs exactly how they impact the bottom line, mostly because PR efforts show results over time and measuring earned media is less tangible than email opens or click-throughs, for example. PR can earn their piece of the budget pie with the right process and strategy in place. Want to know how? Download this eBook to get tips on: - How to establish PR goals that help your company achieve its objectives - What questions you should be asking before you launch a PR campaign - What metrics will get the execs’ attention - How your reports should be presented - Steps you can take now to turn your cost center into a profit center

1. 5 Tips Every PR Pro Should
Know to Ensure PR Budget
Doesn’t Get Cut
SHARE

2. The Power of Earned Media
Earned media is 80% more effective than branded content during
the purchase consideration and affinity stages of the
buying process
Earned media is 38% more effective than
branded content during the familiarity stage of
the buying process
Consumers rely on trusted content to make
purchase decisions 5X more today than they
did five years ago
67% of consumers agree that an endorsement from an
unbiased expert makes them more likely to consider purchasing
SHARE
Source: Nielsen 2013

3. SHARE
Prove It or Lose It
Only 18% of marketers are able to evaluate the return they
receive from PR.1
When budgets are tight, every department has to fight for their
piece of the pie. While measuring digital marketing efforts is
relatively simple, PR impact is often difficult to quantify. If PR
spend and ROI cannot be justified, it’s only future is on the
chopping block.
PR professionals are under pressure to prove the value of
their efforts before it’s too late. Using the 5 following tips,
they will be armed with all the evidence they need to
ensure their budgets don’t get cut.
Source: 1 A 2011 marketing measurement survey conducted by Iyphone

4. Create an Overall Goal that Aligns with
Company Strategy
SHARE
TIP #1:
Creating PR goals that help the company achieve its objectives is critical to ensure PR is in
line with the overall corporate strategy. Goals should be specific, measurable, actionable,
realistic and timed (SMART). Executives will be more willing to jump on board if they view PR
as a stepping stone rather than a stumbling block.
Meet with key executives to determine their immediate and future
objectives
Agree upon a few, solid goals that will be the foundation for any campaign
Design a multi-channel PR campaign that stimulates activity directly tied to
each objective
Communicate with executives how PR goals will specifically accelerate
corporate success

5. SHARE
Tip #2: Determine the Desired Outcomes
Thinking about your end goal before you begin a campaign is the best strategy to get you
there. Ask yourself the following questions to help you better design an effective PR
campaign:
What action do you want your target market to take?
What channels can you utilize to reach your target market?
What influencers in those channels can drive your message
most effectively?
What angle can you offer your influencers that will solicit
the best call to action?

6. Identify Which Metrics Will Best Measure
Earned Media Success
“You need to use analytics to support continuous improvement, understand
your customers’ requirements and drive results.”
SHARE
TIP #3:
Establishing measurement goals to work towards and how
to benchmark progress over time should precede any PR
effort. A few effective benchmarks that can provide
valuable insight into your campaign’s effectiveness and
ROI are:
~ Gartner, March 2013
Customer sentiment
Progress correlation to budget
Industry monitoring
Competitive tracking

7. Offer Visualization of Data Linked to
Hard Data
When PR pros are asked to demonstrate the value of their work to management, they
should be ready with easy to read, customized reports with numbers the execs recognize,
like KPIs. Present measurements in a visual, layered format that gives overview with ability
to drill into details.
35% 55% Use automated reporting tools that offer quick, repeatable reports
Provide a holistic set of analytics and metrics to give a complete
picture
Consider quality and scoring to illustrate actual dollar impact of PR
activities
Benchmark performance against other brands, campaigns,
competitors, and best in class
SHARE
20%
TIP #4:

8. Continue to Monitor Success across
Multiple Channels and Include in Future
Reporting to Prove Long-term Impact
TIP #5:
PR efforts take time to track because their results are often intangible and their impact is
longer term than many marketing efforts. Changes in brand perception and audience
behavior are rarely immediate so PR pros should monitor the effect of their campaigns
long after the initial launch.
SHARE
Collaborate with other areas of marketing, web and sales to
understand all of the ways your target audience might engage with
the brand over time
Continue to deliver relevant, consistent and interesting
communication with your audience
Provide ongoing updates to execs so they understand the
long-term impact of your PR efforts

9. SHARE
TrendKite Can Help
With so many initiatives fighting for budgets, PR pros
must prove they are a profit center rather than a cost
center. TrendKite helps PR professionals quantify and
amplify the impact of their efforts using advanced
semantic analysis and sophisticated big data analytics to
model the PR ecosystem.
Automated insights provide PR pros with hard data
to demonstrate the value of each mention
Quality and impact score algorithms provide a comprehensive
view of the impact of coverage across all brand metrics
Beautiful, interactive reports automatically generated on-demand
See how you can take your PR efforts to the next level. Call us at 512-298-0100 or visit us at
www.trendkite.com to learn more and request a free demo.