It should come as no surprise to you that public relations is more than just media relations.
In fact, in a truly integrated PESO Model, media relations—or earned media—never comes first. In fact, it often comes last.
If you’ve done any media pitching in the last few years, you already know one of the first questions you hear from a journalist is, “Where else are they published?”
Of course, if your executive isn’t published anywhere yet, it’s a chicken and egg scenario, which is why you have to start somewhere, start to build a groundswell, and, along the way, constantly test effectiveness.
To do that, you must ask yourself:
The first question is the most important because, if you have that down, the rest will follow.
And, when it comes to identifying the PR metrics you’re measuring, it’s crucial to remember that it’s not a one-size-fits-all.
I truly believe everything we do can—and should—lead to sales (or more donors or more members), but there are a plethora of metrics to study and track.
That said, not every metric will be applicable to every campaign.
There’s a full breakdown of the metrics every integrated marketing communications program should employ in the PESO Model here.
After you read that, you should be able to answer:
In the PESO Model, one of the metrics we measure under earned media is web performance, which leads to more consumption.
To measure the effectiveness of your content, first, take a look at Google Analytics to understand how your content is performing.
This will help you create a baseline for your metrics.
Look to see:
All of these are key metrics influenced by public relations.
Once you’ve identified these metrics, it’s time to build your content strategy.
Is your PR strategy measuring new audiences based on certain keywords?
Focus on creating high-quality, evergreen content around those keywords to help boost your website’s authority and visibility.
This will complement both your SEO and public relations efforts to bring in prospective clients.
Now that you have your owned media down and you know what you’re going to measure, it’s time to move to shared media.
When it comes to the PESO Model, social media metrics fall under two different categories: The effectiveness of social media advertising, and (I hate to say it), social media shares.
While shares are a vanity metric and don’t mean a whole lot, the numbers do give us a baseline knowledge of brand awareness and engagement. They also tell us what works best for our audience.
These may be the easiest to measure, but they’re also the most unpredictable.
Sure, there are studies around the most optimal time to share your content, whether or not you should include images, where to place your sharing buttons on your website, and so many more little nuances when it comes to social media.
In terms of effective strategy and execution, however, the most important thing is to create compelling content (which is why it’s the first thing to focus on in the PESO Model).
Because content must come first, it’s extremely important to plan it around your goals (including PR goals) and your (target) audiences.
I realize there really isn’t a marketing funnel anymore; it’s more a circle that top to bottom, but I’m going to describe the metrics as a funnel, to keep things easy.
The only way smart content development can truly help boost PR is to measure, measure, measure.
There is absolutely no running away from metrics as a communicator, but a truly integrated PESO Model can help you reach those goals.
Do you want to learn how to build and scale an integrated communications program? One which drives real business results and shows the PR value clients care about? Become PESO Model Certified today.
Gini Dietrich is the founder, CEO, and author of Spin Sucks, host of the Spin Sucks podcast, and author of Spin Sucks (the book). She is the creator of the PESO Model and has crafted a certification for it in partnership with Syracuse University. She has run and grown an agency for the past 15 years. She is co-author of Marketing in the Round, co-host of Inside PR, and co-host of The Agency Leadership podcast.