Many companies are not ready to cope with the data produced from major measurement research. Google Analytics can produce pages of tables and graphs measuring just about everything a visitor to a website is doing.
But does that help a small business when they lack the resources to use all that data? Not really and it will probably discourage their activities which should centre on transmitting their stories to media and the internet through their very own transmission tower: their company website.
Our starting point is to measure the basics and help companies better manage the straightforward data produced to modify their existing campaigns and look for future opportunities out of that data.
Below is an example of a PR/social campaign dashboard that we use with clients:
We measure outputs of media releases distributed and then placed on client and CHS websites. We measure the posts to LinkedIn and Google+ and tweets on Twitter. We measure actual media coverage and its reach, plus three key metrics from Google Analytics.
The Google Analytics findings relate to overall site visitors/users, views of website pages and the average session duration.
The aim is to have a simple yet comprehensive overview of activities and their effectiveness, measured over time. By effectiveness we mean measuring traditional numbers of media clips and then looking at those clips’ online reach – who read them? Which ones were the most read, shared, liked and commented on and, the ultimate measure, how many visitors went to the client website.
This will give us (and your client) a better understanding of how content is being received and used and whether to tailor content specifically for different audiences.
Measure, monitor, output – they all matter. But the biggest achievement for SMEs is to become mini-broadcast companies with their transmission towers (their websites) pulsing out their own quality news and industry insights regularly.
Chris Hocking, founder and director of Chris Hocking Strategies: SMSF and financial services public relations organisation. Sydney-based with clients nationwide.