"Metrics" A Convincing Call to Bring Accountability to the PR Profession

Performance-based publicity allows clients to objectively quantify the effectiveness and value of the efforts of their PR firm.

    Just as doctors have prospered for decades without ever guaranteeing a cure, the public relations (PR) profession has survived and thrived without guaranteeing any quantifiable results for their work. That is until now. By employing "metrics," one upstart firm in Southern California has proven that the results of PR product publicity campaigns can be quantified, and even guaranteed, so that clients can accurately justify their PR expenses and identify their effectiveness in improving leads and sales.

Since 1995, Power PR, Inc. of Torrance, California has chalked up numerous successes for its clients by establishing what it calls performance-based product publicity-quantifiable measures-of-effectiveness and benchmarks (i.e. metrics). This feisty company, comprising approximately two-dozen driven individuals, even provides the numbers for its clients to crunch that verify bona fide cost-effectiveness.

The use of performance-based product publicity ¾along with the unheard of practice of guaranteeing results in terms of published stories¾sets this company apart from most any other firm in the country. However, that might soon change, as John W. Elliott, the founder and president of Power PR, Inc., firmly believes that the time has come for all PR firms to use metrics to quantify their work.

"The day is over when a client can enlist a PR firm for a year, and then be confronted with an immeasurable result for his investment," predicts Elliott. "Progress should be measurable after the very first month, which is why we offer a month-to-month contract-we have to perform. Now I'm calling for production standards and accountability among all of my colleagues within this profession. Our clients deserve no less."

The "status quo" no longer
VPs of Marketing, sales managers, CEOs, CFOs and even COOs are waking up to the fiscal-driven reality that PR must be made to justify its cost in much the same way that advertising does. Publicity must promote products, increase understanding of the value of a product, and generate new leads that turn into new sales that grow the business.

The nebulous quality surrounding PR results has gone on far too long," Elliott points out from his perspective of having spent 36 years in the business. The kind of metrics you might have previously encountered in our profession was the number of times you take the client out to lunch or the number of times you lose a round of golf to the client. But those benchmarks are not related to the performance for which you've been hired."

Perhaps this is why many manufacturing and information companies have shied away from using PR to publicize their products. According to a recently completed survey conducted by Power PR, 70% of their clients have never utilized PR before. When asked what they previously tried to generate leads, they identified: 1. word of mouth; 2. trade shows; 3. display advertising; and 4. brochures and other sales materials.

In actuality, publicity is the very best form of 'word of mouth, but many marketing people don't make the connection," notes Elliott. It should be number one on the list. In particular, performance-based product publicity is a very powerful lead-generating activity because those individuals quoted in the story, as well as the publication itself, act as a third-party endorsement."

To underscore Elliotts conviction, one recent client got on track for a 600% sales growth and 15% market penetration after just two years of performance-based product publicity.

A new way of producing results
What might have prevented other PR firms from heading in the direction of quantifying and guaranteeing their results was a mistaken belief that such agencies have no control over the outcome of their work. But Elliott begs to differ.

When we started guaranteeing articles eight years ago, I had friends who owned PR firms who said, 'John, you're crazy! You can't guarantee articles, because you can't control editors," "It's true". confesses Elliott. We don't have direct control over editors. Not by a long shot. But we can stack the deck in our favor by first, offering them the kind of story they are looking for, and secondly, carefully tracking our work through accurate metrics."

As practiced at Power PR, performance-based product publicity begins with a well-written story-articles such as new-product releases, case histories, how-to pieces, and white papers.

"As long as the story offers valuable lessons for readers, and the story does not appear self-promotional, then trade-magazine editors will likely consider carrying the news," says Elliott. If the article that helps an editor achieve the magazine or newspapers editorial objectives while getting across the clients message, then you have a win-win situation."

Performance-based publicity by the numbers"
Performance-based publicity employs tabulation of measurable PR activities, and then statistical analysis to interpret and track the results. At Power PR, seven basic parameters are monitored. The PR firm tracks the first five, the client the last two.

1. Contacts
The number of times per week that editors are contacted on behalf of the client. This might be by telephone, e-mail, or fax. This is a measure of cumulative activity dedicated to each client.

2. Numbers of editors considering a story
After first hearing about a story, some editors will summarily dismiss it; others will convey their interest in possibly using the story at some future date. The latter group is counted here, on a weekly basis.

3. Numbers of articles scheduled per week
This refers to the number of editors who have committed their intent to carry a story in their publication, at a specific time. In effect, the story has been scheduled" for an upcoming issue.

4. Numbers of published articles per week
The number of times that a particular story or stories appear in print, or on a Web site, on radio or television per week.

5. Total published article circulation, monthly
This is the cumulative circulation of all the magazines, newspapers radio and television that a story appeared in, over a given month. For example, if a story runs in a publication with a circulation of 25,000, and another with a circulation of 50,000 during the same month, then the total published circulation is 75,000. Things like the number of column inches or minutes on air that indicate scope or length. This could be called impressions per week.

6. Article-generated responses
This metric is used by client to track how many leads the client receives from all articles in a month.

7. Cost per lead
By dividing the number of responses per month by the monthly PR fee, the cost per lead can easily be determined. If, for example, the number of response were 1200 per month, and the PR fee was $6000 per month, then the cost per lead would be five dollars.

The value of metrics in performance-based publicity
Metrics act as a progress report" and are absolutely vital to any PR firm that hopes to have a handle on what it is doing for the client. It is the close monitoring of these figures that grants Power PR the confidence to guarantee its results.

Not knowing these 'performance figures is like having a car without a speedometer-you don't know how fast or slow youre going," cautions Elliott. If you don't check your speed often enough, like weekly, then you could be down the road too far before you discover that you need to make a correction. Metrics give you predictive value, so you can fix problems early on. For example, if the number of 'schedules isn't going up, then the first remedy is to increase the number of media contacts. It doesn't guarantee that a story will get published, but the schedules will begin to materialize if you start talking to more editors."

While these figures are of extreme value to the PR firm itself, they are hardly reserved for internal use only.

You should ask your PR firm to give you feedback as to the number of editorial contacts, schedules, etc.," Elliott urges. These reports provide you with a minimum idea of what the firm has done for you in a given week or month. This close monitoring of effort should not be taken as a threat that you feel they are not doing their job, because it is such a logical request."

Over time, these metrics provide valuable guidance. Each week should be compared to the next. By graphing the values over several weeks, trends can easily be noticed.

What you are looking for is an overall upward swing to your graph-just like charting a winning stock," explains Elliott. All of the metrics should head in the direction of expansion. This is very fundamental. Never try to maintain the status quo because nothing stays the same. It either increases or deteriorates. If the number of editor contacts goes down for example, you know that the number of published articles will soon drop as well; therefore a fix is in order. But as long as the number of published articles keeps going up, then you should strengthen those strategies that led to the improvements."

While all this charting acts as a management tool to help a PR firm, it excels as an objective guide as to how the firm is benefiting the client. Since the client tracks the number of leads, and ultimately the cost per lead, they know exactly what they are getting for their dollar.

If the client is smart, he will compare his cost-per-lead for our PR against his cost-per-lead with advertising, trade shows, direct mail, and even 'schmoozing by the sales team," says Elliott. It becomes painfully obvious which kinds of leads are most cost-effective.

The whole idea of performance-based publicity is to demonstrate cost-effectiveness in objective terms," continues Elliott. Having measurements of effectiveness makes the PR firm highly accountable. Its one reason why we offer a month-to-month contract. The day we cant demonstrate a good ROI, then we know the client will be gone. This keeps us under-the-gun to turn in a good performance."

Performance-based publicity adds up to success
If what Power PRs clients have to say is any indication of the effectiveness of performance-based publicity, then this strategy is surely set to take over the PR profession.

A call to action
Hardly content to reserve all the success for himself, Elliott feels he is doing a service to the entire PR profession by calling for accountability via performance-based publicity.

"I would like to see enough clients demanding metrics so that it ripples all over the country," urges Elliott. "It will improve the performance and image of public relations in general. Once PR firms start getting judged by these statistics, they are going to figure out a way to do a more accountable job for their client. So if our clients demand more of us as a profession, then I say, 'Bring it on!' We can handle it."

For more information about performance-based product publicity, contact Power PR at 3711 Lomita Blvd., Suite 200, Torrance, CA 90505; (800) 757-3715; fax (310) 787-1970; debbieh@powerpr.com; or visit www.powerpr.com.

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