This roundtable discussion is provided by the IPR Measurement Commission.
Members of the IPR Measurement Commission gathered virtually to discuss earned media measurement. IPR Measurement Commission member Angela Dwyer, Head of Insights at Fullintel, moderated the discussion.
Participants discussed how PR professionals can measure earned media to maximize value for their organizations.
Key themes from the discussion include:
- Calculating a return on investment (ROI) of earned media is difficult as there are many steps between media coverage and sales.
- Earned media is the first place to start when measuring conversion for an organization.
- If public relations professionals create custom metrics for earned media measurement, they should ensure that the name of this custom metric is easily understood by others at an organization.
- Experts in the discussion suggested that professionals should ensure there are not too many factors rolled into one custom metric/index.
- Audience analysis is growing in importance when conducting earned media measurement.
- Organizations are asking questions such as “What are the correlations between specific messages and movement among specific audiences in terms of trust, awareness, and reputation?”
- Using stakeholder data to see what causes conversion helps to pinpoint where organizations should focus their earned media efforts.
- Overall, participants agreed professionals should start with earned media to determine a foundation of stakeholder perceptions and gain more complex insights about a brand.