12 Public Relations KPIs That Matter (And How to Track Them)

What Are the 12 KPIs That Matter for Public Relations?

When it comes to public relations, there are dozens of KPIs that PR teams can track - but not all are created equal.

To truly measure performance and impact, it's important to focus on the KPIs that offer real insight into PR outcomes.

Let's explore the 12 most critical key performance indicators for evaluating public relations success. From share of voice and sentiment to reach, we'll dig into what each of these measures, why it matters and how you can effectively monitor them.

The 12 KPIs are as follows:

• Exposure - Volume of media mentions.
• Potential Reach - Possible audience size who might see your message.
• Engagement - Interactions, clicks, shares, comments, etc.
• Sentiment - Positive, negative or neutral perceptions.
• Share of Voice - Portion of conversation compared to competitors.
• Most Active Contributors - Top creators of brand mentions.
• Most Influential Contributors - Outlets or social accounts with the most impact.
• Most Engaging Content - Assets driving the most interactions.
• Engagement Types - Comments, shares, clicks, etc.
• Most Commonly Used Terms - Words or topics people use to search.
• Exposure by Region - Coverage and visibility in specific geographic areas.
• Exposure by Media Type - Where people mention you the most.

Now, let's break down each KPI and explain what they mean!

1. Exposure

Exposure refers to the visibility or attention that a brand, product, service or message gets in the public eye. It's about how much your content is being seen and heard by your target audiences.

It’s typically measured by quantitative metrics like the number of mentions you get in the media, social media, websites, events etc. The more mentions, the higher the exposure.

However, just counting the total number of mentions is not enough. You also need to assess the quality and relevance of those mentions to make sure they effectively reach the right audiences.

If a company is mentioned in numerous news articles, social media posts and blog entries, the quantity of mentions is high. Within those mentions, some may come from reputable sources like major news outlets such as Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, or well-regarded blogs, then the quality of mention is high.

The more exposure, the more visible you become.

2. Potential Reach

Potential reach refers to the total number of people who could have potentially seen your message. It looks at the circulation or audience size of the media outlets, websites, social media accounts etc. where you secured mentions.

For example: Getting covered in a national newspaper has a higher potential reach than an unknown blog.

High potential reach expands public visibility and awareness for your brand or company.

3. Engagement

Engagement is all about your audience interacting with and getting involved with your company, brand, product, campaign or message. It's like measuring how much attention and connection you're getting from your audience.

This is commonly shown through comments, likes, shares, reviews, testimonials, etc. It can tell you if your content/messages are hitting the right notes and if people are paying attention.

4. Sentiment

Sentiment analysis, often called opinion mining, is the process of evaluating and understanding the emotions, opinions and attitudes expressed in text data - such as social media posts, customer reviews, news articles or any form of written content.

It’s often expressed as positive, negative and neutral.

Having lots of mentions doesn't always mean they're good. It's important to check if people are saying positive things about what you're doing. If they are, you're doing something right. If it’s not, you might need to adjust things.

5. Share of Voice (SOV)

SOV is a metric used by PR pros to measure their brand or client’s presence in the market compared to their competitors. It tells you how much your brand is being talked about or mentioned within a specific industry.

In a competitive market, tracking your share of voice involves comparing the number of mentions your brand receives with those of key competitors. If your brand is mentioned more frequently, it signifies a stronger presence in the industry.

If your competitor outperforms your brand in a certain area, use this insight to make informed decisions.

6. Most Active Contributors

Most active contributors are the outlets or social media accounts that talk about your brand the most. These are the ones who regularly mention your company, products or services.

Identifying these active contributors is like finding your brand cheerleaders. Engaging with them can strengthen your relationship and their positive words can influence others. It's a way of recognizing and appreciating those who consistently support your brand.

7. Most Influential Contributors

Influential contributors are the powerful voices in your community who can change what people think about your brand. They can shape opinions and impact how others see your company.

It can be popular outlets with the highest circulation numbers or social media accounts with high followers.

Think of them as the trendsetters or popular figures in your field. When they talk about your brand, it's like getting a shout-out from someone everyone looks up to.

Connecting with these influential contributors is like unlocking a megaphone for your brand. When they mention you, it reaches more people and their support adds weight to your brand's reputation.

8. Most Engaging Content

Engaging content is like finding the stories that your audience loves the most. It's about discovering the pieces of content that really connect with people and identifying where they perform best - be it on websites or social media platforms.

It's the content that people like, share and talk about the most.

Knowing what engages your audience and where is like having a secret recipe. It helps you figure out what stories and messages people really enjoy. This way, you can customize stories for specific platforms that your audience will love.

9. Engagement Types

Engagement types refer to the ways your audience reacts when you share something. It categorizes how your audience interacts with your content—whether they like it, comment on it or share it.

Think of it as the various high-fives your audience gives. Some might give a thumbs up, others might leave a comment and some might even share it with others.

Knowing these engagement types is a way of understanding what kind of content creates high engagement. It gives you clues about what your audience likes the most. This helps you create content that gets the reactions you want.

10. Most Commonly Used Terms

This KPI describes the words or topics people use when they search for information about your brand. It could be names of products, specific services, details about campaigns or the main points you want to share.

Once you know what people are looking for, use that information smartly. Change your content to match what people are searching for (increasing visibility), make more content about those things or adjust your messages to better fit what your audience is interested in.

It's all about using what people are actively looking for to make your brand more visible online.

11. Exposure by Region

Regional exposure refers to media coverage and visibility in specific geographic areas, states, cities or countries. PR teams focus on reaching out to these areas to boost the brand's presence.

Monitoring exposure by region involves tracking media mentions by the location of the outlet or journalist. This can also include share of voice for regions - i.e. percentage of total coverage coming from each region.

Volume of coverage, potential reach and engagement levels can also be analyzed by region. This can identify high-interest regions with strong media and audience response. It also helps compare how messaging or stories might resonate differently in different markets.

Knowing where your brand is getting attention helps you plan your PR strategies better. It's like figuring out which neighborhoods you should focus on because that's where people are most interested in what you're doing.

12. Exposure by Media Type

Understanding media types is like figuring out where people talk about your brand the most—whether it's on TV, in newspapers or on social media.

These media types include print (newspapers, magazines), online (news websites, blogs), broadcast (TV and radio) and social media.

Exposure metrics break down the data by these media types to analyze the mix and find out which platforms give the most visibility to PR messages.

By exploring and understanding these 12 critical public relations KPIs, PR pros can go beyond mere measurement and lay the foundation for strategic enhancements. This helpful guide can give you the power to not only measure success but also help you connect with the right audiences, creating a strong and long-lasting impression!

How Do You Track Public Relations KPIs?

Now that we’ve identified the 12 KPIs that are critical for PR pros to measure, let's examine how Notified's solutions can help you prove public relations impact.

With the Notified PR Platform, tracking key performance indicators for your brand or client becomes effortless. Our powerful tool helps agencies and in-house teams track detailed PR KPIs and insights across earned media, owned social accounts and PR outreach to give you the full picture you need.

The Measure module within our platform is your single source of truth to track everything in one place with templated reports. The user-friendly interface lets you measure media exposure, competitor activity, sentiment and more. With data-rich visualizations, you can easily evaluate awareness and reputation with share of voice, message pull-through and more.

And when you pair the Notified PR Platform with our Insights and Analytics services, you also get custom media briefs and media analysis reports tailored to your specifications – tapping into our team of 70+ researchers and supported by the power of artificial intelligence (AI).

Learn more in our interactive tour!