June 2010 – This paper defines marketing mix modeling, shares approaches for incorporating public relations results into the model – primarily through media content analysis – and provides a recent case study. The featured case study confirms what PR professionals believe to be true: PR is a most powerful marketing agent. What is more, public … Continue reading Isolating the Effects of Media-Based Public Relations on Sales
February 2010 – For some time, communications teams have been measuring PR ROI through outputs, such as media coverage volume, coverage sentiment, and share of voice, rather than business outcomes. With the relatively recent developments in web analytics, organizations are now able to directly measure how prospects and customers find information that lead them to … Continue reading Using Web Analytics to Measure the Impact of Earned Online Media on Business Outcomes
2010 – Over the past two decades, Advertising Value Equivalency (AVE) has been correctly denounced as a measurement technique. The many shortcomings of this old methodology will be described at length within this paper. However, recent studies yield evidence that using the cost of media space and time provides a very useful evaluation of the … Continue reading A New Paradigm for Media Analysis: Weighted Media Cost
2010 – This paper expands on and updates the thinking of the Institute’s original Setting Measurable Objectives paper which was drafted in 1999 by Forrest W. Anderson, Independent Consultant, and Linda Hadley of Porter Novelli, along with contributions from members of the Institute for Public Relations Commission on Public Relations Measurement and Evaluation. In every … Continue reading Guidelines for Setting Measurable Public Relations Objectives: An Update
July 2009 – This case study analyzes a financial company’s media content analysis program and its impact on brand and reputation. Measuring “Company A”: A Case Study and Critique of a News Media Content Analysis Program Sean D. Williams July 2009
2008 – This paper will primarily focus on tying public relations programs to business results. It examines how a variety of organizations have used PR measurement systems to demonstrate the business outcomes of their efforts. Its purpose is to encourage the use of data-driven decision-making within the PR profession. It considers the setting of measurable … Continue reading Using Public Relations Research to Drive Business Results
2007 – Industry and professional studies show that public relations and corporate communication practitioners continue to not use research to plan and measure their activities in a majority of cases despite management demand. The reasons advanced for this are primarily lack of budget and lack of time to undertake research. This paper argues that there … Continue reading The Fork in the Road of Media and Communication Theory and Practice
April 2007 – Building upon a foundation established in “Exploring the Link between Volume of Media Coverage and Business Outcomes,” this paper looks at the effect of competitive share of media coverage volume on business results. Through four case studies on a non-profit hospital, a pharmaceutical brand, a B2B service and a package goods manufacturer, … Continue reading Exploring the Link between Share of Media Coverage and Business Outcomes
April 2007 – Most PR people envision the blogosphere as yet another new medium to address, a new way to scream more loudly at their stakeholders. In fact, PR people need to completely rethink their approach from pitching to engaging in “Naked Conversations.” People now have access to so much content, and have so many … Continue reading How to Measure Social Media Relations
2007 – A number of tools and methodologies have been developed in recent years to measure the impact of public relations programs through media coverage, key audience perceptions and increasingly, return on investment. However, measurement for some specific elements of the PR mix such as speaking opportunities remain more elusive. Yet in this era of … Continue reading Measuring the Effectiveness of Speakers Programs
2007 – Researchers found public relations placements and advertising to be equally effective in generating consumer interest in a newly launched product. No statistically significant difference between ad and editorial in an experiment focused on key measures of credibility, knowledge, interest and purchase intent. Although the respondents said that they got more information from the news … Continue reading Exploring the Comparative Communications Effectiveness of Advertising and Media Placement
2006 – This paper suggests a strong relationship between coverage volume and business outcomes, with three case studies looking at volume alone, tonality-refined volume, and message-refined volume. Exploring the Link Between Volume of Media Coverage and Business Outcomes Angela Jeffrey, David Michaelson, and Don W. Stacks 2006