Working Group Issues Recommended Measurement Metrics and Approaches, Requests Industry Comment
(http://media.prsa.org/article_display.cfm?article_id=1392) — In an effort to move the public relations industry closer to agreement on standardized methods of program measurement, the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) is issuing a set of recommended metrics and approaches (http://www.slideshare.net/prsa/documenting-the-business-outcomes) for evaluating public relations’ influence on key business outcomes.
PRSA is asking for industry comment — which may be made via its ComPRehension (http://comprehension.prsa.org/?p=628) blog — before issuing a final set of recommendations later this fall. Ultimately, the recommendations will be available to the industry as part of PRSA’s resource library, and integrated into a larger PRSA initiative to link public relations to the achievement of organizational goals.
“Our fundamental goal is to change how the industry talks about what public relations accomplishes,” says Michael G. Cherenson, APR, PRSA’s 2009 Chair and CEO. “Instead of meaningless catch phrases, such as ‘create buzz,’ our recommended approach focuses on identifying meaningful expressions of business performance, suggesting more appropriate measurement metrics and recommending proven tools for demonstrating how those metrics were impacted.”
Currently, the PRSA recommendations focus on measuring public relations’ impact on the achievement of four types of program goals: financial, reputation/brand equity, employees and other internal publics, and public policy. The recommendations are applicable to all forms of earned media — traditional, as well as social.
The recommendations were developed by a Measurement Working Group, with contributions by PRSA staff and commentary and ideas from PRSA members. The Group is led by Ketchum Partner and Managing Director Dr. David Rockland, and includes the past and present chairs of the Institute for Public Relations’ (IPR) Commission on Public Relations Measurement & Evaluation: Pauline Draper-Watts, the current IPR commission chair; Katie Paine, CEO of KD Paine & Partners; Mark Weiner, CEO of Prime Research North America; and Don Wright, professor of public relations at Boston University.
Forging industry agreement on measurability has become critical to public relations’ future, says Dr. Rockland.
“Those of us who focus on measurement have yet to come to a useful consensus on a series of standard metrics for how to measure public relations,” says Dr. Rockland. “There are some fairly straightforward techniques that we’re all starting to use and talk about. Agreeing to a common language as far as how to talk about measurement will take us well down the road to eliminating the ‘measurability myth.’”
About the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)
The Public Relations Society of America (www.prsa.org), headquartered in New York City, is the world’s largest organization for public relations professionals with nearly 32,000 professional and student members. PRSA is organized into 109 Chapters and 10 Districts nationwide, and 20 Professional Interest Sections and Affinity Groups, which represent business and industry, counseling firms, independent practitioners, military, government, associations, hospitals, schools, professional services firms and nonprofit organizations. The Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) has 302 Chapters at colleges and universities throughout the United States, and one Chapter in Argentina.
Contacts:
PRSA
Arthur Yann, 212-460-1452
arthur.yann@prsa.org