October #MeasurePR Key Takeaways

The October #MeasurePR Twitter chat with host Shonali Burke featured guests Brandon Andersen, Janet Fouts, and Fay Shapiro. Below are some key takeaways from the chat, which was a lively discussion on several fronts:

• Benchmarking matters a great deal in getting to accurate and useful PR measurement. Some suggestions from the panelists and guests included doing a lot of research on your audience’s needs (and your competitor’s positioning), having a set content plan, and making sure the right resources are dedicated because good content “isn’t cheap and isn’t easy.” Have a clear purpose for your content.
• Optimizing content—particularly as it relates to profitability—is important. Study what motivates your audience, as the content that attracts them might not be the same as what converts them to a purchase. Understanding the difference is necessary for successful content strategy.
• The content itself should be delivered across multiple platforms—but not necessarily identical. One comment noted that blasting the same piece of content across multiple channels is “a waste.” Creating content that works for a platform might mean adding video or some other component that works better than straight text in one area, while the text itself works better in another. This is particularly true if audience demographics differ from one channel to the next.
• Useless content measurement forms include: counting Facebook “likes,” impressions, any measurement type that simply counts stuff (such as number of words, number of tweets by the brand, number of followers, etc.), and, Heaven help us all…comparisons to AVEs.
• As far as tools for measuring effectiveness of content, we again have Google Analytics mentioned a bunch of times. Other suggestions include “a good listening tool,” and software such as BuzzSumo, Buffer, Serpstat, and Coschedule. Wise words included “don’t break the bank” with the purchase of tools.

For a more detailed summary, check out Shonali Burke’s blog, Waxing Unlyrical, where you will also find a link to the full chat transcript. Remember to mark your calendars for November’s #MeasurePR chat!