Public relations are valued by every communication professionals as it brings along online engagement and exposure to products, services, events, and more. Most PR professionals struggle to understand if there is a way to track PR with attributes like marketing campaigns. They need an introduction on how to use attribution as the best way to measure the success of a PR campaign. Here are the six most important aspects of PR attribution. Every PR practitioner must know them to achieve success in their campaigning.
1.Know about PR attribution
Marketing experts have been researching newer aspects of attribution regarding different campaigns. In the meantime, PR professionals have been doing their best to reach the same position. As a PR specialist, if you want to speed things up, you need to figure out attribution and its ROI. You must understand the true worth of a communication campaign to execute it seamlessly.
You can execute the practice of attribution by delegating credit to an engagement as it is responsible for the consumers’ buying decisions. The process of purchase has several touchpoints called engagements. PR professionals must know how to make their communication techniques a valuable part of that buying process. That way PR will remain valuable to a brand’s marketing approach.
2. Know the comparison between PR attribution and measurement
The first thing you need to know is that PR attribution and measurement are not the same things. Most of the time PR professionals use the conventional methods of measuring PR campaign results. The most common ways are to measuring the number of views a press release has received, counting the number of media outlets that published the story, and observing the rise in the website traffic, post the distribution process.
In PR attribution, particular visitors are targeted from the multiple links included in the press release and different other publications. Next, you must identify and track the activities related to those links. These links have the potential to become important touchpoints, which are the most significant parts of the buyer’s purchasing journey.
3. The right attribution model
To become a successful PR practitioner, you must understand the role of attribution in measuring the effectiveness of your PR campaign. It gives you leverage over others. Now, you must decide upon which attribution model you want to use. You can find mostly 5 to 6 kinds of attribution models that are globally used by PR experts. Though they were intended to be used by marketers, they are also effective for PR professionals if used correctly.
These types fall under the single touch and multiple touch models. Every touchpoint is responsible for a specific effect that a particular engagement has on a potential buyer and their buying decision. Not all of the models are effective for the PR industry. But with a complete understanding of these models, you can easily choose which one will work best for your campaign.
Single Touch Models
There are two types of single-touch models.
First Click Model
It is a type of single-touch model. It refers to those scenarios with a single interaction made by the buyers after they read the PR. Then, it may be followed by further engagements. But the first interaction or engagement will get the credit if any sale happens.
It is unlikely that this model will get you to make any sales. That is why this model might not be the best option for PR pros. It only helps pique the interest of the readers to investigate further about the brand. It might be helpful in other scenarios but not in the PR scene.
Last click Model
It is similar to the first click model. In the first click model, the first touchpoint is given all the recognition for the sale. But in this approach, the credit goes to the last made interaction before the customer makes a sale.
Like the first click model, this approach has a lower chance of making sales. As it is unlikely, your press release is the last thing that pushed your buyers to make the sale. It can influence their decision to purchase a particular product or service at best. This model is also not very suitable for PR professionals.
Multi-touch models
There are four types of multi-touch models.
U-shaped model
In this model, nearly 40% of the sale credit goes to each of the first and last touchpoints. The rest of the 20% is distributed evenly among other engagements in the whole buying journey. The engagement that the buyers have with the press release is regarded as a contribution. Determining the engagement was the first or last, offers more information on the effectiveness of the PR campaign.
Time decay model
In this model, the initial touchpoints have lesser importance than those which occur right before the conversion. You must first determine what kind of a press release it is. It can cause the engagements to happen in the buyer's journey earlier than usual. If you use it correctly, it can be invaluable for PR.
Data-driven model
It is the most sought-after multi-touch model. It uses only valid information to determine the value of a touchpoint. It accurately tells you which engagements are effective and which ones are not. With good resources, you can use this to measure the PR efforts of your brand.
Liner model
In this model, all the touchpoints get the same amount of credits. It offers better understandings of a company’s marketing strategy and makes sure the importance of PR is valued in the campaign.
4. Use Topic Segmentations
Determining which topics go best with your brand can increase traffic to your website leading to more sales. A certain topic mentioned in a publication can boost the traffic on your site just because they were mentioned in the PR.
5. Use of technology to deliver the data required
PR professionals need to use the latest technology to get information on PR attribution. They can use technologies like UTM parameters to know which links the leads came from and can be used to understand the readers behavior. These links will be further navigated to the company page when clicked by the buyers. You must note these visits and engagements, add them to the multi-touch PR attribution model, and include the results into the buying journey.
6. Utilize A/B testing
It is the most effective approach to test out which publications generate the most traffic that ultimately leads to sales. You can pinpoint the particular publications that produce the most leads, which eventually converts to sales. And also separate the leads and measure which ones made the most sales.
