Google Analytics: The Only PR Metric Tool that Matters?
Posted on Monday, October 12th, 2009
The client was ecstatic when her story made the “A” section of The Wall Street Journal. “We’re in front of 2.0 million readers,” she raved. While congratulating her I wondered, “Yes, but do we know if even five people saw and read it?”
The challenge of determining the value and impact of media coverage is as old as PR itself. I’ve seen every metric known to woman & man, from “corresponding ad value of story column inches” to statistical measurement of impressions and favorability. In the end, I’ve dismissed them all, those two, in particular. “Advertising value” strikes me as a contradiction in terms, given the oft-tenuous relation between ad creativity/placement and a real-live customer buying decision. As for statistics. . .well, I’ve been around stats long enough to know they can be sliced & diced any way you like. I’ve seen a couple of failed companies go to their graves with great PR stats. I get this vision of marketing execs frantically waving their “high favorability” charts as angry investors chase them with shovels.
Back to the WSJ’s body count: Circulation figures are another common metric used by media to show a publication’s worth to advertisers, and by PR agencies to prove the value of a hit. But just because 2M people subscribe to the Journal or to USA Today is no guarantee they’re all pausing over one article or another.
The situation’s even iffier with “controlled circulation” media — trade press that give away their publications free to X numbers of “decision-makers.” I guess I’m one such. As I toss my copies in the round file, I wonder if the tens of thousands of other “qualified” executive readers touted on the masthead are following suit.
Similar doubts arise about the value of broadcast and cable coverage analysis: We’ve all missed many a breathtaking business development on the evening news while visiting the loo. In my case, I guess the “overnights” on viewership include the three dogs I leave in front of the TV set as I dash to the kitchen for a snack.
So what’s left? Is there any system of measurement that provides an accurate view of PR performance? I think the answer is “yes,” though it’s far removed from the typical realm of PR, and understanding its value requires a different mindset. It may even raise the question of whether traditional media and PR are still relevant (but that’s a topic for another blog).
I’m talking about Google Analytics.
Google Analytics, as most know, is a free tool that helps you understand what drives traffic to your web site, what visitors look at most and least, how often they visit and how long they stay, among many other useful measurements.
Put another way, Google Analytics provides detailed insight into your company’s “subscribers” — the people who are directly and actively engaged in seeing what you’re up to. There’s no inflating or monkeying with those stats: they are what they are. And unlike old school media, there’s no set number of followers: It can vary wildly day-to-day depending on your content — in itself a measure of what works for your audience, and what doesn’t. Ultimately, Google Analytics is PR measurement in its pure state, bypassing the middle man of traditional media (and the many vague ways used to assess impact there) and providing an exact profile of “viewership.”
Think about that next time you’re fretting over PR metrics. What matters more: (Level 1) The numbers of potential customers who happen on your story by thumbing a magazine or scrolling through TV channels; (Level 2) those who spot an online headline or show about you and click on it; or (Level 3) the most valuable ones of all — those who actively seek you out by coming to your site?
Maybe what matters is not how many may read about or see your company — but the number that take it upon themselves to look for you. Sure, that will be a far smaller audience than you’re used to bragging about on Mahogany Row. But it’s a real number, and one that counts.
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