The importance of data in public relations

Use data to prove the effectiveness of your public relations work.

Traditionally, some people believe it’s difficult to prove how successful a PR campaign is due to a lack of hard data showing how well the campaign worked. However, times have changed. With modern measurement techniques, PR campaigns now have data to back up claims about how successful a PR campaign was.

Data gathered from a PR campaign is vital to any public relations plan. It shows the proof of value for public relations efforts. Hard data lets you, your clients, and other departments visualize what worked and what didn’t. if someone higher up in your company asks for proof for how effective a PR campaign is, data will give them exactly what they want.

Analyze your data

Analytics from data is also vital. With it, you can show exactly what the return on investment was for a public relations campaign. Did something with a lot of money put into it not perform as well as expected? Did something else have a huge return based on its initial investment? Data lets you show everyone in the company how exactly effective the investment was.

The ROI gleaned from data analytics works with any kind of campaign you are running, from traditional to social media. Data can be obtained for any kind of campaign, so be sure you start gathering it ASAP, no matter what kind you’re running.

The value of pride via data

Data also shows pride in your work as a public relations professional. If the data you’re showing isn’t something you’re proud of, then it might be time to find another team to work with or change careers, as data is important to showing PR success.

Start gathering data now

If you aren’t providing data and doing data analytics for public relations efforts, you need to be doing so now. Your company or division is missing out on a fundamental part of modern public relations. Having nothing to back up your words regarding the success of a public relations plan is going to make the people you work for doubt what you say.

Ready to start adding data to your public relations work, but don’t know where to begin? Use this blog post as a guide to kick-start your data-gathering and analysis programs.

Need some help regarding data and public relations? Contact us, and we’ll be happy to give you a hand. We do data for public relations all the time!

Clients love Jacob’s speed. Jacob is an inbound marketing-certified webmaster. He earned an integrated communications degree from Florida State College at Jacksonville. Jacob joined Axia PR as an intern in August 2015 and earned his way into a critical role at our PR agency.