How to Measure PR impact and Share of Voice

How can startups measure the ROI of public relations? That's one of the most common questions marketers, CEOs, founders, and board members ask. The answer is not simple. In this post, we lay out the factors to consider and explain how to calculate PR impact.

Start by mapping out PR strategy to business goals.

One of the biggest mistakes companies make is relying on cookie cutter measurements when evaluating the impact of PR…measurements that don’t actually reflect whether or not the activities move your company closer to achieving its goals.

Start by asking what you want from PR and set related KPIs. Are you trying to establish your brand? Overtake a specific competitor? Set the stage for an IPO? Leverage PR to recruit and retain talent? Different goals require different strategy and, thereby, different KPIs. For instance, we had a client whose goal was discovery by a certain title in large technology organizations. We were able to achieve far higher impact by pitching original data analysis each month to one reporter as an exclusive. In this case quality was far more important than quantity. For clients seeking to achieve general brand awareness, broader campaigns might be more impactful and then the goal is quantity.

Share of Voice (SOV) alone is data without context.

Many companies rely on SOV to determine whether their campaigns are impactful and assess how their results compare to the competition. However, media monitoring platforms don’t weigh online references based on quality or impact, nor do they differentiate between earned media, press releases, and pickups. 

For example, a competitor's crisis could lead to a massive spike in SOV because of negative news coverage. But that's not a desirable type of SOV increase.

Warning! SOV is often miscalculated.

SOV is a quantitative measure and, therefore, can be highly misleading. In order to get an accurate portrayal of brand resonance, coverage needs to be analyzed thoroughly and given context. Qualitative analysis must be added to the raw numbers. For example, Cision and Muck Rack will count stock quote mentions as coverage. If your company is not publicly traded, you're comparing apples to oranges if you don't parse out stock news.

Press releases can artificially inflate SOV. 

Since you decide how many press releases to publish and the level of distribution - paying for wider distributions prompts more pickups…and higher SOV. But press release pickups aren’t articles. And many only appear temporarily on news sites. If you or your competitors push out a lot of press releases at high distribution levels, that will cause SOV to rise but does not reflect actual reach to your target audience.

Not all coverage delivers the same value.

Earned media (i.e. coverage by third-party sources like reporters, analysts, influencers) has far more credibility and resonance than owned media or sponsored content. Identifying genuine articles that have been written by reporters and published on news sites is a much more accurate reflection of SOV.  Looking to get an accurate assessment of your SOV?  Details about taking your Brand Pulse here.

Owned and sponsored puts you in control.

The advantage of press releases, blog posts, and other content your company owns is that you  determine timing and narrative. 

Sponsored media placements let you share specific messages and include links. The downside is lower credibility than third-party coverage.

Mix it up!We recommend a combination of earned, owned, and sponsored content. Audience attention spans are short these days and there’s so much noise out there. Creating numerous touchpoints helps raise your profile.

Take your Brand Pulse

Whether you’re a startup disrupting established players or a market leader, Si14 Brand Pulse imparts critical insights on challenges and opportunities related to media, analysts, and general brand awareness. We provide the data + context, along with strategic intelligence and recommended actions.