Measure and showcase
PR campaign performance

Highlighting the work we have done is an important way to demonstrate our performance. Yet one of the Achilles heels of PR can sometimes be the difficulty in evaluating the work done by specific measures when it comes to the ROI of specific PR activities. Indeed, while some press campaigns have rapid and easily identifiable results, others are more subtle and complex.

Traditionally, public relations has been based on an obligation of means, not results. However, it seems increasingly important to demonstrate the impact and effectiveness of those results. That’s why it’s a good idea to do just that – albeit taking an intelligent approach, using a set of tailored, adjustable indicators.
Augure supports PR officers in this task – providing a tool that helps them generate analyses and reports fully tailored to their needs.

Media coverage is the cornerstone of a PR activity’s performance. Media articles/reports are essentially the beating heart of PR results. They are the most visible aspect, and often the easiest to analyse.

Effective monitoring – including analysis of articles appearing in a range of media, such as the press, the internet, TV and radio – is crucial. The value and significance of some indicators vary between articles, but the coverage must be considered as a whole.

The indicators and their order of priority will vary between companies based on their objectives (short or long term), and a pre-existing knowledge of the context and type of information highlighted, among other factors.

For instance, it’s useful to examine the space occupied by the article (1 page, ½ page, etc.), whether the article is dedicated or shared (with other companies), its tone, employee key words, whether the name of the product and/or brand appears in the title, whether it is accompanied by one or more visual(s), etc.

The Augure software also makes it easy to manage offline press coverage supplied from monitoring by an individual or a dedicated press monitoring organisation, enabling the user to integrate it into the overall analysis. The Augure solution is capable of integrating data flows from more than 60 monitoring companies. This may, for instance, make it easier for a company’s head office to keep track of all its media coverage in the local markets where it operates.

Augure can offer online and social media monitoring directly. The Augure tool effectively identifies online articles and posts on social networks that are of interest to you. This can be limited to coverage in which you (or your client) are mentioned, or have a wider scope. For instance, you can undertake competitive intelligence activities, digging into your main competitors: this approach allows you to stay up to date on developments in the market, proposed solutions, subjects on which they speak, and so on. This type of monitoring is not only useful for PR purposes, it’s also helpful more generally in refining your positioning and boosting your impact, particularly in a commercial sense.
The scope of monitoring may be even wider, examining what is said about a subject area in the market where the company operates, of course, and also active monitoring of an area of planned development.

It’s easy for the Augure user to configure their monitoring using a key word system. An unlimited number of key words can be used and they are easy to modify.

In fact, one of the advantages of this approach is the opportunity to quickly and easily tailor and adapt it yourself. You do not have to communicate with an external organisation to request the addition or deletion of a key word – a process that wastes precious time. The time it takes for your request to be considered, which rarely happens immediately, and then to obtain initial results can sometimes have a negative impact, particularly when monitoring is urgently required.
The Augure system is 100% responsive, as the user adapts their search instantly, based on their current needs. This is crucial, for instance, in the case of crisis communications.
This approach is also part of Augure’s DNA as a whole, facilitating a truly agile approach, made-to-measure in every aspect, monitoring included.

As it is increasingly important to evaluate performance, Augure allows PR campaign ROI to be measured and presented based on the analysis of defined indicators.

The PR officer should first consult the advertiser or their agency client to determine which indicators are the most relevant when it comes to the PR targets and resulting press campaigns.

Each user can select and view the indicators (KPI) they would like to include in their tracking and reports, using their own interactive dashboard.

Although a common set of essential criteria exists for all PR activities, a wide range of potential indicators is available. They can differ dramatically from client to client, and between PR activities for the same client.

To perform a relevant analysis, it’s usually a good idea to combine different categories. A combination of data associated with actual PR activities and other elements emerging from results produced usually gives a good insight into the PR campaign as a whole.

Among the indicators directly linked to activities taken, one might consider: number of journalists/influencers contacted, volume of content, number of follow-ups, number of meetings, interviews, number of loan requests, number of influencers and journalists present at events, and so on.
When analysing visibility, including media appearances, it’s advisable to go well beyond the number of articles – which is an indicator of course, but not always the most relevant. To go further and attempt a more comprehensive analysis by adding criteria, the following are of particular interest: media tonality, media visibility, audience reach (age, geographical area, socio-professional category, etc.), advertising equivalency, viral impact on social media, top media outlets and/or journalists, and so on.

The Augure software makes it really easy to select a set of criteria to be included and analysed. The tool then quickly and automatically generates a report that’s tailored perfectly to the needs and expectations. This saves press officers plenty of time, as they may spend hours putting these reports together using several different tools.

Augure helps in the creation of increasingly sophisticated, made-to-measure reports. Developed using Power BI technology, these overviews are based on ultra-refined analytics and output processes.
The tool has been designed and optimised gradually to adapt to real issues faced by PR officers – and that includes highlighting their work. In line with current expectations, Augure offers integration of an ROI-driven approach into the presentation of PR activities performed and their results as much as possible.

This makes the software a tool that’s truly designed to improve press officers’ day-to-day lives. It offers them the means to manage their work better, optimises their handling of PR strategies and helps them showcase their work in a clear and compelling way.

Combining a tailored approach with technical expertise, Augure’s software solutions generate high quality reports to suit each user. A press officer working in an agency can choose very different aspects for different clients, in terms of selected indicators and the type of reports presented.

This built-in, real-time reporting tool makes it easy to supply specific statistics on communications and activities to your client and/or supervisor at any time. Depending on requests and expectations, this analysis can take an overall approach to a communications campaign and/or focus on specific journalists or media in particular.

As part of a more global approach, the tool helps to check variations in performance between communications activities based on their content, the target audience and/or the time of circulation. This also offers scope for reflection and improvement for future activities based on the extent to which objectives have been met. This feature also allows the user to add new information to files on targeted key journalists, based on their response to different activities.

And since form is often just as crucial as content, Augure also generates clear and stylish reports. These can be adapted at the click of a button to expand or limit their scope, change their colour schemes, format, etc. All our graphs and charts are interactive, too, allowing users to populate or mine specific data where required.

Furthermore, our reports are designed to be easy to share, so users can showcase their work to as wide an audience as possible. This function can be useful, for instance, when sharing positive information with partners from an organisation, or particularly helpful when justifying investments during budgetary discussions.

Ultimately, Augure is a full-service software that covers every aspect of a press officer’s work, supporting them in daily tasks and measuring the impact of their PR campaigns and reporting (in real time or on completion).