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Does PR actually work? I’ve been in the business for nearly 20 years and it’s a question even I ask myself from time to time.
Yes, we measure outcomes and demonstrate ROI when reporting. Reach, opportunities to see, sentiment, share of voice and equivalent advertising value are all the tools that we can, and do, use regularly when reporting on outcomes.
But even after we produce these slick reports, I still do, from time to time, wonder if it actually works.
Then something always happens where the results are immediate, tangible and oh-so satisfying and that make me say an emphatic Yes! PR does work and it can be incredibly powerful.
Two examples of this happened to me recently. The first is when we pitched a story in for our client, a leading children’s cancer charity. We pitched a beautiful story into TV about a young cancer survivor who was raising funds to help other kids facing cancer.
A viewer was so moved by the story that they donated thousands of dollars to the charity on the spot and told the charity that it was the news story that motivated them to do it. That is the sort of result that gives me the warm and fuzzies.
The other was when we recently got a segment up on a major TV network for our client, DB Cosmetics. The news story was about the popularity of affordable fragrances inspired by their more expensive counterparts. Immediately following the airing of the segment, sales of the fragrance spiked by 300%.
While these sorts of immediate, tangible results don’t happen each and every time, they happens often enough to reinforce my belief in the power of PR.
I maybe biased but, in my opinion, you can’t beat earned media as a credible, third-party recognition of your brand or organisation to raise awareness and motivate people to act.