A guide to data-centric PR

Many PR pros remember when press releases were issued via fax or memo. Today’s culture is dominated by emails, text messages and Skype calls. Want to better understand data? Read on.

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Many PR activities happen online.

Thousands of emails being released at this instant; hundreds of junior PR staffers are calling media contacts to verify they received an event invitation; dozens of clients are hoping to secure coverage.

It’s like using an Oldsmobile instead of Teslas and SpaceX rockets—you’ll get there, but it’ll take time.

Many PR pros agree that PR can be measured, but I often meet professionals who find measurement confusing.

According to the results of the European Communication Monitor 2016 survey, nearly 72 percent of communicators believe big data will change PR. However, only 21 percent of all organizations have implemented data strategies.

Many pros still prefer to fly by the seat of their pants, to use intuition rather than intellectual procedures to solve PR problems. Even though Jim Grunig and Todd Hunt said that over 30 years ago, it still applies to PR .

Online PR strategies can be tracked by the data they leave behind. Data should be measured and analyzed for an objective evaluation to guide future campaigns.

Event invitation? There’s an app for that!

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