We all know that marketing and PR help get companies the exposure they need to build their image and boost sales. But the problem with these disciplines is also that their success is not always easy to measure. This can make it difficult to convince your management to give you the budget you need for the upcoming quarter. With reporting that is easy to read and understand, this problem is can be solved. Apart from convincing management, there are several other ways good reporting can help you which we will highlight below.
Understand marketing and PR expenses
The most obvious reason why good reporting is essential is that you will be able to understand what your company is paying for and why. This is useful whether you are the company owner or report to senior management. If you can give them a detailed list of projects you have undertaken and which results (e.g. media clippings, % increase in sales, etc.) were achieved, they will be able to see why investing in certain campaigns is highly beneficial.
Know what works and what does not
By creating a report of your PR and marketing initiatives on a regular basis, you give yourself the chance to recap everything you’ve invested time and money in to promote your business. That can be quite useful as smaller projects or less effective ones might have slipped to the back of your mind over time. A detailed report can help your memory along and by listing the results for each campaign you will be able to see exactly which ones have done well and which ones have not. With this information, you have the chance to create an improved PR plan for the following weeks or months. Things that didn’t work and are not necessary can be eliminated, freeing up your time and energy for the ones that bring you coverage and attract new customers.
Decide what to focus on
Once you’ve learned what works for you and what doesn’t you can reallocate your resources. While discontinuing projects that bring you little to no results, you can focus more on campaigns that have been doing well in order to maximize returns while spending less or the same amount of money. Practice this approach in a sustainable way though. It will not help you to get featured on all the top websites and blogs during one month, and on none the following month, because they don’t want to report twice on the same product or company in such a short time.
Be open to new options
Once you’ve eliminated approaches that didn’t work for you, you will probably have freed up some resources. Try coming up with creative ways to use these resources to get the word out about your company or product. Is there something you’ve never tried because you previously didn’t have the time or budget for it? This is your chance to test a new approach that could yield great results such as improved brand awareness and boosted sales.
Here at Midas PR Group we take reporting very seriously. Apart from showing you exactly what we’ve done to promote you and what results we achieved, we also look into what worked best for you and what didn’t. This is how we make sure every new campaign becomes more successful than the last. To learn more about how we can assist you, get in touch with us now at info@localhost or check out our website, www.midas-pr.com.