Tracking your press release KPIs (key performance indicators) is essential to gauging the success of your press release campaigns. But what are the most important KPIs to focus on?
In this article, we will discuss 10 of the most important press release KPIs for PR professionals. By tracking these metrics, you can ensure that your press releases positively impact your business.
Before we start with these metrics, we would like to discuss why you need to track them.
Why Should You Track Your Press Release KPIs?
Whether you’re a startup founder or a big company CEO, you’re always looking for ways to get more exposure for your business. And one of the most common ways to do that is through press releases. But once you’ve sent out your press release, how do you know if it’s doing anything?
That’s where press release KPIs come in. You can see whether your press release has the desired effect by tracking key performance indicators or press release KPIs. For example, if you’re trying to increase brand awareness, you might track how many people visit your website after reading your release.
If you’re trying to generate sales leads, you might track how many people fill out a contact form on your website. By tracking press release KPIs, you can fine-tune your press release strategy and ensure that your releases are having an impact.
Here are three essential reasons why tracking your press release is necessary.
- Establish a baseline
- Improve the result
- Celebrate your accomplishment
So don’t just sit back and hope for the best after sending a press release. Track your KPIs to ensure that your hard work is paying off.
Maximize Your PR Campaigns With These 10 KPIs
No matter your industry, your business can benefit from a well-executed PR campaign. But how do you know if your campaign is truly successful? By tracking key performance indicators aka, press release KPIs.
There are several KPIs you can track, but which ones should you focus on? Here are the top ten press release KPIs you should be tracking:
1. Media Impressions
Media impressions are one of the most commonly used press release KPIs. But what exactly are they? In short, media impressions measure how many people have seen your company’s name or message in the media. This can include news articles, blog posts, social media posts, and television or radio advertisements.
So why do media impressions matter? Well, for one thing, they’re an excellent way to gauge the reach of your PR campaigns. You’ll want to know how many people see your message to increase brand awareness or generate leads.
Furthermore, media impressions can also help you to assess the effectiveness of your overall PR strategy. If you do not see the desired results, it may be time to reconsider your approach. In any case, media impressions are an essential metric to keep an eye on if you’re in the business of public relations.
2. Social Media Sentiment
Social media sentiment measures the positive, negative, and neutral sentiment around your brand on social media platforms. To calculate social media sentiment, take the total number of positive mentions and subtract the total number of negative mentions. The result will give you a good idea of how people feel about your brand.
It’s important to track social media sentiment for a few reasons. First, it can give you an idea of how effective your PR campaigns are. You’ll know that something doesn’t see a spike in negative sentiment after launching a new campaign quite right.
Social media sentiment is a great way to keep an eye on your competition. If you see that they’re receiving a lot of negative feedback, you may be able to take advantage of the situation. In any case, social media sentiment is an essential KPI for PR professionals.
3. Coverage in Target Publications
Coverage in target publications is another essential press release KPI. This metric measures how often your brand is mentioned in the publications that matter most to you.
To calculate your coverage, keep track of the number of times your company is mentioned in each publication. The key here is to focus on quality over quantity. It’s better to be mentioned in a few high-quality publications than it is to be mentioned in dozens of low-quality ones.
There are a few reasons why coverage in target publications matters. It allows you to gauge the effectiveness of your PR efforts. You may need to change your strategy if you’re not getting the desired results. In addition, it helps you to build relationships with essential publications. These relationships can be highly beneficial down the line.
4. Social Media Shares
News coverage shares is another excellent PR KPI. This metric measures how often your brand’s news stories are shared on social media. To calculate this, keep track of each news story’s number of social media shares over time.
There are a few reasons why news coverage shares matter. They’re an excellent way to gauge the reach of your PR campaigns. If your news stories are widely shared, you’ll know you’re on the right track.
News coverage shares can help you to assess the effectiveness of your overall PR strategy. If you do not see the desired results, it may be time to reconsider your approach. In any case, news coverage shares are an essential metric to keep an eye on if you’re in the business of public relations.
5. Website Traffic
Website traffic is often a press release KPI (key performance indicator) for public relations. After all, what good is a PR campaign if it doesn’t result in more people visiting your website?
However, website traffic is not the be-all and end-all of PR success. Many factors contribute to website traffic, and not all of them are under the control of the PR team. For example, changes in Google’s algorithms can cause a sudden drop in traffic, even if there’s been no change in the quality of your content.
Similarly, a competitor’s marketing campaign could lead to them receiving more traffic than you, even if your PR campaign was more decisive. While website traffic is a valuable metric, it should be viewed as one piece of the giant puzzle.
6. Revenue
Revenue is the ultimate press release KPI for any business, and public relations is no different. After all, PR’s primary goal is to increase your brand’s awareness and generate more sales. While website traffic and news coverage are valuable metrics, they don’t mean much if they don’t increase revenue.
To calculate the impact of your PR campaign on revenue, compare your sales figures before and after the campaign launch. If you see a significant increase, you’ll know that your PR efforts are paying off.
However, it’s essential to keep in mind that many factors can affect revenue. For example, economic changes or seasonality could lead to decreased sales, even if your PR campaign was highly effective. As such, viewing revenue as just one of many press release KPIs is vital.
7. Domain Authority
Domain authority (DA) is a metric that measures the quality of your website. It is determined by some factors, including the age of your domain, the number of backlinks, and the quality of your content.
While domain authority is not directly related to PR, it can indirectly impact your PR efforts. For example, your DA will likely increase if you receive a lot of high-quality backlinks from news articles. Similarly, your DA could receive a boost if you get covered by the publication by a significant.
Domain authority is not an essential press release KPI, but it can be helpful to keep an eye on. Of course, you can’t just artificially inflate your domain authority by spamming keywords or buying links. The best way to improve your score is by consistently publishing high-quality content people want to read. So if you’re looking for a press release KPI that genuinely reflects the quality of your work, domain authority is an excellent place to start.
8. Number of mentions
Another valuable metric to track is the number of times your brand is mentioned online. This could be in news articles, blog posts, social media posts, or anywhere else on the internet.
There are a few reasons why mentions matter. First, they help you to gauge the reach of your PR campaigns. If you’re being frequently mentioned online, it’s a good sign that people are aware of your brand. Secondly, mentions can help you to track the sentiment around your brand. If you see mostly negative mentions, it could indicate that you need to improve your PR strategy.
On the other hand, if you see primarily positive mentions, it’s a good sign that people have a favorable view of your brand. Monitoring mentions is a great way to get insights into the effectiveness of your PR campaigns. And with the help of tools like Google Alerts, it’s easy to set up alerts and track every time your brand is mentioned online.
9. Share of Voice (SOV)
Share of voice (SOV) is a metric that measures the percentage of online mentions your brand receives compared to your competitors. For example, let’s say you run a PR campaign and receive 100 online mentions. If your two main competitors receive 50 mentions, you would have an SOV of 66%.
Share of voice is an essential metric for PR because it allows you to track your progress over time. If you see that your SOV is increasing, it’s a good sign that your PR campaigns have a positive impact. On the other hand, if your SOV decreases, it could be an indication that you need to change your strategy.
There are a few different ways to calculate SOV. The most common method is to compare the number of online mentions for each brand. However, you could also compare news coverage, blog mentions, or social media mentions. Whichever method you choose, monitoring your share of voice is a great way to track the progress of your PR campaigns.
10. Keyword Inclusion
Keyword inclusion is a metric that measures the number of times your target keywords are mentioned in online articles. This metric is important because it allows you to track the effectiveness of your PR campaigns. If you’re targeting specific keywords, you’ll want to see them mentioned frequently in news articles and other publications.
Keyword inclusion is also helpful for SEO purposes. If you can get your target keywords mentioned in high-quality articles, it could help to improve your search engine ranking.
There are a few different ways to measure keyword inclusion. The most common method is to use Google Alerts or a similar tool to set up alerts for your target keywords. This way, you’ll be notified every time one of your keywords is mentioned online.
You could also use a tool like BuzzSumo to track the number of times your target keywords are mentioned in articles. Monitoring keyword inclusion is a great way to track the progress of your PR campaigns and measure their SEO impact.
Measure Your PR KPIs with PressReach
There are many different press release KPIs you can focus on when it comes to PR, but these ten are some of the most important. By monitoring these press release KPIs, you can get a good idea of the progress of your PR campaigns and make necessary changes to improve their effectiveness.
If you’re looking for a tool to help you measure your press release KPIs, PressReach is an excellent option. PressReach offers press release marketing, syndication, and distribution services. We also provide detailed reporting so you can track the performance of your PR campaigns. To learn more about PressReach and our services, contact us today.
Featured Image: Megapixl © Creativeimpression
