PR Measurement: Tracking Coverage Drivers

In our continued support of  the International Association for Measurement and Evaluation of Communication’s (AMEC) “Measurement Month,” today’s topic is Coverage Driver. Is your team tracking this measurement of PR success?

Are you and your team tracking data associated with the type of media pitches that you distribute? Beyond just hunches at what might work, tracking the success of pitch type to coverage can help your team to determine:

• The types of pitches that most often lead to coverage
• The types of pitches that resonate with specific outlets or journalists
• Where your team needs to focus more of their time, or less of their time, respectfully
• How your team can improve pitch to coverage ratios
• Pitch channels that yield the best results (phone, social, email, etc.) per journalist
• Whether or not your strategy is working
• Prove to executives that time spent on specific pitch types or campaigns (bylines, for example) are indeed worthwhile.

Of course, it’s even more valuable if you also use a tool that can help you to track pitch to coverage to impact - that is, referrals, key message penetration, share of voice, etc. so you can anlayze the full picture of success. Evaluating and understanding how different types of pitches work across multiple media types can help your team to be more efficient and successful. If you’re not using an analytics or CRM tool to track your coverage drivers, we highly suggest you start today. Data and technology provide PR professionals with insights not before available without daunting manual labor. Take advantage of the many tools available today to ensure your team’s utmost success, and competitive advantage.