In order to effectively evaluate whether PR activity has been successful is by weighing up the effort put into something with the results that comes out of it. The output is what comes out of the work you've done and the outcome is what happens next/how the PR has changed awareness, opinion and behaviour of the publics involved.
There are numerous ways to measure and evaluate the success of a PR campaign:
1. Column inches- This is used to measure how much space you have for your PR content, it measures the amount of same you take up in the publication and then the cost of the space used is compared with the predicted impact it has had on the audience and this is seen as a way to evaluate success. A disadvantage of this is that it doesn't measure whether the coverage received is positive or negative and therefore it doesn't measure how the public will react.
2. Advertising Value Equivalency- AVE involves comparing the cost of the coverage with how much it would have cost to place an advert there instead. e.g. compare the cost of a press release in a magazine with how much it would have cost to have placed an advert in the same place. However, the same disadvantage applies to AVE in that you can't measure how the publics will respond to it or if they'll even react. Also, it is only measuring the cost of placing something in the press and not the VALUE of placing it there. Therefore this will be less useful in actually representing how effective the PR actions were.
3. Hits on Sites: The number of hits on a website can be recorded and reviewed as an evaluation tool. Although, yet again this doesn't prove audience reaction. A huge number of people could visit an organisations website but they could still not agree with the content or not react in the way the organisation would want them to. For example, people could all follow a link and visit a certain website but they could still not sign the petition the website is asking people to sign. Therefore this method of evaluation has its flaws.
4. Return on Investment: How much money back from the money they put in.
5. How many journalists/bloggers you've met with: Ineffective as you don't know whether they will even write about you and if so whether what they say will be accurate and positive.
More effective things to investigate in reference to measuring the success of PR:
-Exposure
-Engagement: how, when, who actively engaged
-Influence: on perceptions/attitudes
-Action: any action taken
-Conversion Rates: For example, if you speak to 32 bloggers and 8 of them write about you then you have a conversion rate of 25%. Many PR campaigns will aim to increase organisational conversion rates.
Smart objectives allow an organisation to measure the outcome of their PR campaigns and stunts and therefore whether these are worthwhile.
S- Specific
M- Measurable
A- Achieveable/Agreed
R- Realistic/Relevant
T- Time
Overall, I think that conversion rates are the most effective way to measure success as this separates the actual participation from the publics from general activity that may not even be relevant.
Sunday, 29 November 2015
Quick Photography
This weeks seminar involved an interactive activity where we had to take our own photos of other students in our seminar group and test out different techniques, angles and lighting in order to get the best looking photograph without requiring professional equipment or an expensive professional photographer. It was recommended that if we were ever given a brief where we had to use photography to promote certain brand products, then it would be best to use a professional photographer as it will make the products look much more appealing and of a better quality. However, learning how to take quick photographs would be useful for briefs that don't require product photos and that can include less professional photos but will still be persuasive and effective. Quick photographs can be useful in giving an organisations publics a basic idea about certain elements of the company, for example knowing how to take an effective photograph of a person would be useful if displaying an image of the organisational CEO on a brand website or in a feature article. Also, quick photography can be used for research or for social networking posts as these don't always require professional images to prove the point that they are trying to make e.g. sometimes social media posts can be designed with the purpose of creating a buzz and gaining shares from the public and therefore the most important thing is that the photography involved is interesting and represents what the organisation is trying to achieve, not that the photography is completely professional and angled perfectly.
A good technique for getting effective photographs is to have the subject tilt their shoulders in a 45 degree angle. This is to prevent the outline of the figure looking too block like, because if their shoulders are facing the camera straight on there will be a lot of large shapes to look at and the photograph will look intense. Alternatively instructing the subject to turn their shoulders slightly and tilt their head, this looks softer and less intense and makes the person seem more appealing. This works for both selfies and pictures you are taking of other people. Psychological research has shown that having human flesh in a photograph has more of an impact and can be more persuasive in
In terms of group pictures a commonly used and apparently successful trick for capturing a good image is the triangle technique involving the group being positioned in a triangle or inverted triangle shape instead of just a long straight line as this is boring and looks less appealing.
A good technique for getting effective photographs is to have the subject tilt their shoulders in a 45 degree angle. This is to prevent the outline of the figure looking too block like, because if their shoulders are facing the camera straight on there will be a lot of large shapes to look at and the photograph will look intense. Alternatively instructing the subject to turn their shoulders slightly and tilt their head, this looks softer and less intense and makes the person seem more appealing. This works for both selfies and pictures you are taking of other people. Psychological research has shown that having human flesh in a photograph has more of an impact and can be more persuasive in
In terms of group pictures a commonly used and apparently successful trick for capturing a good image is the triangle technique involving the group being positioned in a triangle or inverted triangle shape instead of just a long straight line as this is boring and looks less appealing.
Thursday, 19 November 2015
Feature Articles
A feature article is a longer and more in depth article, often they can be based on interviews. Many celebrities use them as positive PR for themselves or to promote something in particular. Unlike a media release, feature articles often use indirect headlines as a way of attracting an audience because if the headline is irrelevant or odd sounding it will make them want to read on and find out what actual content the article includes. This is where the sub-heading comes in as a way of explaining in more depth about what the article will actually be about and potentially its purpose. The by-line will come afterwards in order to inform the audience of who it was written by and who the interviewer was if relevant.
I found it difficult to think of a headline, I decided I wanted to use an indirect headline as it would provoke the reader to actually think for themselves about what the topic of the article could be. My feature article is based on the interview I conducted with another member of my PR seminar group: Anna. In the interview Anna described what it was like when she moved from Poland to Bournemouth to begin her university degree and how she felt about the whole transition. I originally couldn't think of an indirect headline that would catch the audiences attention and make them properly question what the article was about. However, eventually with help from my peers around me and after considering any quotes I had from the interview, I came up with the headline "In a Pickle." This headline was based on the part of the interview where Anna had spoken of what she missed about Poland and stated that although she enjoys a lot of the British food, she misses Poland's pickles. This quote is quite an odd one and many wouldn't automatically think of pickles when reading an article on an individuals experience of moving to a different country, therefore I felt this was an effective indirect headline as it doesn't give away much of the articles content.
The opening paragraph is currently something I'm finding difficult to write as I know that the common techniques to entice a reader to continue reading are to use either: a rhetorical question, a quote, a statement or a sentence describing different senses e.g. what the person could see/touch. However, it is hard to decide on which one to use as I have numerous quotes from the interview that would effectively open the article, however I need to focus it on a specific concept/topic and not just base them on the interview in general. Once I think up a specific topic to base my interview on e.g. what it is like to move to a complete new country or an article with the purpose of encouraging students to consider studying internationally etc, then it will be easier to write my paragraphs and to structure my feature article in an effective way. I am likely to focus my interview with the purpose of informing the reader and base it on the original concept of "what it is like to move to a different country by yourself/when you're a teenager/for a better education." If this fails then I may change my idea and place focus on the differences between Poland and England and the positives and negatives of both as described by Anna. I will work on a few opening sentences for both ideas and see which quotes from the interview fit most effectively with which concept and then I will decide on which would be more interesting as a feature article and go from there.
I found it difficult to think of a headline, I decided I wanted to use an indirect headline as it would provoke the reader to actually think for themselves about what the topic of the article could be. My feature article is based on the interview I conducted with another member of my PR seminar group: Anna. In the interview Anna described what it was like when she moved from Poland to Bournemouth to begin her university degree and how she felt about the whole transition. I originally couldn't think of an indirect headline that would catch the audiences attention and make them properly question what the article was about. However, eventually with help from my peers around me and after considering any quotes I had from the interview, I came up with the headline "In a Pickle." This headline was based on the part of the interview where Anna had spoken of what she missed about Poland and stated that although she enjoys a lot of the British food, she misses Poland's pickles. This quote is quite an odd one and many wouldn't automatically think of pickles when reading an article on an individuals experience of moving to a different country, therefore I felt this was an effective indirect headline as it doesn't give away much of the articles content.
The opening paragraph is currently something I'm finding difficult to write as I know that the common techniques to entice a reader to continue reading are to use either: a rhetorical question, a quote, a statement or a sentence describing different senses e.g. what the person could see/touch. However, it is hard to decide on which one to use as I have numerous quotes from the interview that would effectively open the article, however I need to focus it on a specific concept/topic and not just base them on the interview in general. Once I think up a specific topic to base my interview on e.g. what it is like to move to a complete new country or an article with the purpose of encouraging students to consider studying internationally etc, then it will be easier to write my paragraphs and to structure my feature article in an effective way. I am likely to focus my interview with the purpose of informing the reader and base it on the original concept of "what it is like to move to a different country by yourself/when you're a teenager/for a better education." If this fails then I may change my idea and place focus on the differences between Poland and England and the positives and negatives of both as described by Anna. I will work on a few opening sentences for both ideas and see which quotes from the interview fit most effectively with which concept and then I will decide on which would be more interesting as a feature article and go from there.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)