According the to survey, conducted among 185 PR practitioners, the vast majority of those monitoring their reputation are doing so by evaluating media coverage in one form or another: measuring the volume and tone of coverage, analysing the positivity/negativity of coverage, making comparisons with a competitor’s media mentions or monitoring the messages that are being reported. Only the minority are measuring the impact on stakeholders via such activities as perception audits, customer surveys and brand awareness/recognition surveys etc.
“One of the other fascinating results to emerge is the low number rating online PR as a key area to evaluate”, says Cartwright. Only 12% said this was the most important media to measure. “Together, these findings show that the conventional approach of PR evaluation - measuring print coverage - is still the de facto standard. However, as PR becomes more represented at board level and the adoption of social media strategies increases, I would expect to see some new trends emerging in PR evaluation over the next couple of years.”
Other findings of the report include:
• 7 out of 10 PR practitioners agree that PR evaluation is an important part of their role
• Qualitative evaluation has been used for over three years by 34% of companies compared to 19% two years ago
• Companies that have never used qualitative evaluation has dropped to 12% from 22% two years ago
• The use of third party agencies has increased to 31% from 17% two years ago
The survey looks into a number of areas of PR evaluation including to the main measurements being used, what qualitative measures are in place, what aspects of the media are being watched, opinions on the range of evaluation products/services currently available and what is holding companies back from doing more evaluation.
Although the research served up many answers, it also posed the occasional question. Companies that handle their PR mainly via an agency are nearly three-times more likely to view evaluation as essential compared to those that undertake the majority of their work in-house. However, as this is not for the most obvious reason - evaluating the PR agency’s performance, which is low down on the list of priorities – we are left pondering the reasons why.
Copies of the report “Measurement and Evaluation in Public Relations” are available from Harvard on 020 8759 0005 or email surveys@harvard.co.uk or see, Reputation management
About Harvard
Harvard Public Relations specialises in PR for clients in the TMT (Technology, Media and Telecoms) sector including Adobe, Cisco, Vodafone, Pentax, Sony and Fujitsu. The company is part of Bell Pottinger, the UK’s leading public relations group.
