Wednesday 21 October 2015

EVALUATION IN MEDIA RELATIONS



EVALUATION IN MEDIA RELATIONS
After every media campaign or every public relations project, it is important to find out how successful the project was. At the end of every year, the media relation unit of the public relations department is also required to evaluate its activities and programs to discover the successes and failures recorded. They are supposed to answer the following questions:
  • How well have we fared.
  • How much of our goals and objectives did we achieve
  • Did we meet our target
  • What lessons have we learn

REASONS FOR EVALUATION
(1)  Evaluation enables us to look back, to review our work and see whether we were successful or not. It enables us to discover our successes and failures. It therefore enables us to measure our performance in a particular project.
(2)  It enables us to learn from our mistakes and improve our work in future programs or projects.
(3)  In the face of dwindling financial resources, evaluation enables us to know whether or not we can justify money spent in public relations. This especially so know that management matches budgets with performance.
(4)  In the case of a mid-term evaluation, it enables us to intervene in the course of a program or campaign and discover mistakes and correct them before it is too late. It can lead to program modification and better result. It can therefore be used as a quality control mechanism.

TYPES OF EVALUATION IN MEDIA RELATIONS
There are six basic types of evaluation in public relations. They the same for media relations. They are:
(1)  Quantitative evaluation: this is the statistically measurable type of evaluation. It presents facts and figures. In media relations, for instance, it measures positive publicity secured through the number of pages given to an issue by different newspaper and magazine and the air time in the radio and television. It is quantitative in nature.

(2)  Qualitative evaluation: this is evaluation through results that are evident but not easily measurable statistically. Such things as loyalty and goodwill can hardly be measured in statistical terms. An editor may decide to drop negative story that could tarnish the image of an organization. That shows goodwill and friendship, which cannot be quantified.

(3)  Process evaluation: public relations activities is carried out through processes. They processes include: research, message formulation, communication, etc. each of the process can be faulty. So, each process can be evaluated.

(4)  Outcome evaluation: this is the most popular type of evaluation. It assesses result or performance. It encompasses both the quantitative and qualitative types of evaluation. Example includes positive and negative publicity in the media, friendship or enmity exhibited by the media towards the organization, more or less media attacks.
(5)  Objective evaluation: this is an empirical, scientific type of evaluation. It uses research (data collection and analysis) and painstaking studies to evaluate performance. The result of objective evaluation is quantifiable (measurable statistically) and has a greater measure of reliability.

(6)  Subjective evaluation: this is based on the thinking or perception of different individuals. It cannot be proved scientifically but it can be felt. It has a lot in common with qualitative evaluation.

METHODS OR TECHNIQUES OF EVALUATION IN MEDIA RELATIONS
There are various ways or methods of measuring effectiveness of our media relations strategies or campaign. The following techniques are used in measuring how successful we are in achieving our media relations objectives:

(1)  Press cutting: this is the most prevalent of the techniques in measuring performance. It involves a daily cutting of portions of a newspaper or magazine that published stories about the organization, its executives, events, programs, policy, products, and operations. How much of our press releases and press statements were published? How much of the CEO’s interviews were used? The press cutting will show the space allocated to the story by different media houses, the exposure given to the story (front page, inside page or back page); whether or not photographs were used; whether the stories were negative or positive in presentation. At the end of the year, it can be used to determine how well the media relations team had performed during the period.

(2)  Broadcast monitoring: this is similar to press cutting. It is a way of monitoring what the radio and television have aired about the organization, its activities, and top executives. It is not easy to store the information but it enables us to measure our performance in the electronic media sector. The television is a very powerful medium. Chief executives are happy with TV publicity where the public see them live.

(3)  Media coverage: this method is based on the number of journalists that attended a press conference organized by the organization. Or the number of times journalists interviewed the CEO. Or the number of journalists that covered the launching of the companies new product or Annual General Meeting. It is widely used by some PR departments but it is not a reliable method. It depends on the number of journalists that covered an event instead of the publicity generated by such coverage. Many journalists cover an event without reporting it in their publications. Even when he or she writes the story, the editor may not publish it.

(4)  Attitude surveys: this method involves carrying out an attitude survey of reporters, editors, publishers and electronic media owners. Such a survey would review their attitude toward the organization. Do they now use our press releases? Do they now cover our events? Do they call to obtain our own side of the story before going to press? Do they write editorial to support our cause?

(5)  Opinion and perception survey: this is the technique of seeking the opinion of reporters, editors, and publishers to determine their perception and views about the organization. This is to show how negative or positive they perceive the organization or its activities, policies and products. If they have a good perception or views, it would manifest in the way they write the organization. It would reflect in the way they treat the organization- with respect or scorn. This survey can be carried out by sampling a select group of editors, reporters and publishers by administering a questionnaire on them, collecting their responses and analyzing them.

Methods / Ways of Evaluation in PR / Media Relations
·         Press clipping
·         Monitoring online newswire
·         Audience awareness
·         Audience attitude before and after the campaign
·         Audience action. What action does the audience take as a result of the exposure to your message? Do they buy your product? Do they talk about you? Did they request more information?
·         Website analysis
·         Increase in sales
·         Media awareness
·         Increase in public awareness
·         Increase in customer
·         AVE (Advertising Value Equivalent)
·         Media impression

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