How do you measure the success of a public relations initiative? We’re frequently asked this worthy question, and the answer is, many ways. Clients who understand the impact and value public relations can produce have generally graduated to the point where they are benchmarking perceptions among key constituent groups as part of their overall corporate and marketing communications programs. This is ideal, of course, but not always attainable for every company.

In these cases, it’s best to focus on the business goals management is supporting with public relations. If public relations is primarily used in support of investor relations, cost-effective touchstones can be incorporated into the program to determine shifts in awareness and attitudes of fund managers and analysts, and concrete goals can be established such as expansion of the number of analysts who cover the company.

If public relations is largely a marketing function, the program can be designed to increase retail traffic and web site visits, with measurement tools such as bounce-back tools, and special codes or 800#s built into the message points, which clearly link the PR effort to the result.

Often a client relies on experience to determine a program’s success. For a client who previously was unable to generate media coverage, a heavy interview schedule and a hardy stewardship report of consistent results each month answer the question without a doubt.