Measuring the Value of Public Relations

If there's a silver lining to the current economic crisis, perhaps it's that stakeholders are demanding greater accountability and discipline. For those of us in communications, that means research and measurement will be more important than ever before.

Provided below are a number of great resources that offer insight into how to measure the value of media relations. As some of the reports discuss, it is possible for organizations to begin doing their own measurement and analysis. However, for more objective insight, you'll need to work with a media analysis firm. Three great ones are BurrellesLuce, MediaMiser and CARMA.

Whether you choose to use an external provider or manage the process internally, the most important thing is that you begin to capture the value of all you do in a way that is tied to your organization's business goals.

Here are some helpful resources to get you started:

Talk to Me: 10 Tips for Translating PR Results into the Language of Business – Published by Dow Jones, this short e-book highlights best practices for reporting public relations measurement to business executives. Covers the perceptions and attitudes of PR professionals and senior executives toward the impact of public relations on business success, and provides 10 tips for translating intangible PR results into demonstrable success.

Return on Investment of PR & Corporate Communications – A short paper examining how ROI of PR and corporate communications can be measured. Includes a chart highlighting sample objectives and how to measure the results.

Research in Public Relations: A review of the use of evaluation and formative research – Although a bit academic, this report provides a comprehensive outline of the latest international best practice thinking and methodologies for planning and evaluation research in PR.

The Ad Value of PR – Advertising Value Equivalents have been a common way to value media publicity. But are they valid? This paper presents international research and expert opinion condemning this practice.

Tracking the Influence of Conversations: A Roundtable Discussion on Social Media Metrics and Measurement – This white paper from Dow Jones takes a look at how various companies are measuring social media's effect on productivity, accountability and customer intimacy.

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