The value of evaluation

In the words of Francis Ingham, PRCA director general: “the best way to fight budget cuts is to demonstrate the value you are adding.” It is certainly encouraging to see that as the PR industry matures, more MDs are recognising the need for evaluation; a survey complied by the PRCA revealed that 84 per cent consider it “very important to the credibility of PR”. We couldn’t agree more.

You would be forgiven for thinking, we would say that. Yet we are finding that as the recession overshadows business it is ever more crucial to be aware of factors affecting reputation. Many organizations are fighting a crisis in confidence so it is key to send out the right signals to your audience.

Media industry analysis will soon tell you which areas of your strategy are working, as well as identifying those that aren’t. It might be that you choose to condense your source list to the titles that really matter to your audiences because targeted, quality measurement is more relevant. It’s also crucial to hone your messages and channel resources effectively to weather the storm.