The one thing every PR/Markeitng Plan must have

Never has it been easier to create a whiz-bang public relations plan. There are more tools available than ever before. Start with media placements, events, newsletters, brochures, and sales sheets. Then juice it with social media. Link it, hash tag it, post it, make it tweet and tumble. Do these things and your company will see more profits, and be more highly regarded.

Right?

Maybe not.

The critical element in all of this is measurement. Was it the whiz, or the bang that made customers react to your efforts? How does someone know if all the moving parts had an impact? Which caused the biggest reaction? What should you keep doing? What needs to be scrapped, or changed? The hype comes easily, the value is harder to define. 

All of these things are great, but the most critical element is measurement. This can be click through rates on your email blasts, amount of media coverage, increased phone calls, unique URLs created placed in your brochures, and much more. If your campaign is generating likes, follows, phone calls and more – congratulations! But, if all that noise isn’t supporting your long term goals, or increasing your profits – it is time to re-evaluate.