June 10, 2024
The PR Measurement Strategy You Need to Grow
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That Solo Life, Episode 253: The PR Measurement Strategy You Need to GrowIn this Episode
In this episode of "That Solo Life," co-hosts Michelle Kane and Karen Swim discuss another side of measurement in the PR industry. While measurement discussions typically focus on client work, Karen and Michelle talk about the importance of tracking tactics and metrics within your own Solo PR Pro business.
Karen emphasizes the tendency of PR professionals to prioritize client success over their own business metrics. She stresses the importance of tracking financial metrics to identify the most profitable clients and types of work. The discussion shifts to the need for measuring time spent on tasks to determine efficiency and profitability accurately.
The hosts discuss the pitfalls of focusing on the wrong metrics, referencing a study on B2B marketers who invested in the wrong areas due to misaligned measurements. They stress the importance of creating a sense of community and fostering word-of-mouth referrals for business growth. Michelle and Karen underscore the need for PR professionals to measure their efforts in writing, pitching, and media relations to enhance skill sets and improve success rates.
The episode concludes with a call to action for listeners to incorporate regular measurement practices into their solo PR businesses.
Episode Timeline:
- 00:01:10 - Importance of Measuring Tactics in Business
- 00:02:51 - Tracking Financial Metrics and Time Allocation
- 00:04:30 - Importance of Measuring for Mastery
- 00:05:26 - Focusing on the Right Metrics for Growth
- 00:07:27 - Creating Community and Word of Mouth
- 00:08:26 - Importance of Regular Measurement Practices
- 00:09:03 - Improving Success Rate and Time Management
- 00:10:36 - Pledging to Incorporate Measurement Practices
- 00:11:19 - Encouragement for Listener Engagement
Resources:
- RescueTime: The Most Productive Part of the Day
- Sword and the Script: Pair of surveys show why B2B tech needs to work on their customer marketing efforts
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That Solo Life, Episode 253: The PR Measurement Strategy You Need to Grow
Michelle Kane [00:03.865]-[00:19.224]: Thank you for joining us for this episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves. People like me, Michelle Kane with Voice Matters, and my wonderful co-host, Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro. Hey, Karen, how are you today?
Karen Swim, APR [00:19.883]-[00:24.387]: Hello, Michelle, I'm doing great, you know, fighting the good fight.
Michelle Kane [00:24.387]-[00:48.572]: How are you? Yeah, same, same, same. I apologize to our listeners for how I sound. I thought I was so smart in hiring a landscaper this spring. And then I decided there was one remaining flower bed I could do myself. And then all the little spores and pollen are just having a party throughout my sinuses. It's great, but it could be worse.
Karen Swim, APR [00:48.572]-[00:59.519]: So thank you so much for carrying on, because I know that, you know, those allergy attacks can be pretty terrible. So we appreciate you, Michelle.
Michelle Kane [00:59.519]-[01:39.323]: I am a walking pharmacy, but we wanted to come to you today to talk about measurement, but maybe not the way you're thinking. So often we talk about the importance of measurement in our client work, which is true, and it is still important. And we're probably going to touch a little bit on that. But what about measuring your tactics in your own business, in your promotion, in what you're focusing on? We just wanted to take a little bit of time and just remind ourselves that that too is an important endeavor for our success.
Karen Swim, APR [01:41.288]-[02:50.680]: Yeah, I am. I'm always surprised when PR pros are not taking this extra step. But again, you know, it's our nature to be so client focused and really wanting to deliver value to our clients and service that we often don't think about our own businesses and things that we should be tracking. We even some of the basic things like looking at your financial metrics, so that you can determine where that sweet spot is for you. Which types of clients and which types of work give you the highest return on value? How are you spending your time? Where is that sweet spot where you're spending the right amount of hours, you're getting the right dollar value for it, and It's, you know, a fit in other ways for your business. I mean, we don't think about that. Those are things that you actually can track so that you can hone in on your business development and attract more of those types of clients.
Michelle Kane [02:51.232]-[03:27.208]: Yeah, and I think a key component of that can be, you know, sometimes we may love the clients, we may enjoy the work, but sometimes some client work is just draining, or I don't know if a hassle is a good way of putting it. Yes. But it just seems to be a lot more effort than it should be. You know, not necessarily on a constant basis, but I think we all know, we've been through that. It's like, oh, this pays well, but oh my gosh. You know, is this worth it to me? Do I need to look at replacing them? So maybe it'll be smoother sailing.
Karen Swim, APR [03:27.208]-[04:30.894]: And sometimes being paid well is you can think that because you're focused on the amount of the engagement rather than the hours and then tracking how much time you're actually spending servicing that client against what you're getting paid. So sometimes when you do that breakdown, like you may look at your, how much time are you spending on administrative tasks? If that is exponentially higher than other clients that maybe have a little bit lower of a bill rate, then in reality, you are not getting paid as much as you think you are. So, you know, I do think it's important to keep track of your time for that reason, so that you can see how it's being applied. That also helps you to look at efficiencies in your own system. So if you're seeing that certain activities are taking up large amounts of your time, you know, again, if you measure it, then you can master it, you can apply changes to it, you can improve it, you can do something about it. But you have to have that knowledge.
Michelle Kane [04:30.894]-[05:14.134]: I love that. If you measure it, you can master it. Yeah, I love that. And I know before we went to air and forgive me the the articles escaping me, but there was a great article from Frank Strong's newsletter. Yeah, yeah. talking about the dangers of focusing on wrong things to better, which can affect your outcomes. And this goes for client work and, you know, self-reflection, right? Like you can decide these are the metrics that we should be measuring. Yeah. And, um, you find yourself, you know, three months later, six months later, and you think, yeah, I don't think that was a choice.
Karen Swim, APR [05:15.178]-[06:27.004]: Yes, and we will definitely link Frank's article in the resource section. One of the things that was really interesting and insightful about that is he looked at a study of B2B marketers in particular, and found that companies were measuring things And so they started to put money and investments and infrastructure around the things that they were measuring, but they were measuring the wrong thing. So, for example, if you really are, are so focused on bringing in new business, so new to you clients, But really, your best chance of growth is with retaining the clients that you have and growing that business, but you're not measuring that. So you're not spending anything on those clients. You're not investing in that system. You're investing in chasing something that's more expensive to get where you don't even have as much of a success rate. And so that was really, really eye-opening. And it's something that can be applied to us. What are we measuring? Are we looking at things that don't really matter to the health and growth of our business? And so we keep putting efforts against those things when they're not really the right things to measure.
Michelle Kane [06:27.910]-[07:27.787]: Yeah, that's so true and that was really eye-opening to me and in a way oddly comforting because I think on a gut level we all know that it's important to create, and I'm going to say community and I don't mean like love, just you know hang out, but the brands that do well do create a sense of community and that's all the way from big brands down to mom and pop shops because then you're you know your your current clients your current customers feel a part of things and they know that you know your You're their whatever resource. And tied into that is word of mouth, right? It's like, what do we say? Isn't that the best way to also get new customers is word of mouth? So I think it's good information to really focus on.
Karen Swim, APR [07:27.787]-[08:24.627]: I agree. And again, the article, while it focused on the work of an organization, you know, we have our own organizations to manage, too. So I do think it's important to, to have systems set up where we measure the things that we do. You know, I love measuring things like writing and how effective I am and where my sweet spot really is and what things I should really concentrate on or pitching, you know, is it it's there are so many things that you can measure in your media relations efforts. to continue to improve that skill set and make sure that you are, that your pitches are resonating, that your subject lines are resonating, that you are getting the right response rate. But so often, we're just, you know, again, we do the thing, and then we kind of move on to the next thing, and we don't take time to look at the report of our own efforts.
Michelle Kane [08:26.055]-[09:01.051]: Yeah, that's so true. And it, you know, and I think a lot of it is just time, setting up that focus time for ourselves, because this sounds great. And then we, you know, you're good, you're gonna hit stop on this pod podcast episode, and you're just gonna go tear into your day, right? But we do. Again, it's in our nature, it's just the nature of our profession to want to take care of everybody else before ourselves. So that's probably going to be the hardest part of this, is making it a regular practice.
Karen Swim, APR [09:03.025]-[10:36.967]: And that's where, you know, your scheduling comes in at and putting in those blocks of time. But here's the great thing. Once you begin to measure, and you look at ways that you can make improvements, that also means that you can not only improve your success rate on the things that you're doing, but you can also improve how you use your time. So then you gain more time back. And then you're, you don't feel so stressed out about things. You know, sometimes we spend a lot of effort on things that just don't matter. Tied into this, we'll put a link in the resource to a great article by productivity company Rescue Time that gives some great tips on how to track your own personal peak hours so that you can start to do those tasks that are the hardest in your peak productivity hours. And, you know, get more done in less time by making use of when you're the most effective. So that's helpful too. And, you know, again, so again, it's, that's measuring your time and how you're using your time each day. And they do recommend tracking for I think a week or two, so that you can then look at the reports and then surface what works for you. So measurement really does, you know, it's important to PR pros beyond measurement for client activity. It really does matter to the health of our business and our own personal wellbeing as well.
Michelle Kane [10:36.967]-[11:03.354]: Yeah, that's very true. I think it's, it's definitely one of the foundational aspects of running our solo shops. You know, So let's all pledge to ourselves to try and incorporate this. I'm excited to see that article from Rescue Time. And hey, maybe we'll check in with everybody in about a month and see where we are.
Karen Swim, APR [11:05.912]-[11:19.119]: Yeah, we love to hear from our listeners, too. So please leave us comments, or, you know, talk to us on social media, or feel free to let us know if you have great tips or strategies around this topic. We love to hear from you.
Michelle Kane [11:19.119]-[11:38.358]: Oh, totally. Because, you know, you guys, you know what you're doing. Otherwise, we wouldn't be here. Anyway, well, thanks for bearing with me. Thanks for listening to us this week. We hope you found value in it. And if you did, please share it around. And until next time, thanks for listening to That Solo Life.
Michelle Kane [00:03.865]-[00:19.224]: Thank you for joining us for this episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves. People like me, Michelle Kane with Voice Matters, and my wonderful co-host, Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro. Hey, Karen, how are you today?
Karen Swim, APR [00:19.883]-[00:24.387]: Hello, Michelle, I'm doing great, you know, fighting the good fight.
Michelle Kane [00:24.387]-[00:48.572]: How are you? Yeah, same, same, same. I apologize to our listeners for how I sound. I thought I was so smart in hiring a landscaper this spring. And then I decided there was one remaining flower bed I could do myself. And then all the little spores and pollen are just having a party throughout my sinuses. It's great, but it could be worse.
Karen Swim, APR [00:48.572]-[00:59.519]: So thank you so much for carrying on, because I know that, you know, those allergy attacks can be pretty terrible. So we appreciate you, Michelle.
Michelle Kane [00:59.519]-[01:39.323]: I am a walking pharmacy, but we wanted to come to you today to talk about measurement, but maybe not the way you're thinking. So often we talk about the importance of measurement in our client work, which is true, and it is still important. And we're probably going to touch a little bit on that. But what about measuring your tactics in your own business, in your promotion, in what you're focusing on? We just wanted to take a little bit of time and just remind ourselves that that too is an important endeavor for our success.
Karen Swim, APR [01:41.288]-[02:50.680]: Yeah, I am. I'm always surprised when PR pros are not taking this extra step. But again, you know, it's our nature to be so client focused and really wanting to deliver value to our clients and service that we often don't think about our own businesses and things that we should be tracking. We even some of the basic things like looking at your financial metrics, so that you can determine where that sweet spot is for you. Which types of clients and which types of work give you the highest return on value? How are you spending your time? Where is that sweet spot where you're spending the right amount of hours, you're getting the right dollar value for it, and It's, you know, a fit in other ways for your business. I mean, we don't think about that. Those are things that you actually can track so that you can hone in on your business development and attract more of those types of clients.
Michelle Kane [02:51.232]-[03:27.208]: Yeah, and I think a key component of that can be, you know, sometimes we may love the clients, we may enjoy the work, but sometimes some client work is just draining, or I don't know if a hassle is a good way of putting it. Yes. But it just seems to be a lot more effort than it should be. You know, not necessarily on a constant basis, but I think we all know, we've been through that. It's like, oh, this pays well, but oh my gosh. You know, is this worth it to me? Do I need to look at replacing them? So maybe it'll be smoother sailing.
Karen Swim, APR [03:27.208]-[04:30.894]: And sometimes being paid well is you can think that because you're focused on the amount of the engagement rather than the hours and then tracking how much time you're actually spending servicing that client against what you're getting paid. So sometimes when you do that breakdown, like you may look at your, how much time are you spending on administrative tasks? If that is exponentially higher than other clients that maybe have a little bit lower of a bill rate, then in reality, you are not getting paid as much as you think you are. So, you know, I do think it's important to keep track of your time for that reason, so that you can see how it's being applied. That also helps you to look at efficiencies in your own system. So if you're seeing that certain activities are taking up large amounts of your time, you know, again, if you measure it, then you can master it, you can apply changes to it, you can improve it, you can do something about it. But you have to have that knowledge.
Michelle Kane [04:30.894]-[05:14.134]: I love that. If you measure it, you can master it. Yeah, I love that. And I know before we went to air and forgive me the the articles escaping me, but there was a great article from Frank Strong's newsletter. Yeah, yeah. talking about the dangers of focusing on wrong things to better, which can affect your outcomes. And this goes for client work and, you know, self-reflection, right? Like you can decide these are the metrics that we should be measuring. Yeah. And, um, you find yourself, you know, three months later, six months later, and you think, yeah, I don't think that was a choice.
Karen Swim, APR [05:15.178]-[06:27.004]: Yes, and we will definitely link Frank's article in the resource section. One of the things that was really interesting and insightful about that is he looked at a study of B2B marketers in particular, and found that companies were measuring things And so they started to put money and investments and infrastructure around the things that they were measuring, but they were measuring the wrong thing. So, for example, if you really are, are so focused on bringing in new business, so new to you clients, But really, your best chance of growth is with retaining the clients that you have and growing that business, but you're not measuring that. So you're not spending anything on those clients. You're not investing in that system. You're investing in chasing something that's more expensive to get where you don't even have as much of a success rate. And so that was really, really eye-opening. And it's something that can be applied to us. What are we measuring? Are we looking at things that don't really matter to the health and growth of our business? And so we keep putting efforts against those things when they're not really the right things to measure.
Michelle Kane [06:27.910]-[07:27.787]: Yeah, that's so true and that was really eye-opening to me and in a way oddly comforting because I think on a gut level we all know that it's important to create, and I'm going to say community and I don't mean like love, just you know hang out, but the brands that do well do create a sense of community and that's all the way from big brands down to mom and pop shops because then you're you know your your current clients your current customers feel a part of things and they know that you know your You're their whatever resource. And tied into that is word of mouth, right? It's like, what do we say? Isn't that the best way to also get new customers is word of mouth? So I think it's good information to really focus on.
Karen Swim, APR [07:27.787]-[08:24.627]: I agree. And again, the article, while it focused on the work of an organization, you know, we have our own organizations to manage, too. So I do think it's important to, to have systems set up where we measure the things that we do. You know, I love measuring things like writing and how effective I am and where my sweet spot really is and what things I should really concentrate on or pitching, you know, is it it's there are so many things that you can measure in your media relations efforts. to continue to improve that skill set and make sure that you are, that your pitches are resonating, that your subject lines are resonating, that you are getting the right response rate. But so often, we're just, you know, again, we do the thing, and then we kind of move on to the next thing, and we don't take time to look at the report of our own efforts.
Michelle Kane [08:26.055]-[09:01.051]: Yeah, that's so true. And it, you know, and I think a lot of it is just time, setting up that focus time for ourselves, because this sounds great. And then we, you know, you're good, you're gonna hit stop on this pod podcast episode, and you're just gonna go tear into your day, right? But we do. Again, it's in our nature, it's just the nature of our profession to want to take care of everybody else before ourselves. So that's probably going to be the hardest part of this, is making it a regular practice.
Karen Swim, APR [09:03.025]-[10:36.967]: And that's where, you know, your scheduling comes in at and putting in those blocks of time. But here's the great thing. Once you begin to measure, and you look at ways that you can make improvements, that also means that you can not only improve your success rate on the things that you're doing, but you can also improve how you use your time. So then you gain more time back. And then you're, you don't feel so stressed out about things. You know, sometimes we spend a lot of effort on things that just don't matter. Tied into this, we'll put a link in the resource to a great article by productivity company Rescue Time that gives some great tips on how to track your own personal peak hours so that you can start to do those tasks that are the hardest in your peak productivity hours. And, you know, get more done in less time by making use of when you're the most effective. So that's helpful too. And, you know, again, so again, it's, that's measuring your time and how you're using your time each day. And they do recommend tracking for I think a week or two, so that you can then look at the reports and then surface what works for you. So measurement really does, you know, it's important to PR pros beyond measurement for client activity. It really does matter to the health of our business and our own personal wellbeing as well.
Michelle Kane [10:36.967]-[11:03.354]: Yeah, that's very true. I think it's, it's definitely one of the foundational aspects of running our solo shops. You know, So let's all pledge to ourselves to try and incorporate this. I'm excited to see that article from Rescue Time. And hey, maybe we'll check in with everybody in about a month and see where we are.
Karen Swim, APR [11:05.912]-[11:19.119]: Yeah, we love to hear from our listeners, too. So please leave us comments, or, you know, talk to us on social media, or feel free to let us know if you have great tips or strategies around this topic. We love to hear from you.
Michelle Kane [11:19.119]-[11:38.358]: Oh, totally. Because, you know, you guys, you know what you're doing. Otherwise, we wouldn't be here. Anyway, well, thanks for bearing with me. Thanks for listening to us this week. We hope you found value in it. And if you did, please share it around. And until next time, thanks for listening to That Solo Life.