How to Measure PR Results: A Media Analysis Report Template
To measure PR results, track six numbers each month: coverage volume, quality of outlets, share of voice, tone, message pick-up and the traffic or enquiries that follow. Put them in one media analysis report so the same measures can be compared month on month. This article gives you a template you can copy, and explains what to ignore. It supports our media monitoring services, where this report is the main deliverable.
What is a media analysis report?
A media analysis report summarises the coverage your brand earned over a period and what it means. It is different from a clippings folder. A folder shows what was published; a report shows whether the coverage helped. It is the document your manager or board will actually read, so it should fit on a few pages and lead with conclusions.
Which PR metrics should you track?
| Metric | What it tells you | How to record it |
|---|---|---|
| Coverage volume | How much you were covered | Number of articles and posts mentioning the brand, by month |
| Outlet quality | Whether the right audience saw it | Count of coverage in your priority outlets, in English and Arabic |
| Share of voice | How you compare with competitors | Your mentions as a percentage of all mentions across you and 3 to 5 named competitors |
| Tone | How you are being described | Share of positive, neutral and negative mentions, with examples |
| Message pick-up | Whether your key messages were repeated | Number of articles that carry at least one of your 3 key messages |
| Spokesperson presence | Whether your leaders are quoted | Count of articles quoting a named spokesperson |
| Referral traffic and enquiries | Whether coverage drove action | Visits from coverage links in analytics, plus enquiries that mention the article |
What should the template include?
- Summary. Three sentences: what happened, what worked, what to change.
- Headline numbers. The metrics in the table above, with last month beside this month.
- Top coverage. The five most valuable articles with outlet, date, tone and a link.
- Competitor comparison. Share of voice and the topics competitors owned.
- Issues and risks. Any negative story and how it was handled.
- Next month. Planned announcements and the angles to push.
Should you use advertising value equivalent (AVE)?
Advertising value equivalent multiplies column space or airtime by an ad rate to give a money figure. Most communications bodies discourage it, because earned coverage and paid advertising are different things and the figure says nothing about tone or results. If your management asks for a money number, report it alongside the other metrics, never instead of them.
How do you connect coverage to business results?
Tag links in your press releases so analytics can show visits from coverage. Ask new customers how they heard of you and record the answer. Compare enquiry volume in the weeks after a major story with a normal week. None of this proves cause, but patterns over several months are persuasive.
How often should you report?
Monthly suits most companies, with instant alerts for anything urgent. Add a deeper quarterly review that looks at trends, competitor moves and which story types performed best. Around a launch or crisis, move to weekly.
How do you read the report?
Look for movement, not single numbers. Rising coverage with falling positive tone is a warning. High volume in low-priority outlets means your distribution needs a sharper media list. Strong share of voice with weak message pick-up means your releases are being covered but your story is being rewritten. Each pattern points to a different fix.
What does a worked example look like?
The numbers below are invented to show the layout. They are not client results.
| Metric | Last month | This month | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| Articles | 18 | 27 | Up after the product launch release |
| Priority outlets | 4 | 9 | Better targeting of the media list |
| Share of voice | 22% | 31% | Gained ground on the nearest competitor |
| Positive tone | 60% | 58% | Stable; one critical story on pricing |
| Message pick-up | 5 of 18 | 17 of 27 | Headline message now repeated in most coverage |
A reader can see in ten seconds that the launch worked, that targeting improved and that pricing is the topic to watch. That is the point of the report: it turns a pile of links into a decision.
What mistakes spoil PR measurement?
- Reporting only the best clippings. Include the negative ones so the report is trusted.
- Changing the metrics each month, which makes trends impossible to see.
- Comparing against no one. Share of voice needs named competitors.
- Counting social shares as coverage. Keep media coverage and social reaction separate.
- Measuring activity, such as releases sent, instead of results.
How do you set targets?
Use your first three months as a baseline. Then set modest targets for the numbers you can influence: more coverage in priority outlets, a higher share of voice and more articles that carry your key messages. Revisit targets each quarter. A target without a baseline is only a guess.
Who should read the report?
Send the one-page summary to senior management, the full report to the communications team, and the competitor section to sales and marketing. Each group needs a different slice. When the report is shared widely, coverage starts to inform decisions about product launches, spokesperson choices and where to place the next story.
Which tools help with measurement?
A monitoring service gathers the coverage, web analytics shows the traffic it sends, and a simple spreadsheet holds the monthly comparison. You do not need an expensive platform to start. You need consistent definitions, a fixed list of competitors and the discipline to report on the same day every month.
What does a media review cost?
At Advertah a one-off media review starts from AED 2,000, and ongoing monitoring starts from AED 1,200 a month. For the full cost picture see What is media monitoring and how much does it cost in the UAE?. To see a finished report, request a sample.
About the author. Ravishan Madappuli is the founder of Advertah, an integrated marketing and communication agency in Sharjah serving clients in the UAE, Sri Lanka and India. Connect on LinkedIn or follow Advertah.