Insights for Leaders Navigating
Visibility, Credibility, and Growth.
From media strategy to reputation management, we explore the trends shaping public perception and share the approaches that drive measurable results for growing brands.
In our data-driven world, it’s a challenge to show dollar-for-dollar the value of PR as it is a bit less tangible than other services. Ultimately all clients want to know whether the money, time and energy that went into a campaign changed consumer behavior and, more importantly, generated profit. To prove your campaign’s ROI, you need to report on meaningful metrics that relate directly to business goals and objectives.
To ensure PR efforts are purposeful and deliver value for clients, it’s important to clearly define the goals and objectives, agree on measurement, determine what success looks like and report on the results. Consider the following tips when you measure your next campaign.
Outline Goals and Objectives
Ultimately, your PR efforts should support your client’s business objectives. Why are you investing time and resources into a particular campaign? What do you hope to get out of it? Who are you targeting? What is the intended message? Don’t stop asking questions until you have a strong understanding of how it maps to business objectives.
Many companies are looking for a silver bullet to achieve their communication goals. Moving the needle and making an impact requires a sustained commitment. Predictable, consistent and, of course, interesting communication is the key to building trust and long-lasting relationships with your audiences.
Agree on Measurement
Once you’ve defined your goals, how exactly do you demonstrate your ROI for them? Choose the right metrics. It’s vital to clearly define your metrics and KPIs on the forefront, and determine how to quantify and benchmark progress over time. Check out Cision’s Metrics That Inform vs. Metrics that Prove: A Guide for Content Marketers for more tips on matching measurement and goals.
For marketing people, advertising is easier to wrap their heads around. In advertising, leads and quantifiable metrics, click-through-rates and page views provide a direct correlation to how people are moving through the sales funnel. With public relations, it’s a bit less tangible.
Interestingly, Forbes columnist Robert Wynne cites a study conducted by the L.A. Times about editorial content sections and advertising in the paper. The multi-year study found that editorial content is at least 10 times more valuable than advertising, 60 times more valuable if the story is on a front section and 100 times more valuable on the front page of the paper. Generally speaking, earned media has more credibility because it was independently verified by a trusted third party, rather than purchased.
Furthermore, there is a general awareness that grabbing consumers’ attention is getting harder and more frustrating across nearly all types of media. People are avoiding print ads, skipping through TV commercials and cutting cable subscriptions. Reaching consumers online is getting tougher too, between the rising use of ad blockers and scams in which fake, computer-generated web traffic lures in ad dollars. As a result, companies are rewriting their marketing playbooks and rethinking the value of PR.
Define Success
To prove your campaign was successful, you’ll need to set a baseline for each metric you report on. To set a baseline, it is best to think about the results of previous campaigns and determine your average results. If this is the first time you are measuring the results of a campaign, determine a baseline using industry standards and consider benchmarking against competition.
Analyze and Merchandise Results
Once your campaign is over and you have your hands on all the data, how do you cohesively demonstrate your success? Present one, comprehensive report that highlights results and tells your campaign’s story. Some best practices include:
- Start with an introduction that outlines the purpose of your campaign and the goals you wanted to achieve.
- Organize the report in sections that show the diversity of activity. For example, outline developing materials, earned media outreach, social media engagement, etc.
- Conclude with lessons learned and ideas to optimize future campaigns.
Take the lessons learned and immediately establish a follow-up plan while the campaign’s fresh in your mind. Then, consider conducting an A/B test with your next campaign to optimize how you connect with your audience.
As we can see from this week’s CBS “60 Minutes” segment The Whistleblower and the Washington Post’s article The Drug Industry’s Triumph Over the DEA, investigative journalism continues to have a significant impact on public perception and people’s careers. Hopefully it will also have an impact on future laws.
In case you missed it, the Washington Post and the CBS newsmagazine both did stories on Oct. 15, 2017 about Tom Marino’s role helping drug distributors pass a pharmaceutical-friendly law that allowed drug makers to distribute more painkillers to places that were already in the midst of the opioid crisis. This law also simultaneously curtailed the Drug Enforcement Agency’s efforts. Finally, to add insult to injury, Marino was paid $100,000 from the pharmaceutical lobby for his egregious work advocating for this law.
After these stories broke there was widespread outrage around Marino’s role as the chief architect and sponsor behind the law, as well as his nomination to be the drug czar. He had been nominated by President Trump to be the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. On Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017 he withdrew from consideration.
This story is especially important because we’ve lost more than 200,000 lives to the opioid epidemic. This is a staggering number of people and the ripple of effect of these deaths will be far reaching for many decades to come. Families have been destroyed. Children are often the biggest victims, losing parents to death or growing up in a chaotic environment where one or both parent’s top priority is drug-seeking. (For more on this, NBC has done a couple of powerful recent stories.)
Other big investigative stories in 2017 that hopefully will impact change include:
- Harvey Weinstein Paid Off Sexual Harassment Accusers for Decades – The New York Times’ and the New Yorker’s reporting on Harvey Weinstein. Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey first broke the news in the New York Times on Oct. 5, and Ronan Farrow reported the story in the New Yorker on Oct. 10, 2017.
- Swedish Double-Booked Its Surgeries, and the Patients Didn’t Know – Seattle Times reporters Mike Baker and Justin Mayo broke this story on May 28, 2017.
- 780M pills, 1,728 deaths – Eric Eyre of Charleston Gazette-Mail, Charleston, WV. Eyre won a Pulitzer prize for his “courageous reporting, performed in the face of powerful opposition, to expose the flood of opioids flowing into depressed West Virginia counties with the highest overdose death rates in the country.”
- Suffering in Secret: Illinois hides abuse and neglect of adults with disabilities by Michael J. Berens and Patricia Callahan of Chicago Tribune. This article focused on official neglect and abuse that led to 42 deaths at Illinois group homes for developmentally disabled adults.
Clearly, investigative reporting is expensive and time consuming, however, as we can see it is important and can impact change. Newspaper advertising revenue and operating budgets may have declined, but these stories still need to be told. While some may deride the news media, these stories are powerful examples of how they continue to play a role in keeping the American public informed and hold government officials, executives and board of directors accountable.
For more on investigative journalism, please check out these articles
With the flurry of recent hurricanes – Harvey, Irma and Maria – many people are still facing the harsh reality of their aftermath. It’s nearly impossible to prepare for weather of this magnitude, which is why these hurricanes were especially dangerous. Scientists and researchers feared that these storms would be some of the most powerful ever recorded – and they were. Houston received the most rain ever recorded in the U.S. during a storm. Despite the massive damage, however, there is a positive takeaway: social media proved to be an effective platform in support of hurricane rescue and relief.
Social Media SOS
With power out, cell towers overloaded, and flood waters stranding people in cars or homes, many people turned to social media for help. And fortunately for them, many courageous citizen rescuers with large trucks or small watercraft flocked to their aid. The brave locals who stepped up undoubtedly saved many lives, which was vital given that government search and rescue teams had limited resources.
People’s use of Nextdoor, a private social media tool for people in specific neighborhoods also skyrocketed. During Harvey, Nextdoor’s usage went up nearly 500 percent. Via Nextdoor, users shared more community- or neighborhood-specific information. In addition, many people requested essentials such as blankets, food and water. They also used Nextdoor to inquire about prices of items like gas or groceries.
Many local agencies also used Facebook and Twitter to post real-time updates such as flood maps, evacuation orders and routes, or information on when search and rescue teams would be in a particular area. For those without access to radio or television, social media connected them to important news and information. On September 14, 2017, Facebook activated its crisis response safety check feature, which allows users to check in and let their friends know they’re safe. This feature also enables people to see if other friends in the area are safe as well.
Relief Campaigns
Social media also continues to be an effective place to help people fundraise. For example, NFL star JJ Watt created a social media campaign to raise money for the city of Houston via his foundation. Heartbroken over the events that devastated his city, Watt hoped to raise $200,000. He and his foundation far exceeded this goal by raising more than $37 million. This is a great example of how star power, combined with social media, helped raise money for those in need.
According to experts, when people create fundraising campaigns on GoFundMe or YouCaring they should consider sharing them first with their friends and family. Not only are friends and family more likely to make a donation, they may also be willing to share the campaign with their networks. In fact, GoFundMe points out on its website that people who share a GoFundMe campaign on Facebook may see donations increase by as much as 350 percent.
Business Contributions to Relief Efforts
Many businesses chipped in to raise money or offer aid as well. For instance, Uber provided free rides to people headed to hurricane shelters and Airbnb offered free short-term housing to those who were, and are still, displaced by the storm.
Closer to home, the Seattle Mariners held two fundraising events at home games. Representatives from the team asked fans to donate, and promised to match donations up to $25,000 per game. Volunteers from the Red Cross collected the donations. In a separate donation, the Mariners also pledged $100,000 to the Red Cross for Hurricane Harvey.
Undoubtedly, social media will continue to evolve, but clearly it is an important communication tool during crisis situations. When the next natural disaster hits, we are likely to see new uses of social media by both victims and those rushing to aid them. Finally, when preparing an emergency kit, it is probably an excellent idea to make sure you have a hand-crank charger for your smartphone so you can stay powered up even when there is no electricity.
Last week was an eventful one for our client, Spaceflight Industries, announcing two important milestones for the company’s satellite rideshare and mission management service, Spaceflight.
Spaceflight’s SHERPA vehicle, a hosted payload and in-space transportation solution designed to take smallsats to orbitThe first announcement revealed that Spaceflight had been awarded its first contract from NASA Kennedy Space Center Contract (KSC) for launch and integration services. The multi-year contract covers launch services for a maximum of 24 payloads in 2018, with options to provide launch services for up to 24 additional payloads in both 2019 and 2020.
Not only was this announcement impressive from an economic perspective with the potential total contract valued at more than $5 million, but it also made an important statement, validating Spaceflight’s unique rideshare model. Spaceflight has been serving the commercial sector with great success for nearly seven years, having launched 112 satellites to date, and this contract illustrated that government agencies can benefit from the innovative commercial space industry as well.
In addition to the new contract, Spaceflight also made large strides in the development of its SSO-A Integrated Payload Stack. SSO-A is the first-ever dedicated rideshare launch and this structure will ensure that the payloads and spacecraft subsystems, from nearly 50 government and commercial organizations, will withstand the turbulence and vibrations of launch.
A series of third-party tests subjected Spaceflight’s nearly 20-foot satellite rideshare structure to low-level vibration to excite the core structure. These tests allowed engineers to calculate flight environments that the structure, avionics and customer spacecraft will be exposed to during the launch.
Curt Blake, president of Spaceflight, noted that this was the most complex launch the company had ever designed. Blake said, “Because we’re breaking ground with such a historic mission, we need to ensure the payloads and spacecraft subsystems will withstand the turbulence and vibrations of launch. It’s a tremendous accomplishment for our team and testament to our integration expertise.”
After distributing the releases via the wire and to our press list, we secured the following coverage.
Spaceflight Awarded First NASA Contract for Launch of U-Class Payloads
- NASA Awards Contract for Integration, Launch Services of U-Class Payloads– Space Ref, 9/29/17
- Launch and Integration Services Contract Awarded to Spaceflight by NASA Kennedy Space Center– Satnews, 10/2/17
- Spaceflight wins $5.5 million NASA contract for nanosatellite launch services– GeekWire, 10/2/17
- Spaceflight to Launch U-Class Payloads for NASA – Via Satellite 10/3/17
- NASA launching up to 72 smallsats with Spaceflight for $5.5 million– Space News, 10/3/17
- Seattle-based Spaceflight Wins NASA Contract– Seattle Business Magazine, 10/3/17
- NASA Taps Spaceflight for Launch, Integration Services– Executive Biz, 10/3/17
- NASA launching up to 72 smallsats with Spaceflight for $5.5 million – Space News 10/3/17
- Spaceflight gets NASA contract for launch of U-Class Payloads – Financial News (U.K.) 10/4/17
- Spaceflight Awarded 1st NASA Contract for Launch of U-Class Payloads – ASDNews 10/4/17
Spaceflight Successfully Completes Modal Survey for SSO-A Spacecraft
- Spaceflight Completes Modal Survey for SSO-A Spacecraft—Via Satellite, 10/4/17
- Spaceflight’s Integrated Payload Stack — SSO-A — Completes Modal Survey Successfully—SatNews, 10/4/17
In late September, I had the opportunity to participate in a compelling dinner salon discussion with a handful of local technology and business leaders hosted by Intentional Futures. The topic of discussion focused on “the fight for truth” and how news organizations can combat fake information in light of new technologies. The fight for news has gotten more challenging with the evolution of technologies – including Face2Face, VoCo, and Lyrebird – that enable the digital manipulation of audio and video.
While there are some interesting positive-use cases for this new computer-generated audio and video technology, ultimately these technologies will make it a lot harder for viewers to discern truth from fiction. We discussed the potential impact of this technology, which included:
• Shifting power centers: Those that understand and use this new type of media will be in a position to manage perceptions
• Enabling hyper-personalization of messaging
• Increasing skepticism: What is a “trusted source” in this new landscape?
• Development of new authentication technologies: the idea of “Blockchain-like authentication for your own likeness”
It was fascinating to dig into this topic with leaders representing a broad range of expertise and perspectives. The discussion broadened my awareness of the potential issues and vulnerabilities, as well as possible use cases that might have a positive impact.
What are your thoughts regarding the evolution of fake news? Clearly this is not something that is going to go away and will likely increase in sophistication.
Digiday recently posted an article uncovering how artificial intelligence (AI) is making its way into PR. Newspapers such as the Associated Press and Washington Post are already using AI to develop earnings reports and write articles that don’t require dedicated reporters.
How will this affect PR professionals? Can we begin to realistically and effectively incorporate AI into our day-to-day activities?
This topic has been deliberated by many and sources have come to a similar conclusion: PR is more art than science, therefore its adoption of AI must be strategic and applied with caution.
Given the creativity, storytelling and personalization required to successfully develop most press materials – AI cannot just seamlessly step in – we can conceivably use it as a tool to automate and scale more mundane tasks.
A few tasks that PR professionals have already started handing off to AI include:
- Speech recognition to transcribe speeches, presentations and calls
- Tracking and analyzing high volumes of media coverage
- Monitoring the sentiment of social media posts and engagement
- Using predictive analytics to project trends from existing data
Although it is unlikely that AI will ever fully replace PR jobs, it is still a growing force in nearly every industry that should not be ignored. McKinsey predicts that as many as 45 percent of the tasks currently performed by people will become automated by existing technologies. Given this statistic, it is important for PR pros to embrace technology and use it to help automate some tasks, and then hone creativity and human intellect to uncover and communicate complex stories.
PR pros could technically start writing press releases, pitches and byline articles with automated technology, but it could be risky in terms of losing a writer’s voice or missing a client’s messaging. In order for technology to perform, it needs to be given an equation or set of parameters to follow. AI technology isn’t yet ready to take over telling complex stories. Humans are still required to create the story structure and paint the picture. The best AI can do at this point is help gather data, employ predictive analytics, and help wrangle and process the sheer volume of media being created.
For as long as people and relationships continue to drive news, PR campaigns will rely on humans to be successful and captivating.
Has your company started incorporating AI? What pros and cons have you discovered from automating tasks?