Three forces changing the practice of public relations have been gathering momentum for the past several years: overlap with marketing, pressure to quantify results, and a new influence dynamic brought about by the growth of blogs and social media. This white paper summarizes the status of these trends and provides PR professionals with recommendations for actions to take in 2007 to begin to evolve their communications strategies and tactics.
Executive Summary
The practice of public relations is changing more rapidly now than it has in the last several decades as three major changes simultaneously reshape traditional approaches, outlets, and boundaries.
1. Increasing overlap in marketing and public relations. PR is expected to do more product focused activities. Advertising embraces publicity-generating "buzz marketing" tactics to reach influencers. The growth of "social media" such as blogs gives PR more direct contact with the end users of their companies' products.
2. Improved measurement. The C-suite demands more rigorous performance and efficiency measurement from all functions. PR departments are under greater pressure to shift from measuring "outputs" like clip counts to "outcomes" like revenue and brand equity growth.
3. Increasing importance of social media. The rapid proliferation of blogs and social media sites has created a new class of media influencers and new tools to deliver a company's message to the market.
Action Plan for 2007
These changes will continue to unfold for several years and adapting to them will take time. PR professionals can get started in 2007 with a few beginning steps.
1. Get up to speed on sophisticated measurement systems. Digitization of content eliminates the limitations that prevent in-depth analysis of physical clips. Get familiar with the new range of measurement approaches that provide metrics further along the "outputs-to-outcomes' spectrum.
2. Learn about market mix modeling. Companies like Procter & Gamble are using this technique to quantify that PR can be more cost effective than advertising in driving sales. Become familiar with the general concepts and find out if your organization is already using the technique to measure the ROI of advertising. If so, prepare to include
PR data in future analyses.
3. Begin to incorporate "social media" into the communications plan. Many companies have already taken the step to identify and communicate with influential bloggers. The next step is to incorporate a broader blog monitoring program to understand if the messages placed in the media are influencing the broader market.
4. Develop a corporate blogging strategy. A range of companies have developed corporate blogs to address a variety of communications objectives. Companies should study these examples, using them as a source of ideas for how blogs could meet their unique communications needs. Develop strategic plans and begin to build support for them.
Increasing Overlap Between Advertising and PR
Supporting product and brand communication activities has always been an integral part of the public relations function. But as evidence grows that consumers are paying less attention to ads, using technologies like digital video recorders to skip them, and becoming less trusting of the messages they are exposed to, public relations' importance increases.
Historically, the cumbersome nature of physical clips has severely limited the depth of analysis that was possible. Technology has eliminated these barriers and enabled more sophisticated analysis of the tone, content, and impact of PR activities that move further along the spectrum of outputs to outcomes.
The evolution to more sophisticated metrics is a new frontier for some and a continuing challenge for others. PR professionals need to develop an understanding of the different measurement approaches enabled by sophisticated technologies, develop a vision of how to use these metrics appropriately to enhance their activities, then map out a plan to implement these new approaches.
Because the field is new, best practices have not been universally adopted throughout the industry. In addition, the range of responsibilities and business goals that PR supports require different measurement approaches.
Following are some of the approaches leading companies are embracing:
Impressions
Clips tell you how many articles included mention of your company, but it falls short of telling you how many people may have seen it - a lot of clips in small-circulation magazines may add up to fewer people than one clip in a large circulation magazine. Impressions are, therefore, further along the output-to-outcome spectrum, a superior measurement of how much impact PR activities are having on their audiences.
