Semil Shah recently\u00a0shared a post\u00a0on TechCrunch on the value of PR. Most of our readers here don\u2019t need to be persuaded on this, so the post isn\u2019t likely new territory for you.\u00a0However one bit from the post deserves a response (emphasis mine):<\/p>\n
\u2026the work of public relations, or\u00a0\u201cPR,\u201d is the\u00a0dark art\u00a0that\u2019s impossible to measure<\/strong>, the craft of indirectly encouraging or persuading the crowd to seemingly engage in organic chatter about something, to somehow become a natural part of an ongoing conversation that, over time, incepts the audience to become, somewhat unknowingly, evangelists for a certain point of view. It\u2019s Don Draper with a\u00a0splash\u00a0of Dominick Cobb.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Perhaps Semil has had the unfortunate experience working with a PR firm that didn\u2019t\u00a0deliver a results dashboard\u00a0or even include metrics \/ goals in their agreement. But as I\u2019ve noted in previous posts,\u00a0data is everyone\u2019s domain\u00a0and all specializations of marketing and PR can\u00a0get to conversion.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve also shared several posts on\u00a0web analytics for PR, many smart analysts have\u00a0developed PR dashboards, and people like\u00a0KD Paine\u00a0continue to push the industry to measure what they do. There aren\u2019t excuses here not to measure\u00a0both<\/em>\u00a0activity with results. If I reported measurable digital marketing and PR KPIs and outcomes while on the agency-side for more than 6 years, so can your brand\u2019s agency, consultant or in house professional.<\/p>\n
If the value your PR delivers is questionable this is the fault of the people working on your PR program, not the specialization (which is quite potent). We have the tools and talent to develop a\u00a0measurement\u00a0process. We can educate stakeholders (either clients or internal managers) on what digital metrics mean. We can create goals that push our teams. We can develop our analysis skills to understand what PR tactics work best and how to improve them. It\u2019s simply choosing to do it and be an accountable public relations professional.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Semil Shah recently\u00a0shared a post\u00a0on TechCrunch on the value of PR. Most of our readers here don\u2019t need to be … <\/p>\n