You’ve pulled out all the stops for your PR campaigns—crafted the perfect press releases, pitched your heart out, and maybe even landed a few solid media mentions.
But now what?
You refresh your inbox, stalk Google like it owes you money, and pray that your brand is making waves. Meanwhile, your boss (or worse, your investors) is asking the million-dollar question: How do we know if this is actually working?
That’s where most brands get stuck. PR isn’t like paid ads, so you can’t just slap a “conversion rate” on it and call it a day. But make no mistake: you can and should be measuring PR success. You just need the right PR success metrics.
In this guide, we’re cutting through the fluff and breaking down the key performance indicators (KPIs) that actually matter. Let’s make sure your PR efforts aren’t just making noise, but actually moving the needle.
PR Measurement: Data-Driven Insights That Drive Results
If you’re running PR campaigns without tracking results, you might as well be tossing messages into a black hole. PR measurement is the process of analyzing how your PR efforts are performing…because let’s be real, gut feelings don’t pay the bills.
At its core, it’s all about understanding impact. Are your press releases actually landing in reputable media outlets? Is your brand dominating the conversation or just whispering in a crowded room? Taking the time to effectively measure PR impact and make data-driven decisions will keep you from playing a guessing game with your brand reputation.
How to Make Sure They Actually Do What They’re Supposed to Do
Effective PR measurement goes beyond counting media mentions or tracking how many times your press releases get picked up. You need to make sure your PR efforts align with your business objectives. After all, if PR isn’t driving real business results, what’s the point?
Before tracking anything, define what success looks like. Is it increasing brand visibility? Boosting website traffic? Improving brand perception? The right PR success metrics depend on what actually moves the needle for your company.
It also comes down to knowing your target audience inside out. Are you trying to reach investors, customers, or industry influencers? Where do they hang out? Is it traditional media outlets, social media platforms, or niche industry blogs? Once you identify who matters most, you can track the PR metrics that show whether your message is landing in the right places.
10 PR Success Metrics and KPIs to Make Sure Your PR Hits the Mark
Let’s be real—measuring PR success can feel like wading through a sea of numbers, charts, and conflicting advice. One expert on a podcast swears by media impressions, another on YouTube swears by social media engagement, and a fellow business owner insists it’s all about website traffic. With so many stats flying at you, how do you know what actually matters?
The good news is that you don’t have to track everything. The best PR professionals focus on which numbers tell the real story. So let’s take a look at the PR metrics that do it, and how to use them to prove your PR efforts are delivering real results.
1. Share of Voice (SOV): Dominating Your Industry’s Conversation
If your brand isn’t part of the conversation, someone else is controlling the narrative. Share of Voice (SOV) measures how much of the media landscape your brand dominates compared to competitors.
It’s the ultimate reality check. Are people talking about you, or are you barely making a peep? A high SOV means your PR efforts are increasing your brand visibility and positioning you as a leader in your space.
2. Media Coverage: Measuring Impact Beyond the Headline
Landing in top media outlets is one of the best ways to measure PR success. Tracking media coverage helps you see how often, where, and in what context your brand is being mentioned. More earned media coverage means stronger brand perception and increased credibility. Here’s how to measure it:
- Count the number of media placements across different media channels (print, digital, TV, podcasts)
- Look at the quality of coverage—is it a passing mention or a full feature?
- Track media value using Advertising Value Equivalency (AVE) to estimate how much your earned placements are worth
- Monitor your coverage’s tone and sentiment analysis to make sure it aligns with your brand’s message.
3. Website Traffic: Are People Clicking on Your PR’s Digital Footprint?
If your PR campaigns are doing their job, people should be heading to your website to learn more. Spikes in website traffic after a big media hit show that your messaging is resonating and compelling people to take action.
You can measure it by using Google Analytics to track referral traffic from media outlets and social media platforms. Compare traffic trends before, during, and after major PR activities to identify impact.
You should also measure time on page and conversion rates to see if they’re driving meaningful engagement. And look at bounce rates—are visitors engaging with your site or leaving immediately? These will tell the full story of what you need to change and what can stay the same.
4. Media Impressions: Quantifying Your Brand’s Audience Reach
Getting published is one thing, but how many people actually saw your coverage? Media impressions estimate the total potential audience size that your media coverage reached. The higher your impressions, the greater your brand visibility and reach.
Measuring media impressions is simple:
- Use media monitoring tools to track circulation, readership, and online traffic of media outlets that feature your brand.
- Multiply the number of times your story appeared by the average audience size of each media channel.
- Track social media analytics to measure how widely PR-driven content is being shared.
- Compare impressions to engagement metrics to see if people are actually interacting with your content.
5. Social Media Engagement: Are You Sparking Conversation Online or Just Getting Scrolled Past?
If your PR strategy isn’t fueling engagement on social media, you’re leaving opportunities on the table. High social media engagement means your message is resonating with your target audience, driving discussions, and increasing brand reputation.
You can use social media analytics tools to measure reach, engagement rate, and audience interaction. You should also track likes, shares, comments, and mentions across all social media platforms. And check out sentiment analysis to see if those conversations are positive, neutral, or negative.
6. Brand Mentions: Tracking Conversation Quality Across All Channels
Your brand could be a hot topic…or an afterthought. Brand mentions tell you how often your company is being discussed across media outlets, social media, blogs, and forums. You can use tools like Mention, Meltwater, or Google Alerts to track how often your brand name appears online. You should also:
- Separate earned media coverage (press features) from organic mentions (social buzz).
- Compare brand sentiment to make sure you’re being talked about in a positive light.
- Keep up with industry trends to see if your PR efforts are keeping you relevant.
7. PR ROI: Connecting Media Coverage to Business Outcomes
You’re investing in PR, so what’s the return on investment (ROI)? PR ROI means connecting your PR efforts to real outcomes. If your boss or investors ask, “What did all this press get us?”, you need something to tell them besides “a really nice article in Forbes.” PR should give you something tangible, whether that’s in sales, brand credibility, or industry influence.
So what are some things to track? Try:
- Web traffic and lead generation before and after PR campaigns
- Search engine rankings for better SEO performance
- Increased revenue, inquiries, or sign-ups
- Conversion rates from PR-driven traffic.
8. Advertising Value: What’s Your PR Worth in Dollars?
Ever wondered what your earned media coverage would cost if you had to pay for it? That’s what advertising value tells you. It calculates what it would cost to buy the same level of exposure through paid advertising. While PR isn’t a direct replacement for ads, knowing the media value of your placements helps you prove their worth in hard numbers. To measure it, you can:
- Use PR software like Cision to calculate estimated ad costs for similar placements
- Compare advertising value to your actual PR spend
- Factor in media value beyond ad dollars—PR stories often have a longer shelf life than paid ads
- Tie advertising value to business objectives to show PR’s real contribution to brand growth
9. Media Relations: Do Journalists Actually Cover You or Throw Your Pitches in the Trash?
You can have the best story in the world, but if journalists aren’t biting, your PR campaigns will never get off the ground. Media relations isn’t just about pitching. You need to build relationships with reporters, editors, and producers who see you as a go-to source.
Here are some questions you can ask to measure it:
- Track your pitch-to-placement ratio—how many pitches actually turn into media coverage?
- Are journalists opening your emails, responding, or ghosting you?
- What is the quality of media outlets covering you? (Niche blogs are great, but it’s the top-tier features that really get things going.)
- Do journalists come back to you for expert insights?
10. Sentiment Analysis: Are People Hyping You Up or Tearing You Down?
Not all brand mentions are created equal. You could have a hundred articles written about you. But if they’re all dragging your brand through the mud, that’s not exactly a win. The saying “bad press is good press” doesn’t really apply here.
Sentiment analysis looks beyond quantity and measures the brand perception behind your media coverage. Are people hyped about you, neutral, or straight-up angry?
You can use media monitoring tools like Brandwatch or Meltwater to track sentiment trends and compare sentiment shifts before and after major PR activities. Then, categorize media mentions as positive, neutral, or negative and adjust your PR strategy if sentiment starts trending in the wrong direction.
Make Your PR Campaigns Count with Disrupt PR
PR isn’t just about getting featured—it’s about making sure those features actually do something for your brand. Tracking the right PR success metrics keeps you from leaving money, credibility, and market influence on the table. And let’s be honest, guessing doesn’t get you in media outlets like Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, or The Today Show. Smart, data-driven decisions do.
At Disrupt PR, we don’t just get you press—we make sure that press translates into real results. Our team of former journalists knows exactly how to craft PR campaigns that land, and we track every number that really matters. Forget fluff metrics. We focus on the kind of PR impact that grows your business, builds your brand reputation, and positions you as the go-to authority in your industry.
Your story deserves to be seen. If you’re ready to stop throwing PR spaghetti at the wall and start seeing real, measurable wins, let’s talk. Contact us today to see how we can make sure you score coverage that counts.
