Importance of PR Campaign Evaluation

by Theresa O'Brien

 

photo courtesy of business matters

 

A LOT of hard work goes into a campaign-the planning, the implementation, the execution. But how do we know if that hard work paid off? The last step, and arguably the most important, evaluation. Most practitioners love to see their work in action, in the planning and implementation, but often forgotten is how to properly evaluate the end result.

Currently, evaluation is becoming harder and harder to define and execute with the recent explosion of digital/social media. Digital marketing is becoming more and more the norm and it is increasingly harder track. Being able to evaluate the campaign and then turn the data into something relatable is becoming more difficult as well.

According to Business Matters, a leading UK business magazine, evaluation should not just be considered an end of the campaign practice. It should be utilized from start to finish. The campaign should be viewed as a continual process, not one that has a beginning and an end. It is also important to evaluate BEFORE you begin a campaign, to accurately gauge what position you are in. This provides a baseline of how effective the campaign is. Another good tip is to not evaluate everything at the same time. As the campaign continues you have to evaluate each part separately then again as a whole at the end. It is easier to see what elements worked well and which ones didn’t, when you look at things in parts, not as a whole. Another tip that UK Business Matters points out, is just because you get media coverage doesn’t necessarily mean your campaign was successful. Practitioners tend to correlate the two and sometimes one doesn’t mean the other. Media coverage doesn’t mean you hit your target audience and they saw your ‘call to action’, it goes much deeper than that. Also, do not forget to budget for your evaluation. It is easy to forget. Budgeting for the campaign is not forgotten, but budgeting for the evaluation often is. Make sure you plan that into your budget. Last, do not forget to state your objectives clearly, having clear and defined objectives is imperative when it comes to evaluating the campaign.

There are lots of different words that PR practitioners use when evaluating a campaign as well. Understanding these words is important in the evaluation stage.

PR professionals talk about outputs – the activities that were undertaken in the campaign; out takes – the result of these tactics,
and outcomes – the changes in behavior as a result of the campaign. These terms are important to use, so as to clearly represent what parts of the campaign were successful. Other terms include,

• Cuttings-The classic “press clippings book” is perhaps the simplest way to
  evaluate the outputs.
• Reach- Measures how many people in the target audience will have
  seen the campaign.
• Frequency- Many studies have shown that marketing messages must be
  communicated several times if they are to have any impact (Napier, n.d.)

You may be able to measure and evaluate the success during and after your
campaign by looking at the following:
• sales figures
• changes in behavior
• voting patterns and numbers
• website hits
• enquiries (Contextra, n.d.)

Employing these tips and tactics during the planning stages of your campaign will ensure evaluation success at the end. It is important not to forget about the evaluation stage, and plan properly for it.

 

 

References-

http://www.bmmagazine.co.uk/in-business/advice/21881/five-principles-good-pr-campaign-evaluation/

Click to access evaluating-pr-campaigns.pdf

Click to access PR_TopicGuide_6_3.pdf