Effective communication is measured in numerous ways. Some of the most popular ways are metrics, relationships and revenue. These are a few popular ways that I would like to elaborate on because I have experience in PR and I can only write about my personal experience and what was effective for me. In digital PR metrics are everything. With the help of SEO (search engine optimization), Google Adworks and other online resources you can have a surplus of viewers on any social network and web platform of your choice. If your PR firm is helping build the brand with press releases, web copy, blog posts and social media channels, here are key ways to measure the outcome: 1.Web Traffic. For my website Vinkankel.com I measure the amount of traffic I receive on a day to day basis. I also look at the numbers my website receives throughout the week and month. Before I began using SEO my website received very little views. It was quite discouraging initially but after a little research I noticed my traffic began to skyrocket. I personally utilize social networks such as Tumblr and Twitter. On Tumblr and Twitter I can see what topics are trending. I then make my own post of trending topics. My blog lets me expand on topics briefly reached by other bloggers. If a particular client brings more traffic to your website that is a success, I conduct interviews with emerging acts. Emerging acts have their own following that are interested in learning more about them. Ultimately its great exposure for them and also for my website. This brings me to my next point referrals. 2.Referrals are anyone who credits their success to your website or encourages others to check it out will successful drive traffic to your website. Views count when trying to build a brand. Usually after I feature someone on my website they'll encourage their friends and family to check out the webstie. I receive alot of direct messages from people who are interested in being featured on my website. When people refer me I always encourage them to share my social networking pages. 3.Social Media Shares - The more views the better. If you are able to connect with people from different demographics and throughout the world you can offer your services to a bigger audience. On Facebook my friends range from the southeast United States all the way to Bangladesh. Another method is 4. Press Release Engagement. I personally dont do alot of press releases because I dont represent many clients. I use social media to simply give artist exposure. Websites such as BusinessWire can help track the progress of your press release on all social media platforms. 5. Output and Outcomes such as Linkedln Sponsored Updates, Promoted Tweets and Google Adworks use leads to generate traffic.
Communication is also measured by the audiences response. Being able to actually help your audience and develop a relationship with them takes alot of practice. If you are a public speaker good body language and eye contact will encourage people to take you seriously and also become more intrigued. For example if you want to reach only 5 people but you want 80% of the audience to be convinced your product is worth buying, if 4 people purchase the product your communication was effective. Being able to convey a message and ultimately win over your audience takes building a relationship with the viewer or listener. In order to build a relationship the audience must feel some sort of trust. There are plenty of ways to build trust. Credibility can be won over by simply appearing to have knowledge. I find that companies with logos, great or catchy mottos and professionalism are often taken quite serious. A company that constantly updates their social network pages also appears to be credible as well. Companies that have a large following rather their following is paid or simply occurred over time makes people wonder how did they gain such a huge following and ultimately you might become a fan simply because someone you know is a fan. The relationship between the communicator and the audience is very important. Getting an audience to respond in the manner you would like them to is the ultimate task. It can be very difficult. Especially now that more and more people are choosing to use paid social media Ads or promoted Ads in order to drive traffic to their websites and businesses. According to Tom Keheller and Barbara Miller real public relations is the process of engaging your constituent publics in a process of two-way symmetrical communication, designed to result in both sides reaching their objectives. … But in cyberspace, the requirement to be candid and forthright is doubly important. (p. 230) Lastly being able to make a profit from your services is a great sign youre doing something right. If people are interested enough to purchase your services, something youre doing seems believable. Many people in the PR profession or marketing profession arent successful. A few other pointers I found while conducting my own research are as follows:
“the state which exists between an organization and its key publics in which the actions of either entity impact the economic, social, political and/or cultural well-being of the other entity.” (Ledingham & Bruning, 1998, p. 62) This exert further supports my beliefs that effective communication is measured by metrics, building relationships and revenue.
“Relationships consist of the transactions that involve the exchange of resources between organizations.” (Broom, Casey, & Ritchie, 1997, p. 91) If the relationships that you build in the process are successful people will want to conduct business with you in the future. You will appear to be asset amongst your peers.
“routinized, sustained patterns of behavior by individuals related to their involvement with an organization. … Many online relationships operate in tandem with offline relationships and thus are part of a total organizational-public relationship.” (Hallahan, 2004, p. 775) Being able to successful. communicate will make you a public figure. The public will sought out for your services and you will be able to make a living off of your talents.
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