How do you measure PR?

What Does PR Success Look Like?

The question “How do you measure PR?” comes up in nearly every client conversation. It’s a smart question — and an essential one. But too often, the answers floating around are outdated, inflated, or entirely disconnected from your actual business objectives.

Let’s be clear: You don’t measure PR by counting clips or impressions. You measure PR by the momentum it builds — and the outcomes it drives.

This guide explains exactly how.

PR measurement starts with purpose

The first step is defining what PR is meant to do for your organization. Are you looking to build awareness? Shape perception? Drive talent acquisition? Shorten the sales cycle? Strengthen investor confidence?

Once you’re clear on that, you can track metrics tied to visibility, credibility, engagement, and influence — not just activity.

1. Visibility: Are more people seeing and searching for you?

Effective PR increases your exposure in high-authority channels and raises your brand’s public profile. Metrics include:

• Media mentions in relevant outlets
  
  
• Share of voice (your visibility vs. competitors)
  
  
• Search engine visibility (branded keyword growth)
  
  
• Speaking engagements and third-party invitations
  
  
• Website traffic from earned media
  
  

2. Credibility: Are you seen as a trusted authority?

Earned media carries third-party validation that advertising can’t buy. It positions your company as an industry expert or market leader. Look for:

• Key message pull-through (Did the coverage reflect your talking points?)
  
  
• Sentiment analysis in media coverage and social chatter
  
  
• High-authority backlinks to your website
  
  
• Award wins or analyst recognition
  
  
• Reputation management metrics (e.g., brand favorability)
  
  

3. Engagement: Are the right people taking the next steps?

PR should lead to deeper engagement with your brand. While PR is not sales, it supports the sales process by pulling prospects in and warming them up. Track:

• Increased branded search traffic
  
  
• Speaking inquiries or RFPs
  
  
• Referral traffic from media placements
  
  
• Time on site, content downloads, form completions
  
  
• Lead quality (especially top-of-funnel inbound interest)
  
  

4. Influence: Is PR driving strategic business outcomes?

Great PR changes perceptions, shapes narratives, and influences stakeholders. You can measure this by its impact on:

• Investor awareness and analyst coverage
  
  
• Customer or partner confidence
  
  
• Employee engagement and recruitment interest
  
  
• Crisis response effectiveness and speed
  
  
• Reputation recovery post-incident
  
  

What PR measurement is not

You should avoid placing too much value on:

• Advertising value equivalency: AVE is a flawed metric that assigns ad rates to earned media. It’s speculative and not credible.
  
  
• Gross impressions: Big numbers look impressive, but without context (audience fit, message relevance), they’re empty calories.
  
  
• Press release pickups: Automated reposts from wire services don’t count as earned media unless a journalist curated the coverage.
  
  

Why PR requires long-term thinking

Public relations is a long-term business strategy, not a short-term lead generation tactic. In our experience, the best PR results compound year over year.

Just like investing, consistency and duration are key. That’s why we encourage clients to commit to PR for at least 12 months — ideally longer. If you’re doing the right work and it’s gaining traction, the momentum should justify continued investment.

If you’re not ready for that level of commitment, let’s talk about whether a PR program makes sense right now.

How Axia measures PR for clients

At Axia Public Relations, we measure PR using custom scorecards and dashboards aligned with your strategic goals. We never use cookie-cutter templates. Every client has a different definition of success, and our measurement approach reflects that.

Our preferred metrics include:

• Tier-1 earned media hits
  
  
• Key message inclusion
  
  
• Media outlet authority (DA/DR scores)
  
  
• Referral traffic and branded search
  
  
• Speaking and award wins
  
  
• Analyst or third-party validation
  
  
• Lead quality and visibility uplift
  
  

Final thought: Measure what matters

You don’t hire a PR firm to chase vanity metrics. You hire one to build influence, shift perception, and support your strategic growth.

If you’re measuring the wrong things, you’ll miss the real value of PR. If you’re measuring the right ones, you’ll see why earned media is one of the most powerful tools in your marketing mix.

Want to make sure you’re measuring PR the right way? Download our free PR Measurement Scorecard or contact us to schedule a PR performance audit.

Related Resources

• Yes, PR is measurable. How to measure and report public relations and strategic corporate communications
• Elements of newsworthiness: What makes a story newsworthy?
• How to set PR goals that actually support your business
• What’s the difference between PR and marketing?
• PR metrics to share with your CEO