Media analysis is generally about measuring the output of PR media relations in terms of the editorial coverage that has been published.  There is a considerable ‘so-what’ factor about this because by measuring the output we are not taking into account one of the big ‘R’s of PR – has it affected out-take, are we influencing hearts and minds.

One of the traditional ways of measuring this is through market research and there is an obvious value to be had from linking the ‘outputs’ of media analysis with the ‘out-takes’ of market research.  Unfortunately the use of market research as a measurement tool has never really taken off in the PR industry in the same way that media analysis has.  Metrica’s latest industry research shows that twice as many PR professional use media analysis compared with market research (81% compared to 42%) and that the use of market research has actually declined over the last decade (48% used market research in 1998).

Market research can be pretty costly which in a cash-strapped world is clearly a strong inhibitor.  However the increased availability of lower cost methods such as YouGov’s internet based surveys may increase take-up.  Alternatively, by tying up with market research that is already being commissioned by the organisation, we can avoid too much drain on limited PR budgets.  The increased popularity of the Net Promoter Score approach shows that more organisations are thinking in a more joined up fashion and pooling resources together.

There are considerable opportunities to be leveraged from social media as an alternative to traditional market research.  Advances in both the uptake of social media and in monitoring and measurement means that it has become very cost effective to find out how large numbers of people feel without the bias associated with prompting them for an answer.  Of course a market research firm would argue that social media is in itself biased because of the self selecting sample and so in an ideal world with ideal budgets it would be best to do both.

Next: Part 5 – Correlation with Business Outcomes

Previous: Part 3 – Cost of Reach