It was reported in PR Week earlier this month that measurement has been identified as the top skills gap in the communications sector. This is the second time that it has topped the list and the research, carried out by the PR Academy shows that a third of PRs are failing to measure their comms activities.
As a B2B PR agency we find this statistic hard to believe as more than ever we are seeing clients keen to demonstrate a return on their PR investment. We have measurement mechanisms in place for each of our clients, and they’re mostly different depending on our clients’ specific requirements.
During my years working in PR I’ve seen numerous types of measurement mechanisms, some fairly sophisticated and sometimes expensive to manage on an ongoing basis. The key to any kind of PR measurement is that it doesn’t have to be complicated, time consuming or expensive to achieve, it just needs to be appropriate and provide value for each client.
As the saying goes ‘you can’t manage what you can’t measure,’ so having some form of mechanism in place is extremely valuable to show clients what’s been achieved and in turn for us PRs to monitor and share the success of a brilliant campaign.
Fiona Whyatt has worked in B2B PR for many years. She loves blogging!
