Sandra Fathi, president of Affect, discusses metrics for measuring public relations that impress executives. She outlines objectives like proving value and ROI. Key performance indicators can track outcomes like lead generation, website traffic, and revenue generation. Share of voice compares a company's metrics to competitors' as a percentage of total conversations on a topic. Tracking correlations between PR activities, outputs, and business results is also important. Lead generation and revenue generation are most meaningful to executives.

1. SHOW
ME
THE
MONEY:
PR
MEASUREMENT
METRICS
THAT
IMPRESS
THE
C-­‐SUITE
Sandra
Fathi
President
Affect
@sandrafathi
web:
affect.com
blog:
techaffect.com
email:
sfathi@affect.com
Ragan
PR
Measurement
Conference
Miami,
February
2,
2017
Slides:
www.slideshare.net/sfathi

2. ABOUT
ME
• Sandra
Fathi
• President,
Affect
• Public
RelaLons,
Social
Media,
MarkeLng
• Council
of
PR
Firms,
Board
Member
• PRSA
Past
PosiLons:
– Tri-­‐State
Chair
– NY
Chapter
President
– NY
Chapter
Board
Member
– Technology
SecLon
Chair
2
@sandrafathi

3. Technology:
Healthcare:
Professional Services:
SAMPLE
PAST
&
PRESENT
CLIENTS
@sandrafathi

4. MEASUREMENT
&
METRICS
Measurement Objectives
1. Proving value of public relations activities
2. Proving ongoing improvement in performance
3. Securing headcount/budget for programs
4. Demonstrating ROI compared with true business metrics
Holy Grail:
PR = Sales
@sandrafathi

5. 5
PR
MEASUREMENT
Sample
Business
Metrics
• Market
PenetraLon
• Market
Share
• Lead
GeneraLon
• Revenue
• Cost-­‐Savings
Sample
MarkeLng
Metrics
• Traffic
to
Website
• Downloads
• RegistraLons
• Lead
GeneraLon
Measure
what
maXers
to
the
C-­‐Suite
In
a
language
they
understand
–
and
value
@sandrafathi

6. 6
MEASUREMENT
MISTAKES
• Ad
Value
Equivalency
(AVE):
EsLmated
value
if
it
were
a
paid
adverLsement
in
the
media
outlet
• Vanity
Metrics:
Metrics
designated
by
the
pla`orm
but
are
absent
of
meaning
out
of
context
(i.e.
Tweets,
Follows,
Likes,
Shares
etc.)
and
in
business
• TradiLonal
PR
Metrics:
Measures
quanLty
or
quality
of
media
coverage
absent
of
business
or
markeLng
outcomes
Outdated
&
Inaccurate
Misleading
or
Devoid
of
Meaning
Incomplete,
Measures
Against
PR
not
MarkeLng
or
Business
Goals

7. MEASUREMENT
&
METRICS
Sample
PR
Key
Performance
Indicators
(KPIs):
1. Scores: Indices/scoring mechanisms to track valuable outcomes/results
• Quantity: sheer volume of media hits
• Quality: score for Tier 1,2,3, score for feature, prominent, mention
2. Correlations: Between outputs, outcomes and business results.
• Track events with lead generation (online, email, phone, events)
• Track PR/social events with Web traffic
3. Check Boxes: Meeting specific, finite objectives
• # of articles/month
• # of articles in target industries/vertical markets
• # of press releases per year
• # of members/attendees/downloads/registrations (hard numbers)
@sandrafathi

8. PR
MEASUREMENT
Four
Concepts
for
Discussions:
• Lead
GeneraLon/Revenue
GeneraLon
• Share
of
Voice
• CompeLLve
Benchmarking
• CorrelaLons
@sandrafathi
8

9. PART
I:
LEAD
GENERATION/REVENUE
GENERATION

10. HOW
MARKETERS
ARE
MEASURED
CMO
Mandate
• Branding
&
PosiLoning
• Lead
GeneraLon
• Customer
AcquisiLon
&
Cost
• Referral
Rate
• Website
(Traffic,
AcLons,
Leads,
SEO)
• Conversion
Rates
• Revenue
GeneraLon
• ROI
on
MarkeLng
Spend
10
CMO-­‐PR
IntersecLon
• Market
PercepLon/Market
Share
of
Mind
• Lead
GeneraLon
• Website
(Traffic,
AcLons,
Leads,
SEO)
• Revenue
GeneraLon
• ROI
on
PR
Spend

11. THE
CHALLENGE
• CMO:
350
Leads
per
quarter
to
reach
bonus
• Increase
occupancy
rates
in
18
NYC
Regus
properLes
• Develop
mulL-­‐faceted
program
to
reach
objecLve
• Isolate
results
to
demonstrate
ROI
11

12. STRATEGY
&
TACTICS
• Change
PosiLoning:
AXract
Entrepreneurs/Start-­‐Ups
• Content
CreaLon
• Create
Dedicated
Social
Media
Channels
• Strategic
AdverLsing/Paid
Placements
• Aggressive
PR
TacLcs
• Partnerships,
Events,
On-­‐Site
Visits
• Sweepstakes/Contest
• Change/Implement
Sales
Tracking
Methodology
12

13. SALES
TRACKING
• Dedicated
1-­‐800
• Change
All
Lead-­‐Capture
Mechanisms
to
Allow
for
PR
Programs
(Phone,
On-­‐Site,
Web,
Salesforce)
• Tracking
Links,
Landing
Pages,
Microsite
• PR-­‐only
PromoLons
&
Coupon
Codes
• RegistraLons,
Downloads,
Trials
13

14. 90-­‐DAY
RESULTS
• 732
Customer
Leads
Generated
• 935
Contest
RegistraLons
• 6400
Unique
Web
Visitors
to
Microsites/Landing
Pages
• 11%
Increase
in
Overall
Web
Traffic
for
NYC
• $1.067
Million
in
Revenue
(New
Contracts)
Generated
• 114%
Increase
in
Year-­‐Over-­‐Year
Results
14

15. PART
II:
SHARE
OF
VOICE

16. DEFINITION
Share
of
Voice:
Comparing
your
crucial
performance
metrics
against
those
of
compeLtors
or
the
market.
• You
have
to
measure
something
• What
you
measure
needs
to
be
analyzed
proporLonately
against
compeLtor
data
(or
market
data)
to
establish
market
share
@sandrafathi
16

17. THE
FORMULA
Number
of
ConversaLons
That
Include
Your
Company
=
X
*
100
=
%
SOV
Total
ConversaLons
on
a
Topic
@sandrafathi
17

18. ADVERTISING
CONCEPT
25%
SOV
75%
SOV
@sandrafathi
18

19. SHARE
OF
VOICE
I
72%
28
%
Total
ConversaLons
Talk
About
Me
@sandrafathi
19

20. SHARE
OF
VOICE
II
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
CompeLtor
C
CompeLtor
B
CompeLtor
A
Our
Company
@sandrafathi
20

21. KEEP
IN
MIND
• Share
of
voice
should
be
defined
for
a
period
of
Lme
(finite
start
and
end).
• Share
of
voice
is
oren
most
useful
when
limited
to
a
single
pla`orm
or
medium.
For
example,
business
press
coverage
or
TwiXer.
• Share
of
voice
can
be
overwhelming
if
trying
to
look
at
too
large
a
segment
or
industry.
Try
choosing
SOV
among
top
compeLtors
or
in
key
interest
areas.
@sandrafathi
21

22. SOV:
SOCIAL
MEDIA
ANALYTICS
PLATFORMS
@sandrafathi
22

23. SOCIAL
MENTION
@sandrafathi
23

24. SIMPLE
EXCEL
FORMULA
@sandrafathi
24

25. ONLY
PART
OF
THE
STORY
• Doesn’t
consider
sources
(exclude
self
produced/owned
media)
• Doesn’t
consider
quality,
only
quanLty
(Is
NYT
blog
same
as
obscure
geek’s
tweet?)
• Don’t
accept
the
data
blindly
–
human
verificaLon
is
required
with
any
tool
@sandrafathi
25

26. OTHER
APPLICATIONS
&
CONSIDERATIONS
ConsideraLons:
• Apply
senLment
or
tonal
filters
(posiLve/negaLve)
• Apply
qualitaLve
measures
(by
Ler
or
by
type)
ApplicaLons:
• Industry
trends/hot
topics
(i.e.
SOV
on
cloud
security)
• Specific
products
or
services
• Broken
down
by
geographic
or
demographic
parameters
(i.e.
SOV
in
18-­‐25
market)
@sandrafathi
26

27. PART
III:
COMPETITIVE
BENCHMARKING

28. DEFINITION
CompeLLve
Benchmarking:
The
conLnuous
pracLce
of
comparing
a
company’s
pracLces
and
performance
metrics
against
the
most
successful
compeLtors
in
the
industry.
• You
measure
processes
and
results
• You
must
idenLfy
a
‘benchmark’
or
indicator
that
will
be
a
unit
of
measure
to
compare
• The
desired
outcome
is
to
understand
which
processes
lead
to
greater
success
(best
pracLces)
in
order
to
improve
your
company’s
performance
@sandrafathi
28

29. COMPETITIVE
BENCHMARKING
• IdenLfy
my
compeLLve
set
for
comparison
• Choose
my
units
of
measure:
press
coverage
• Set
parameters:
top
20
business
and
trade
• Define
a
Lme
period:
6
months
• Choose
a
tool
(news
monitoring
service)
or
begin
manual
research
@sandrafathi
29

30. EXAMPLE:
RADWARE
ObjecLve:
• Build
&
Maintain
Radware’s
PosiLon
as
a
Thought
Leader
on
Security
• Maximize
Radware’s
Overall
Public
RelaLons
Results
Strategy:
• Compare
and
Contrast
Radware’s
Press
Release
Output
with
Top
3
Security
CompeLtors
• Analyze
Results
• Apply
Best
PracLces
and
Lessons
Learned
to
Radware
to
Improve
Overall
Performance
@sandrafathi
30

31. EXAMPLE:
RADWARE
Network
Security
CompeLtors
@sandrafathi
31

32. • Analysis
of
press
release
strategy
and
resulLng
coverage
over
6
month
period
• Specifically
as
it
relates
to
relevant
products
or
business
units
• Only
in
top
20
business
and
industry/sector
publicaLons
METHODOLOGY
@sandrafathi
32

33. RADWARE
PRESS
RELEASES
Security
43%
ADC
27%
Both*
12%
Other*
18%
Press
Releases
*
‘Both’
includes
releases
related
to
both
security
and
ADC,
‘Other’
includes
non-­‐product
releases
(e.g.
company
news,
financial
announcements
etc.)
Press
Releases
Security
14
ADC
9
Both
2
Other
6
@sandrafathi
33

34. SECURITY
COMPETITORS
14
23
28
10
84
164
68
68
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
Radware
Arbor
Imperva
Prolexic
Press
Releases
ArLcles
PRESS
RELEASES
VS.
NUMBER
OF
ARTICLES
@sandrafathi
34

35. SECURITY
COVERAGE
BY
TYPE
0
100
200
Radware
Arbor
Imperva
Prolexic
Other
Report
Commentary
AXack
AcquisiLon
Product
Customer
Partner
AcquisiLon
AXack
Commentary
Report
Other
Radware
8
9
6
0
28
22
11
2
Arbor
19
1
1
18
29
44
52
0
Imperva
2
1
1
0
8
18
19
19
Prolexic
0
0
0
0
43
2
14
9
@sandrafathi
35

36. COVERAGE
BY
QUALITY
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
Radware
Arbor
Imperva
Prolexic
MenLons
Features
35%
65%
31%
69%
34%
66%
54%
46%
FEATURE
VS.
MENTION
@sandrafathi
36

37. SECURITY
CONCLUSIONS
• Radware
is
#2
in
overall
SOV
but
the
quality
is
not
as
strong
(more
menLons
vs.
features)
• Leading
customer
and
partner
conversaLons
(ValidaLon)
• Good
job
at
Story
Hijacking
(responding
to
security
hacks)
but
room
for
improvement
(ValidaLon)
• CompeLtors
winning
at
report
coverage
and
commentary
(Opportunity!)
@sandrafathi
37

38. CONSIDERATIONS
• Good
for
understanding
what
worked
but
not
necessarily
‘how’
it
worked
• Costs
for
research
may
outweigh
benefits
of
insights
• Once
you’ve
idenLfied
the
‘best
pracLces’
you
may
or
may
not
be
able
to
replicate
them
• Consider
non-­‐compeLtor
companies
to
benchmark
• Do
you
want
to
‘emulate’
or
‘innovate’?
@sandrafathi
38

39. PART
IV:
CORRELATIONS

40. DEFINITION
CorrelaLon:
A
mutual
relaLonship,
or
interdependence,
between
two
or
more
things.
• In
the
absence
of
being
able
to
prove
‘causality’
you
may
be
able
to
demonstrate
a
‘correlaLon’
to
demonstrate
the
impact
of
a
PR
or
markeLng
program
• A
correlaLon
is
posiLve
when
the
values
of
both
variables
increase
together
• A
correlaLon
is
negaLve
when
the
value
of
one
variable
increases
while
the
value
of
the
other
variable
decreases
@sandrafathi
40

41. TYPES
OF
CORRELATION
Source:
MathisFun.com
41

42. THE
FORMULA
42
Pearson’s
CorrelaLon:
@sandrafathi

43. FUNCTION
IN
EXCEL
43
@sandrafathi

44. CORRELATION
IN
EXCEL
44
@sandrafathi

45. FUNCTION
IN
EXCEL
45
@sandrafathi

46. SCATTER
CHART
46
@sandrafathi

47. LINE
CHART
47
@sandrafathi
AcquisiLon

48. MULTIPLE
DATA
SETS
48
@sandrafathi
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
4500
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Sales
Web
Traffic
Press
Coverage

49. SPURIOUS
CORRELATION
49
@sandrafathi
Source:
TylerVigen.com

50. 50
@sandrafathi
Source:
TylerVigen.com
SPURIOUS
CORRELATION

51. CONSIDERATIONS
• Use
correlaLons
cauLously
and
don’t
trust
the
math
blindly
• The
visuals
oren
tell
a
story
as
well
• Remember
that
correlaLon
is
not
causality,
it
can
only
help
as
an
indicator
or
potenLally
predict
probability
• Data
is
sLll
beXer
that
your
opinion
51
@sandrafathi

52. FINAL
THOUGHTS
• In
measurement,
speak
the
language
of
the
C-­‐Suite
• Excel
is
sLll
the
best
dashboard
for
data
visualizaLon
• Don’t
be
afraid
to
learn
that
you
are
wrong
• Don’t
be
afraid
to
change
direcLon
• Use
the
data
to
gain
execuLve
support
– Strategy
– Resources
– Headcount
– Budget
52
@sandrafathi

53. THANK
YOU
Sandra
Fathi
President
Affect
@sandrafathi
web:
affect.com
blog:
techaffect.com
email:
sfathi@affect.com
Slides:
www.slideshare.net/sfathi