Four Ways Analytics Can Be Useful in Public Relations

by Jeanin Alvarado

Written and communication skills are vital for any public relations professional as the business is
heavily dependent on the process of enhancing an organization through social media and
branding. Most PR professionals do whatever it takes to stay clear of numbers, though what
most don’t realize is that having knowledge of quantitative data is just as important as it can
provide crucial information on how to generate more sales and revenue. Below are four ways
analytics can be useful to have in a PR professional’s back pocket.

Budgets and Profits

The most obvious way qualitative data can be incorporated into PR is through the calculation of
budgets and profits. The first step is to ask what needs to be achieved, followed by how can this
be accomplished? Everything has a cost but the goal in any business is to achieve a positive
return on investment (ROI). This means the earnings must be greater than the allocated budget.
Past budgets can also act as a guide to help one make a new budget for another project so
funds aren’t spent on unnecessary items.

Customer Traffic

Any skilled entrepreneur would know that a company’s website is the hub of any successful
business while social media accounts are also prudent. Determining when and how much traffic
these accounts get can help ascertain the best tactics to improve customer interaction. For
example, if you are evaluating a client’s Instagram account and you notice they get the most
likes and comments when a picture is posted at 5 p.m on Fridays you are most likely going to
want to continue that trend. Some social media networks such as Facebook have an internal
analytics system that can track these trends easily, though there are other external
data-collecting bases that will do it for you (e.g. Cision). These tools can report how many views
a website gets over a period of time, average likes on a post, and even the time spent viewing
said content. This data proves to be quite invaluable when wanting to promote a company.

Demographics

As mentioned in the previous section there are different types of data to track along with the
customer traffic. Another vital stat to look out for is audience demographics. Use these tools to
look at gender, age and even where the majority of viewers are from (e.g. out of the country,
in-state). Looking at who is viewing the content can be fundamental in building a customer base.
It can be easier to build campaigns that appeal to a specific demographic rather than trying to
captivate the attention of everyone.

Save Time and Money

All in all, interpreting these collections of data can save a company time and money. It saves
time by cutting research in half. Why spend the time compiling results when there are programs
that can do it for you? Money is saved by conserving resources and utilizing them on other
projects.

Although analytics aren’t the first thing that come to mind when someone thinks PR, they can be
quite useful to understand. Numbers may not be a PR professional’s best friend but they can
definitely lend a helping hand.