Media Intelligence: 14 Proven Public Relations KPIs

Everyone needs a goal to aim for to stay on track. Key performance indicators (KPIs) are a terrific approach to quantify previously unquantifiable and make goals more tangible. 

KPIs are there to answer the question and urge you to even higher heights when you (or your supervisor) wonder if you’re doing a good job.

Key Performance Indicators for Public Relations (KPIs) and How to Measure them.

We’ve compiled a list of established PR KPIs to keep an eye on. Always start with the items that have the most significant impact on your business.

 Remember to compare your results to those of your competitors by comparing yourself against them.

Active coverage: 

Coverage that the PR staff has secured. You might wish to make a subgroup of this KPI that focuses solely on top-tier publications for your sector and target demographic.

Potential reach: 

The total number of people who have seen your story in magazines and on websites.

Share of voice: 

Compared to competitors, the percentage of publicity is given to your brand, products, or high-profile executive(s).

 Include multiple competitors to get a sense of where you stand in the industry as a whole, or benchmark one at a time and dig into the related media coverage to find out what sets you apart. 

It’s worth noting that the share of voice can be measured in terms of volume or reach. Your competition, for example, may have a bigger volume of mentions, but you may be in publications with a wider reach.

Social engagement: 

The number of shares and comments your coverage receives on social media.

Sentiment: 

The tone of publications about your company or competitors. This indicator allows you to determine whether your brand creates positive or negative associations.

Media Outreach:

The number of press releases and pitches you’re sending out, as well as how well they’re performing. You can track your success in developing relationships with journalists and the quantity of publicity they create (a good distribution tool provides metrics on open rates and even internal links clicked).

Quality of coverage: 

The prominence of your brand mention (title, body) and its location in the article’s content determine the quality of coverage.

Geographical presence: 

Geographical presence refers to the amount of coverage available depending on where you are. Evaluate your success in attracting important demographics from specific areas.

Key message penetration: 

Break down your coverage into crucial topics and assess how strongly you are linked with each. You can also compare your results and see which ones your competitors are affiliated with.

Overall media presence: 

To get a picture of your competitive landscape, combine your share of voice and sentiment.

Earned traffic: 

Earned traffic refers to the number of people who came to your website due to your earned press and links.

Domain authority: 

On a logarithmic, 100-point scale, domain authority is a metric devised by SEO software business Moz to forecast how well a website will rank on search engines. 

PR can help your site’s domain authority and SEO by getting link placement on third-party sites. Watch our webinar on PR’s SEO superpowers to discover more.

Event promotion: 

Event promotion:

• The success of public relations in increasing event attendance
• obtaining media attention

developing relationships with speakers and attendees

Crisis communications: 

• When there’s a crisis, you’ll want to see how soon public relations can return things to normal. Benchmark volume and sentiment throughout the crisis to levels seen before the crisis began.
  read more:  11 Powerful Metrics to Measure Content Marketing Campaign