Just measure something! start with basic objectives that show the value of public relations.

In an age of increased accountability, competition and a drive for every department within an organization to prove its value, PR professionals must justify their existence. Businesses analyze every line item, every function and every individual in terms of their contribution to the bottom line.

When PR consists of a staff of one, it's hard enough to simply get the job done, much less have the time to measure your efforts. Though large, distributed PR teams typically allocate some funds for campaign or issue-specific analysis, the cost and delay in getting results hinder a hoilstic approach to measurement. Teams of any size struggle with the question of exactly what to measure.

GETTING STARTED

With more than a dozen kinds of formal research methodologies, often costing tens of thousands of dollars, many professionals feel overwhelmed when it comes to measurement. Bear in mind that with so many variations in public relations programs and objectives, there is no one-size-fits-all measurement program. The most important thing is to measure something, no matter how small it may seem.

First, find out what's important to your colleagues. Learning what some of your peers think about the role of your department may be quite a wake-up call. Enter these conversations with an open mind, and remember, just counting and analyzing clips isn't the only type of PR measurement. Some metrics may just help your PR team, while others help demonstrate how public relations contributes to the entire organization. Start by doing some simple measurements.

Examining Media Outreach. Have you really examined your media lists--not simply looking at the main publications, but pinpointing the kind of media outlets they represent? Look at the type of medium (print, online, broadcast), media outlet (newspaper, television, e-zine, newsletter), geographic representation (city, state, local, regional, national), as well as penetration. How many outlets on your media list have actually reported on your organization or responded to your phone calls or e-mails?

You should also understand the audiences of the various media on your list. Is the information primarily provided for a certain industry, or does the outlet carry general business news? How often is it produced or printed?

When Cincom Systems, a software company that builds, sells and supports software for data access and integration, added a PR function to its organization, the first quarter of results was loaded with online media clips. After analyzing its media lists, the company was better able to develop those outlets of vital interest and build relationships to address its goals. After one quarter, Cincom reduced the percentage of electronic clips from 79 percent to 42 percent, while actually increasing overall coverage.

With myriad list and management software products available, it's easy to build a list by title or by the reporter's beat code. However, many professionals have forgotten to really analyze their lists and make sure they match the organization's media goals and the outlets' news interests.

Demonstrating PR Activity. Unfortunately, most people outside of public relations have no idea what you actually do all day. But you can easily paint a picture of how you or the team spends its time. Many departments already keep paper call logs on their desks. Simply start by summarizing your daily call volume. How many incoming calls do you take, and what are those calls about? Cancer Research UK, a leading nonprofit devoted to conquering cancer through research, tracks all incoming calls daily. The organization set a goal of becoming the first resource that the media call for cancer-related matters. For that reason, the number and type of incoming calls are of top interest to executives in the organization.

Cancer Research UK tracks and records every call and documents calls to the respective journalists and news outlets. This record gives the PR team insight into news themes related to cancer. By understanding the level of incoming calls and the primary themes, PR is not only more prepared but also better able to demonstrate how its programs help establish the organization as a knowledge leader.

For organizations with multiple divisions, like Cincom, monthly reports on how the PR department's time is broken down by division or issue also help communicate the department's contributions. Sharing the information with executives ensures the PR function stays in tune with the pressing needs of the organization.

Showing the number of media opportunities you pursue also helps support the time and effort spent in the PR department. How many opportunities do you pursue each month? Educate your division heads on how you help them by providing some general statistics on PR activity. If you have multiple divisions, can you show how much time you spend supporting each group? Can you show what you do for each corporate or organizational initiative?

THE BASIC COVERAGE METRICS

Many organizations measure PR success only by clippings. They are easy for everyone to touch, feel and understand. Like sales figures, they offer a finite outcome of the work PR people do every day. However, they don't show the corresponding amount of work and preparation required to land that coverage. Furthermore, getting clips isn't always the desired outcome. Only counting clips minimizes the value of the many activities public relations people handle.

It's also essential to compare results with your objectives. Knowing who picked up your news or expressed interest in your story can help you refine your media outreach, and, ultimately, your coverage. Go a step further by breaking down coverage into positive, negative or neutral categories. You may find that, while volume stayed the same, you actually achieved more positive or neutral coverage.

Also break down your news tracking by story type, such as feature, brief mention, product review, op-ed, etc. What is the context of the story about your company or issues?

Do you clearly understand which types of media outlets cover you? Are they nationally distributed business magazines or local news radio shows? Although the national magazine may be more recognized, it may not be the optimal outlet for your news story. Tracking information such as the outlet's circulation and reader demographics can prove valuable in documenting message reach.

Advertising value, while hotly debated, still gets some play with the CFO. If you can show that at a fraction of the cost of buying placed advertisements, you can land a mention in your most important publications, can you win the support of an influential executive?

Also track the main messages of your organization to see how many appear in a given story. Have you been able to increase the number of messages that appear in your coverage? I you track competitors, do they get more coverage than you do?

THE HOLY GRAIL OF MEASUREMENT

Ultimately, most of us aim to educate, inform and inspire--all things that a few clip reports or activity reports won't show. To clearly see how you have helped form or change opinions requires more formal research. Whether you run focus groups, online surveys or general opinion polls, knowing how you changed the perceptions of a company, product, person or an issue truly demonstrates the impact of public relations.

But PR alone doesn't change perceptions. Advertising, direct mail and other exposure influence perceptions.

So to prove the value of your or your team's efforts, you must start somewhere--even if it's just a simple chart that shows how your geographic coverage has changed year after year to help support awareness in a region where your organization or product was virtually unknown before.

No matter your PR department size, there are ways to show your leadership and clients how public relations supports the bottom line. Your numbers don't have to be perfect and all encompassing. To do that, just measure something!

METRICS TO DEMONSTRATE PR ACTIVITIES

The following metrics can help demonstrate PR department activities:

* Chart daily/weekly/monthly incoming media calls--do you receive more calls on one day of the week?

* Chart incoming calls against news distribution--does call volume increase after you send out a particular type of news release?

* Chart call categories--are you fielding the same questions over and over, or can you identify news trends related to your organization based on incoming media calls?

* List media opportunities--can you easily summarize the editorial opportunities you are working on as well as demonstrate those stories in the works?

* Chart interview requests--track requests daily/weekly/monthly depending on volume, and summarize the specific interviewees being requested.

* Summarize media releases--show how many releases are in the works and issued on a monthly basis.

* Chart news releases by type--show the kinds of news releases you produce monthly: financial, product-related, client wins, etc.

* Chart award entries--demonstrate what entries you are preparing.

* Track pitches--clearly show future stories in the works.

Consider tracking, summarizing and providing charts to those outside your department so others can easily understand how PR supports the organization's overall objectives.

Kay Bransford is vice president of product marketing for Vocus Inc., an on-demand public relations software company based in Lanham, Md., with offices in Europe and Asia Pacific. She can be reached at [e-mail].