AMEC’s European Summit introduced a glossary of social media measurement terms and a proposed update to the public relations valid metrics framework. The current public relations valid metrics framework is included in the PRSA Business Case for Public Relations.

Many of the measurement presentations from the Summit, including David Rockland’s presentation “How to Be Compliant with the Barcelona Principles,” are now available on AMEC’s website.

The International Association for Measurement and Evaluation of Communication (AMEC) hosted the fourth European Summit on Measurement, where representatives from more than 30 countries gathered in Dublin, Ireland, on June 13-15 to debate competency standards for PR measurement professionals and for PR practitioners in general.

What do you need to know to be an expert in measurement and what do you need to know about measurement to be good at public relations?  This question stems from the Barcelona Principles.

Here are some of the qualifications under consideration:

• Knows quantitative and qualitative research techniques
• Writes clear goals and objectives
• Selects appropriate metrics for outputs, outcomes and business results
• Measures quality and does not rely on simple quantitative measure, such as clips and impressions, alone
• Understands the benefits of different media measurement techniques
• Has knowledge of different outcome measures
• Can create effective research proposal requests, follow vendor and tool selection best practices and develop research budgets
• Integrates analytics into communications efforts across channels
• Emphasizes transparency in all facets of research
• Measures traditional and social media consistently

Continue reading " Setting Standards: Measurement Qualifications for PR Pros "

Ask any public relations professional to name the question they get most often and, inevitably, it comes down to “What is PR?”

You can hardly go into any new business meeting or grab coffee with a friend without hearing the question. For a profession in which businesses spend billions of dollars on our services, there is remarkably little understanding of what we do.

Recent discussions, blog posts, tweets and mainstream articles paint the following picture:

• Public relations professionals (and, thus, the audiences we serve) continue to struggle with this question;
• Existing definitions are not sufficient; and
• No one definition is considered the de facto industry definition.

My guess is you can relate to this, based on your own experiences.

PRSA has been listening to and engaging in many of these conversations, and after careful consideration, we have come to the conclusion it’s time to do something.

Continue reading " What is PR? An Updated Definition for Public Relations "

Dr. Larissa Grunig and her husband, Dr. James Grunig, lectured about the importance of measuring the relationship in PR at the Third Annual Grunig Lecture.

“Grunig” is a name I saw in textbooks when I took my PR prerequisite courses. The name is legend, synonymous with PR research, excellence and theory.

So when I saw that PRSA hosted an annual “Grunig Lecture” (let alone that the series is in its third year!), I positioned my time to attend the session.

Like a well-balanced communications team, Drs. Jim and Lauri Grunig taught us attendees about the importance of relationships in PR — not only through their research, but also through their example.

Continue reading " Annual Grunig Lecture: Remembering the “Relationship” in PR "

(Pre-Conference Session) Build Winning Integrated Social Media Campaigns: Look at Real-world Case Studies With Applicable Strategies
Presented by Kami Watson Huyse

Social media can be a scary place. There are “trolls” out there, the kind of folks that like to stir up trouble online, and they’re not living under bridges. They’re on Twitter and Facebook, and they’re blogging about your organization.

But the online space is also ripe with opportunity if you’re prepared.

In the world of social media, public relations professionals have been recast as the ombudsmen for our organizations. We must represent the voice of our publics inside of the company and become advocates for the community, customers and fans of the brand.

Continue reading " Trolling for Social Media Strategy "

More so than ever before, the perception and comprehension of public relations are suffering. At the same time, public relations is more vital than ever before, given the explosion of consumer engagement through new and social media, the collapse of reputation and trust in major institutions, and the evolving needs and concerns of corporate CEOs. To foster more accurate and better-informed internal and external perceptions of public relations’ roles, outcomes and value, PRSA is spearheading “The Business Case for Public Relations™,” an industry advocacy campaign aimed at changing attitudes and driving industry acceptance and growth.

Continue reading " The Business Case for Public Relations: Understanding the Value of Public Relations "