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
