• by James Rose , Columnist, May 18, 2018

I have been on my fair share of PR update meetings — one-to-one calls between PR agency and marketing manager, regional level calls between the agency and marketing executives from multiple countries, multiple agencies reporting to regional marketing teams.

Any of these can descend into chaos if there is no structure.

If it’s not clear what’s going on and it’s you chasing the agency for an update, you need to make your PR agency more accountable. The responsibility of restoring order rests with the agency in all cases, as the client needs to know exactly what’s going on, when, where and why. 

Here are three reporting basics marketing managers should expect from any PR agency.

1. Set the agenda

Any agency worth its salt will proactively ask to set up a regular update call with marketing execs directly responsible for managing PR. This presents an opportunity for both sides to discuss PR activities and provide feedback on marketing strategies. 

Here, a simple tracking document can work wonders. It should have tabs for past actions with resulting achievements, current activities with actions so far and planned activities. There should be a coverage tab, a translation tracker if necessary and a tracker to chart exactly how much budget you have left. 

2. Where’s the coverage?

No update usually means no coverage. Most experienced marketers understand PR coverage depends on three P’s: 

• Pipeline full of ideas

• Proactive pitching on the agency side

• Perseverance with placements that take time to secure

But if you’re seeing no movement from week to week on PR activity, it’s time to ask questions. It’s important that the agency is as honest as possible with what’s going down well in the press and what isn’t, as there are lessons to be learned with every piece of copy, or maybe a different story to be drafted.

3. Don’t be afraid to set metrics

Building up an overall picture of PR performance requires looking at all coverage with a critical eye. 

Total coverage is a good starting point but how do you know if they are one line mentions in irrelevant publications? A good PR agency will agree a “Tier One” publication list with you at the start of any campaign to ensure your messaging is targeted to the publications with an audience you want to reach.

Then you need a deeper dive. How much of that coverage are pieces from press release distributions? How many are journalist-written features? Have executives been quoted from interviews? Are you securing enough bylined article coverage? Which markets and/or geographies are you doing the best in?

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Marketing managers must be able to keep track of PR campaigns they are responsible for. Account teams should be considered an extension of a client’s marketing team, and therefore must demonstrate their value. This can’t happen if the marketing manager can’t see an overall picture on what’s happening and how a campaign is playing out in the press.