Understanding the Impact of Your Public Relations Efforts
Written by PR Etc., Inc.
Published by Rockford Register Star
Monday, June 7, 2004

There are numerous definitions for Return on Investment (ROI) – from the specific number-cruncher explanation to the much more elitist understanding. Similarly, there are countless ways in which organizations measure their ROI. And, when it comes to marketing, the ability to measure the effectiveness of an initiative can be even tougher.

In very basic terms, we view ROI as whatever ties into a company’s business goals and meets or exceeds the effort, resources or dollars an organization puts into it. For example, if you pay $100 for an advertisement which drives in $200 worth of revenue, you’ve obviously gained an exceptional ROI for that effort. Or if you’ve held a special promotion from 5 – 7 p.m. at your retail shop and also increased the number of employees working that evening, you need to determine if the additional staff costs overcame the hard dollars of promoting it.

But, how can you tell if an advertisement drives in customers or an article raises awareness for your company or product?

Here are some initial ideas that you might be able to integrate into your organization to better assess your marketing efforts:

• Encourage employees to ask where customers heard about your organization or product. For example, how many new customers came reading about your company in the newspaper?
• Include discount coupons and track how many are redeemed over a specified amount of time. How much was the total purchased with individuals redeeming coupons? Would these people have otherwise frequented your establishment?
• Measure attendance or increase in revenue for special promotions by comparing week-over-week or day-over-day numbers.

How do you measure ROI of your marketing programs? Email me at rkopf@pretc.net and I’ll share some of the best ideas in the upcoming weeks.