PR Pros Measure Content Marketing – But How Well?

Most PR pros measure their content marketing efforts, a new survey indicates. However, they may not be using meaningful metrics or getting full benefit from their media measurement efforts.

Seventy-seven percent (77%) of PR and marketing professionals said they measure their content efforts, according to a Marketwired survey. They named engagement (66%), reach (66%) and website analytics (52%) as their most common metrics. Click-through rates (CTRs), lead-generation, brand awareness and influence were close runners-up.

While metrics such as engagement and reach are not completely without value, they do not tie PR efforts to the company bottom line. As a result, PR has little opportunity to take any credit for a sale, the ultimate metric, writes PR measurement expert Katie Paine, CEO of Paine Publishing LLC, in her blog post, The #1 Reason Why PR Gets No Respect: Stupid Metrics.

Paine cited PR measurement pitfalls and their solutions in her article 12 Signs That Your Measurement Program Is Not in Compliance with the Barcelona Principles.

Common PR Measurement Pitfalls and Solutions

• Reports lack a transparency table. Fix it by downloading the SMM Standards Sources and Methods Transparency Table and use it as a checklist for vendors you interview.

• AVEs. Ask your C-Suite how they define PR’s value for the bottom line and revise your program.

• You measure activity, not outcomes. Base measurements on program or campaign goals.

• Vanity metrics. Make sure your metrics reflect real business impact.

• Not measuring social media. Use the social media measurement standards outlined by SMM Standards.

• Objectives don’t align with results. Instead measure against the stated goals of your program.

• Not measuring messaging or sentiment. Fix it by assessing the quality of your media coverage, not just the quantity. Quantitative measurement involves more than counting clips: it evaluates print circulation and online reach data. Media monitoring services like CyberAlert enable users to analyze aggregated data by time periods, media types, geography and other parameters including qualitative assessment of sentiment, messages, and spokespersons.

Download your free copy of CyberAlert’s PR Measurement Handbook.

Earned Media Still Most Important

The Marketwired survey also reveals that earned media remains the most important channel in the PESO (paid, earned, shared, owed) model. More respondents (36%) named earned media the most important part of the “media mix,” closely followed by owned (33%), which includes blogs, tip sheets, case studies and webinars. Shared media garnered just 16%.

The survey also showed that most communications professionals (79%) have a content marketing program in place, and the majority (64%) plan to increase or maintain (22%) content marketing efforts this year.

“It’s clear that relevant, quality content is increasingly important to telling brand stories, boosting customer affinity and driving qualified leads for the sales team,” stated Sanjay Kulkarni, Marketwired vice president, product and marketing. “And while building a content strategy isn’t quick or simple, our respondents see it as a must-have for 2016. They recognize the opportunities in front of them by having a plan in place.”

Other Survey Findings

PR and marketing professionals most frequently produce blog posts (55%), photos (29%) and news releases (24%). They also employ newsletters, video, infographics, white papers as well as case studies, webinars and tip sheets.

While 61% of respondents said they use influencers and brand advocates, that leaves a substantial minority who do not. Those who don’t use influencers cited budget and/or resource restrictions and not knowing where to start.

Half of respondents use visuals on a weekly basis and 30% use them daily. Social media is a popular too. Twitter (75%), Facebook (73%) and LinkedIn (63%) are the most commonly used social channels for sharing visual content. Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest are popular.

A May 2015 Starfleet Media study found that 80% of B2B marketing professionals worldwide used the number of leads as a content performance metric. That percentage was down slightly from 2014, when it was 84%, according to eMarketer. Over the same period, other performance metrics gained ground, including sales conversions (from 78% in 2014 to 86% in 2015) and quality of leads (66% to 72%).

Bottom Line: Most PR and marketing pros say they are measuring their content marketing efforts and say reach and engagement are their favorite metrics. PR measurement experts argue that other metrics provide more meaningful results and are more likely to win PR a seat at the executive leadership table.

Get Your Free Copy of the CyberAlert PR Measurement Handbook for in-depth analysis of today’s measurement standards, metrics and methods for news and social media.