PR Pros have spent years trying to find an easy way to analyse results, but PR is notoriously hard to measure. So with the help of social media and Google Analytics, we now have more insight and data readily available to roll up our sleeves and delve into what gets customers engaged and buying.

Whether its from seeing an increase in your followers, an uplift in brand searches or more click-throughs from your PPC activity, PR affects all channels you use.

“But where do you look to find that out?” I hear you say! Don’t fret, as we have decided to share a few of our top tips on how to maximise the impact of your press coverage, along with tips on how to measure the impact of your PR.

Maximise the value of your PR:

OK, so you’ve just secured press coverage in your wish list titles. Congratulations! But now what? Brand association is one of the key values of PR. If you have been featured in a newspaper, magazine, website or blog, then your potential customers are then reassured about your brand.  So make sure your coverage works harder and smarter for you by sharing the news about your coverage far and wide!

1. Share your coverage on your website by simply writing out the titles you have been seen in somewhere prominent like the home page or the first line of text on the product description.  You can’t use the logos without permission – just send a short email to the editor and it should be fine. Oli & Grace display their best coverage mentions beautifully on their home page:

2. You can also put an “as featured in” page on your site, a ticker on the home page and “flashes” on the product listings when they have been featured in the press.  You can also use quotes from the articles.  This gives customers trust in your brand and so you may then observe increased conversion rates. Made.com do it really nicely:

3. Talk about your coverage in your customer newsletters.

4. Talk about your coverage across social media.

Measurement:

There is often a misconception that PR leads to instant and vast sales, that can be true on occasions, but its often the slow and steady build-up of brand awareness which you will see.

Tip. Make sure you have set up e-commerce tracking on Google Analytics. This will help decipher which channels or activities have worked and the impact that has had on sales.  It’a always good to take into consideration the data from before this activity has taken place so you can you can analyse before and after pictures.

Google Analytics & clients tend to analyse the “last click” / or the last touch point they have with a clientbut customers, on average, come across a brand 7 times before making a purchase – this can take even longer on big ticket items, like furniture.  Here’s a great infographic about last click attributions from Smartly:

For example, a customer may see you in a mag, check out your social media accounts, click on a Google ad, click on a display ad and then make a purchase.  In this case you would attribute the sale to the “last click” on the display ad, when the magazine actually drove the initial awareness. So when print coverage is also in the mix, always be open to look at the bigger picture, rather than the granular.

There are some ways around this on Google which I’ve outlined below, including the reports to review on Google Analytics:

   1.  Look at assisted conversions from referral and direct traffic.

   2. Number of brand searches – this demonstrates brand awareness

   3. Direct to site traffic – people coming directly to your website after e.g. reading about in a magazine

   4. Look for higher conversion rates in those coming straight to the site

We offer measurement and analytical insights as part of our PR packages, along with a customised dashboard to show the impact of our activity. If you’re interested in learning more about maximising and measuring your press coverage, please get in touch.