45% of B2B PR Measured by "Instinct and Anecdote" According to Champion Communications Study

82% of B2B CEO's say PR measurement not useful.

LONDON, June 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Forty-five percent of senior B2B marketers admit they use "Instinct" and "Anecdote" to evaluate their company's PR performance, according to an independent study: B2B PR For Growth, commissioned by Champion Communications.

The research by VansonBourne, which canvassed the opinions of over 100 senior marketing decision-makers and 50 CEOs from B2B companies also finds 8 in 10 (82%) CEO's find the PR measurements used in their organisation "Not useful". Despite this, over half (66%) of senior marketing decision-makers report their PR measurement is "extremely accurate."

When senior marketers from B2B companies were asked: "Which of the following metrics do you use to measure and evaluate the success of your organisation's PR output?" The following responses were given:

• Social media engagements (47%)
• Website visits (45%)
• Instinct/ Anecdote (45%)
• SEO Rankings (44%)
• Brand Awareness studies (40%)
• Downloads (36%)
• Share of Voice (35%)
• Backlinks (32%)

When CEOs were asked about the measurement of PR, 82% agree with the statement: "The metrics my CMO uses to demonstrate the ROI of our PR program aren't useful to me", whilst only 18% disagreed, indicating extremely low levels of satisfaction amongst CEOs when it comes to PR measurement.

Richard Cook, Founder at Champion Communications said: "It's exciting to see that so many B2B senior marketers use a combination of different metrics to analyse the PR performance of their programmes. Instinct and anecdote certainly may not be scientific and shouldn't be the only metric used to evaluate any strategy, but it can have a place. A blended approach can give a more holistic view on the strength and success of the strategy. The challenge is that this can become complex for non-PR specialists, and these results suggest that CEOs are being left frustrated by the lack of clarity."

"Public Relations is a team sport, reliant upon stakeholders from across the business, whether they are spokespeople, business leaders, marketing, or business development executives. These results suggest that there is more to be done to bring those involved along the journey, without complicating or over simplifying matters. We have found that the closer we can get to attributing the impact of B2B PR to business growth, the more efficient, effective, relevant, and accessible the reporting is. When board-level decision makers can see a direct correlation between PR activity and business growth, we have found their willingness to invest more time and resources increases."

Craig Hodges, founder of Informing Decisions, platform independent media evaluation experts who work with companies to help them get the most from their existing media monitoring and evaluation tools, said: "Communications teams need to define what the C-suite expects PR to accomplish. What does success look like to them? Only then can you identify the metrics that will resonate with the CEO. The PR community must do this to get and retain a seat at the table."

To learn more and download the full report "B2B PR for Growth" and learn how Champion Communications can help your business grow, please visit Champion Communications.

About Champion Communications

Champion Communications is an award-winning UK Based B2B PR Consultancy, dedicated to helping its clients grow. We work with ambitious, fast growth disrupters and multinational corporations to generate awareness, validation, credibility and trust which support business development objectives.