The Measurement Standard Blog - for comments & questions about articles in the international newsletter of public relations measurement and research published by KDPaine? & Partners
"What is public relations research and how is it different from public opinion or marketing research? Why don't more PR professionals conduct PR research?"
Recently, she has put forth a concept paper on her blog about a new approach to public relations measurement, the "Public Relations Value Ratio," or PRV. We spoke with Katie this week about the new measurement tool.
"My own view on this is that we need an industry standard form of measurement in the way the ad industry has. This means we need to know what we are to measure, how often we measure it etc. We also need to start to establish an agreed way to invest in measurement."
"It is possible - yes, it is! - to calculate PR's revenue contribution. But yea, it's a pain-in-the-butt and requires collaboration between the Sales, Marketing, Finance and Web/IT organizations within the client organization. It is a process that requires optimization of the client's Web site forms and analytics, as well as their online CRM application. Even after all that, the system won't be perfect: it will only be able to measure PR's impact on inbound lead flow; benefits to the outbound sales process, while important, will not be captured… Also, this "PROI" model can't account for the fact that some of the datapoints will be self-reported by the clients' prospects. Not perfect, but a quantum leap beyond today's 'acceptable' metrics."
"What will it take to make measurement an integral part of any communicator’s planning process? I admire the hell out of Steve Rubel’s effort to get agency honchos talking about practical implementation of new media in their efforts. But maybe they need to worry about the fundamentals before they scurry on to the Next Big Thing. Whether it’s a traditional media campaign or a blog/wiki combo, it’s not complete without the measurement component."
"Fact is most PR firms and agencies lack the necessary skills and talents to track any form on online conversions. Without this type of measurement, excellent offline mainstream media hits, crash online. What's the program to bring people from The Today Show to your website and convert them into customers?"
