Source:Teter, B., Sommer, L., & Krasiński, M. (2021, December 29
Evaluation of public relations activities is important in measuring a campaign's success. As a team it is important to measure the PR goals with the outcome of the campaign to address the performance. There are various tests to determine the effectiveness of a campaign. Multiple tests can be used depending on the budget set at the start of the campaign.
You know the saying, “failing to plan is planning to fail.” A PR campaign can not be properly executed without planning. In fact, "if you don’t launch your PR campaign with clear, measurable goals from the start, then you’ll have no real idea of whether it’s working or not", aside from gut feelings or hunches alone (Teter, 2021).
"Program evaluation is the systematic measurement of the outcomes of a project, program or campaign, based on the extent to which stated objectives were achieved. As part of the strategic planning process, establishing appropriate and practical evaluation methods wraps up all the previous plans, ideas and recommendations" (Smith, 231).
To Get the Best Results You Need to Ask the Right Questions
● On what criteria should the program be judged?
● What information is needed?
● What standards of accuracy and reliability are needed for this information?
Next, focus some attention on the source of the information needed:
● Who has this information?
● How can this information be obtained from them? (Smith, 231).
There are several areas in which a PR firm can evaluate its results. The first is evaluation of communication outputs. The communication outputs focuses on the development and presentation of a message. While helpful, they aren't as effective as other measurement tools. They include: message production, message distribution, message cost.
How Do I Evaluate My Objectives?
This is one of the most important questions throughout the evaluation process as the objectives would be useless unless they were able to be tested at the end of the campaign.
Awareness evaluation is often measured first and, " focuses on the content of the mes-sage. It considers how many people were exposed to the message, how easy the message is to understand and how much of the message is remembered" (Smith, 243).
Here are some of the common measures for awareness evaluation.
Message Exposure
Message Content
Readability Measures
Message Recall
Each of the previous measures for awareness evaluation can be used in specific ways to meet the needs of the client and the campaign goals. Not every technique will be applicable, but most can be effective if used thoroughly and completely.
Scheduling Evaluation
Creating a schedule is necessary to have a frame of reference and discipline for completing ht evaluation tasks. Below is a list Tetra is using to create an evaluation schedule for 5 Bridges.
Evaluation Schedule (Smith, 270).6
Timeline for implementation report
Timeline for progress report
Timeline for final evaluation
Evaluation Program Checklist
Is this evaluation program
✓ Useful to the organization?
✓ Clearly linked to established objectives?
✓ Appropriate as to cost?
✓ Appropriate as to time?
✓ Appropriate as to other resources?
✓ Ethical and socially responsible?
✓ Credible, with accurate data?
✓ Doable?
Our goals for 5 Bridges are SMART and require planning to execute the costs, take account for the publics, and create an accurate and feasible timeline.
Sources:
Smith, R. D. (2017). Strategic planning for public relations. Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.
Teter, B., Sommer, L., & Krasiński, M. (2021, December 29). Pr measurement: Measuring PR x success through KPI Evaluations. Prowly Magazine. Retrieved April 11, 2022, from https://prowly.com/magazine/pr-measurement/
Comments