Measurement should be intrinsically linked to the objectives of each individual campaign, and not approached in a ‘one size fits all’ manner.  Whether your campaign is designed to drive footfall, create engagement or increase sales, it is important that you use appropriate tools to measure the effects of the buzz created – both online and offline.  This is particularly important when your campaign platform is based online, and the argument of quality vs. quantity still rages on today.  For example, your campaign might achieve a million hits on YouTube but if none of these viewers would ever consider buying your product then surely this is counterproductive – unless the campaign objective was purely to build brand awareness.

Sophisticated software for monitoring online buzz does now exist, and it really is very good.  These systems allow you to track sentiment, reach, demographic and influence across Twitter, Facebook, Blogs and Forums for the entire duration of your campaign.

PR is therefore more measurable than ever, but what do these statistics reveal about your activity, and how do you measure success?

The truth is, that while monitoring software can help you pull graphs to wow clients, the real value is still in the analysis, and in using these tools to monitor success, rather than evaluate.  Social Media offers you real time reporting, allowing you to evolve your campaign as you go along rather than saving it for the boardroom .

Competent digital PR consultants should be advising clients all along as to what is working well and what isn’t, and making continuous recommendations as a result of reading and understanding the monitoring software. Identifying, and replicating, the content that appeals to your community is vital to the success of a social media campaign and this is a real-time process.

It is not just EAV as a method of measurement that has become outdated, it is the entire evaluation mindset.

Lindsey Reaney
Social Media Consultant, Golley Engage

More than ever, social media sites have opened the door for the general public to become columnists in their own right.  The internet has given your target audience a much bigger platform from which they can voice their opinions, share information and experiences and post recommendations. 

The breadth of conversations taking place on the internet on any given subject is immense and yes, in case you’re wondering, your brand, business and service is a topic of conversation too. 

The fact is you can’t choose not to be involved in social media.  You may not have allocated any of your marketing spend to it, but internet users are having these conversations about you whether you like it or not.  

If you have been marketing your brand or service, especially using the discipline of PR, then it doesn’t have to be a daunting prospect.  It’s a case of adapting your skills and messages to suit the medium.  Like all PR it can’t be fully controlled but it can drive trust and credibility in your brand or service. 

According to a Nielson online survey, 78 per cent of people trust the recommendation of other consumers before any other form of marketing while 68 per cent trust opinions posted online.  These are persuasive statistics that re-enforce the need for a strategically robust PR and social media campaign to be part of your overall marketing plan. 

You need to engage your consumer, help shape the dialogue and be a part of the conversation.  After all, it is about you.

Claire Rushton, Head Of Office (Leeds & Newcastle)