How to measure the commercial results of manufacturing PR activity
Activity reports tell you what the agency has done. Results measurement tells you what it has achieved. Here is how to measure manufacturing PR with metrics that actually matter commercially.
The problem with standard PR measurement
Most PR agencies measure activity. They count press releases sent, coverage pieces generated, equivalent advertising value and reach. These metrics are easy to produce and mostly meaningless. A hundred coverage mentions in publications your buyers do not read is not a commercial result. Three well-placed features in the trade titles that influence your specification decisions is.
Metrics that matter for manufacturing PR
The metrics worth tracking in manufacturing PR are: coverage in specifically targeted trade titles, specification mentions attributable to editorial activity, web traffic referrals from trade press, quality of inbound enquiries, sales team feedback on prospect awareness and, ultimately, the pipeline and revenue contribution that your PR programme supports. None of these are easy to measure precisely, but all are significantly more commercially meaningful than coverage volume.
Attribution in manufacturing PR
Attributing specific commercial outcomes to PR activity is genuinely difficult in long-cycle B2B manufacturing sales. The specification journey from first editorial encounter to commercial order can span eighteen months and involve a dozen touchpoints. The practical approach is to build attribution systems at the start of a PR programme - tracking referral traffic, using CRM data to tag prospect sources and building regular feedback mechanisms with the sales team.
Setting meaningful KPIs for manufacturing PR
Meaningful KPIs for manufacturing PR start with the commercial objective the programme is designed to support. If the objective is to increase specification among a specific audience segment, the KPI might be coverage volume in specification-influencing titles and CPD enquiries from the target audience. If the objective is to support entry into a new sector, the KPI might be editorial appearances in that sector's trade press and inbound enquiries from the target audience.
Reporting formats that drive accountability
A good manufacturing PR report is short, commercially focused and honest. It should cover coverage placements with relevance assessment, editorial relationships built or maintained, commercial feedback from the sales team and a clear view of activity planned versus activity delivered. It should not be padded with coverage mentions in tangentially relevant publications or metric comparisons designed to make activity look more impressive than it is.
Want to talk through your manufacturing PR challenge? Get in touch - we will give you an honest view of what is possible and what it would take.
For a broader view of manufacturing PR, start with our guide to manufacturing PR agency services or read more on building a manufacturing PR strategy.