One of the most important issues challenging public relations firms is the issue of measuring the effectiveness of PR campaigns. This may be a problem that has been around for a while, but there are solutions. It’s just a matter of knowing what to do and when to do it.

We tackled the measurement problem head–on with the “PR Balance ScoreCard,” a planning and measurement methodology to evaluate public relations results inspired by the “Business Balance ScoreCard” developed by Harvard Business School.

With the PR Balance ScoreCard, there is no wondering what worked or what didn’t. Once you get the system down, it is easy to check progress and results of your public relations and overall communications efforts. It also helps you stay organized and identify implementation issues before they become a problem.

Why Measure

In order to get the most out of PR measurement, it’s important to understand why it is needed in the first place. For starters, your external and internal clients will want it because they will know what they are getting for their money. As you know, they find it comforting to see that your team is organized, detailed, goal oriented, and is tracking progress.

Using the ScoreCard method will also help you keep track of all campaign goals and activities, and provide a great presentation tool to showcase success to your business clients. Bringing business methodology tools to effectively plan, manage and measure your PR efforts will ultimately add to your bottom line and make your business or internal department more successful.

Understanding the PR Balance ScoreCard

The PR Balance ScoreCard offers a great way to turn PR strategies into action by aligning planning efforts to business objectives as it provides PR professionals with a system for communications performance measurement that is based on the same standard business planning methodology that your clients understand.

The ScoreCard allows the alignment of day–to–day operational activities with the long term PR strategic goals. The methodology behind the system is based upon four key phase areas that include:

• Research: This is the backbone of any PR effort. It is important to understand where we stand to effectively establish a benchmark for performance. Conducting desk–side research and media and perception audits helps to understand where you are versus your competition.
• Planning: A must–have to effectively measure performance. If you don’t know what your objectives are, it’s likely that you will never get what you want. The PR Balance ScoreCard takes a campaign and matrix–based planning approach to define not only input and outputs, but also desired outcomes. Here you define behavioral and perception objectives, your media map, story angles, most valuable tactics, etc. The planning stage should determine the objectives you will be trying to reach in different dimensions, such as how many dedicated articles you will get your client, what increase in share of voice your desire, a specific shift in perception or action desired.
• Reporting: The reporting you provide to your clients is key to their seeing all you have accomplished. Here is where you track progress by reporting successful implementation of PR activities.
• Evaluation: This is the time to be honest with what you have done. The evaluation is based on the comparison of planned versus accomplished communication objectives at all levels. The PR Balance ScoreCard takes a holistic approach to evaluation. The perspectives you should consider in the evaluation process include:

PR performance: Result measurements both at a strategic level, such as a shift in perception (media and perception audits), and tactical level (planned versus accomplished objectives).

Internal business processes: This PR Balance ScoreCard also evaluates compliance with internal business processes, such as adherence to company policies, standards, processes, established deadlines, etc.

Human resources: In this section, competences and skills, such as creative and strategic thinking, teamwork and analytical skills of team members, are evaluated.

Financial: Aspects such as productivity, optimization, and generalization of results, within specified budget parameters are consider in this section.

Following Through

In a nutshell, The PR Balance ScoreCard offers a useful and comprehensive planning and measurement approach. As in most things in life, a little bit of planning, preparation and follow through go a long way in creating a successful situation for all involved. The research, planning, reporting and evaluation you put into a campaign will be well worth the time and effort for both you and your client.

Silvina Moschini
President
INTUIC | International Communications Management
www.intuic.com