‘If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it’ is a well-known saying in business, and one that is particularly relevant in the world of PR and marketing.
Yet despite the importance of data measurement in the industry, a report published by Coveragebook earlier this year found over half of 400 PR and marketing professionals lacked confidence in their data literacy skills.
Safe to say, Represent was not included in that survey. Ours is, and always has been, a data culture – one that thrives on identifying key performance metrics and exceeding them. It’s also just one of the reasons we are the few Scottish agencies to achieve the PRCA communications standard.
Need proof? Take a look at just some of the results our PR and digital comms agency has achieved for clients.
What’s the big deal with data?
In PR, data plays a key part in decision-making, content creation and campaign execution. For us, numbers act as feedback – informing strategy development and evaluation of the work. Through regular measurement and recording the right results, we see what areas of a campaign are performing and what needs adjusting to meet business goals.
It’s not just us that benefit from data analysis. By sharing key metrics with our clients in a clear and understandable way, they too see the direct impact of our activity – and thereby their investment in us – on their business objectives. It’s hard to argue against the value of PR when you gain several solid leads from a single press release.
And of course, data acts as a testament to our efforts. Seeing a social media campaign reach 2k clicks, a 40% increase in referral traffic from a secured media outlet, or a surge in online purchases following a digital ad are clear demonstrations of the positive impact of our work – And that is what we live for.
The measurements that matter
So, now you know the importance of data in your PR and Marketing efforts, here’s a wee round-up of some of the most important measurements you need to know.
- Reach – How many users saw the post
- Impressions – How many times the post was seen
- Clicks – How many times the post was clicked on
- Organic traffic – Traffic originating from unpaid search engine results
- Page views – Number of times a landing page was viewed
- Avg. time on page – Average time spent on a page
- New visitor sessions – Number of first-time visitors to the site
- Returning visitor sessions – Number of returning visitors to the site
- Traffic sources – Where traffic is originating from
- Keywords – Words and phrases users type into search engines
Email marketing
- Click Through Rate (CTR) – Percentage of opens that result in a click
- Response rate – Percentage of responses per email
- Unsubscribes – Number of readers who unsubscribe from email marketing
- Estimated views – Predicted lifetime views of coverage, based on audience reach and engagement rate.
- Domain authority – Authority of the website the coverage appears on
While depending on the brief and objectives we are working to, these are just some of the metrics we use here at Represent to evaluate the success of our work for clients.
The reality is data means so much more than its numerical value; an increased CTR indicates greater levels of prospect engagement and potential for purchase. Likewise, growth in organic traffic suggests increased brand awareness among key audiences.
Monitoring the relevant metrics closely and reporting on them has enabled us to achieve outstanding results and supported businesses to grow.
Keen to work with a PR and digital comms agency that works toward vital metrics that will make a difference to your business? Get in touch with us here.