PR professionals have long been averse to incorporating numbers and analytics into their work. In fact, many PR professionals believe that communications should be just about relationships and storytelling, not about data.
The problem with this is that in today’s fast-paced world, stories aren’t enough. PR is no longer a nice add-on to a marketing strategy. Instead, it has become an essential part of marketing.
With the rise of PR analytics tools and platforms, the PR industry is starting to change.
The use of data in public relations can help brands find more effective ways to engage their target audiences and improve their media strategy. Data-driven PR also provides a more accurate way to measure ROI than traditional forms of analysis.
To improve public relations communications with analytics, a measurement strategy must first be developed. Companies need to assess their metrics and decide which matter most, from earned media value and share of voice to website traffic and sentiment.
Once KPIs and goals have been established, the next step is to use analytics platforms like Google Analytics to measure how well a company is meeting them over time. These tools provide valuable insight into where audiences are, what they’re interested in, and which channels they’re using to engage with a brand.
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The Need to Adopt New Technology
The PR industry is being disrupted. New technologies are making it easier to measure the effectiveness of campaigns and to identify target audiences, while the internet continues to change how brands and journalists interact.
There’s never been a better time to use data to boost performance. Using analytics tools means tracking data from brand mentions on social media to consumer conversations. By measuring what’s working and what isn’t, brands can focus time and resources on activities that deliver results.
Benefits of Site Analytics
In addition to tracking the number of downloads, a brand might want to know how many people actually read its release. Again, this is possible through analytics software as it becomes a matter of simply looking at the number of unique visitors who come to a brand’s website and view its press release page.
Most analytics software tracks where visitors come from. Brands can also track how many times a link was clicked on in a social media post, newsletter, or online news article.
This is one of the most significant things that analytics can tell you about PR efforts, because it reveals what people do after reading about a company in a press release.
Matthew Caiola serves as Co-CEO at 5W Public Relations, managing the overall growth, direction and day-to-day business of the Corporate & Technology Communications Divisions and Digital Marketing.
With more than 17 years of PR experience, Matthew leads teams in launching and building high-growth tech companies, disrupting industries, building global brand resonance through thought leadership, C-Suite profiling, and speakers’ programs, as well as crisis communications across a variety of industries.
