Strategy is an integral part of every public relations campaign. From social media posts to feature articles, content drives results. Public relations encompasses a range of disciplines, including marketing, communication, press outreach, events, and social media.
How does all this information come together to meet a company’s business goals, and what does it mean for the bottom line?
A Sneak Peek into Web Analytics
A number of tools, like Google Analytics, are available to compile, analyze and synthesize data related to PR services. Google Analytics monitors results in real time, identifies trends and data correlations, and helps companies evaluate results to make informed, proactive decisions about current and future campaigns. Regularly using metrics helps reach and exceed expectations on a consistent basis.
Google Analytics compiles detailed website data, including:
visitor demographics
customer behavior
where visitors are coming from (search engines, social media, etc.)
which keywords are directing visitors to a company’s website
which internal website links get the most hits
visitors’ viewing devices (tablet, computer, mobile, etc.)
The synthesis of this information provides insights into actionable plans and initiatives, specific to a company’s desired results.
One of the ways to measure return on investment (ROI) is to analyze the number of visitors to a company’s website (web traffic) in correlation with its PR initiatives. Depending on the goals, the PR campaign and tactics utilized, different factors can influence visitor numbers. Every campaign is unique and therefore requires a distinctive set of metrics to measure results.
Case Study: Residential Development Company
In one example for a residential development company, we tracked press releases, articles, social media and advertisements to measure the effects on web traffic as well as another key metric – prospects walking into its sales office. The analysis consistently revealed jumps in web traffic as a result of articles and also in the number of prospects who visited the sales office.
The metrics further showed some of the best days and times to post on social media platforms to reach potential customers. The analysis of a few months of data like this helped create a unique social media content calendar, which paired the best posting times with strong content to produce top results.
#1 Tip to Achieve Maximum ROI
For any company, it is essential to determine quantifiable goals with the PR team for each campaign. For example, qualitative goals may include expectations for attendance at an event, increasing web traffic and gaining more prospects. Go one step further by turning goals into specific numbers and statistics: at least 300 event attendees, a 40% web traffic boost in one month, and a 20% increase in prospects in two months. Pinpointing quantitative objectives helps a company and its PR team focus the data needed to meet and exceed objectives.
Be sure to reach out to us with any questions you may have at (201) 796-7788 or Caryl@Caryl.com.