Why media effectiveness data is the best investment in 2023

In any business there’s a natural tension between long-term vision and short-term necessity. This is true even without a global economic downturn. On the one hand, we want to invest in future growth and stakeholder value.  On the other hand, immediate revenue targets, cashflow constraints, talent requirements and supply chain considerations often dominate the day-to-day agenda.

One place where investment can serve both short-term and long-term needs is the PR budget. Leaders have always invested in PR as a brand-building exercise, to create awareness and protect reputation. What many fail to realise is that PR is also extremely powerful in the short-term, contributing to purchase consideration in a crowded market and moving customers through the funnel. We’d like to bet that there are not many organisations who are thinking of increasing their PR spend right now, but we would encourage them to think again.

Advertising gurus such as Les Binet are making the case that brands must fight for share of Google search, which “correlates quite nicely with market share.” At Metricomm, we’ve been explaining for many years that there is a strong relationship between the size of audience which engages with media coverage and Google search trends. We can demonstrate statistically that investment in PR drives consumer consideration and that this correlation is extremely unlikely to be down to chance alone. Meanwhile, PR is a more modest budget item in the marketing mix than many other touchpoints on the path to purchase, including advertising.

Taking the time now to understand and maximise the effectiveness of PR might help bridge the gap between short-term necessity and long-term brand health, including sales. Not all media coverage is equally effective at influencing audience behaviour. Therefore, to work out how to achieve maximum impact, CMOs need to invest in the right data and insights to demonstrate the impact of PR on audience behaviour over time. This analysis will provide a clear picture of which messages, articles and named media are engaging the audience, boosting search volumes, increasing website visitors and helping maintain revenues.  It can even be benchmarked against competitors’ outcomes.

Benjamin Franklin said, “an investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” If you would like to know whether your PR spend is working for you in the short and the long-term, we’d love to connect. Email us on hello@metricomm.com