The Big Question: Measure Your 2017 PR GoalHello, pretty little measurement. Oh, how much I love you.

Last week, my mom’s fantastic husband needed some help with their Roku.

He asked Kelly for help and he said, “If I can’t help you, Gini can.”

Mel said, “Really?”

Kelly said, “A little known fact about Gini is she is crazy good with numbers and engineering and technology.”

You all know I love numbers, because I see the panic cross your face when I utter the word METRICS.

That’s why I was excited about last week’s Big Question:

What’s your 2017 PR goal? And how are you going to measure it?”

But you guys made yourselves scarce!

Yes, I know it was a long weekend.

But I also know how many of you are working your way through our 30-Day Communications Challenge.

And you’ve already done that work. 

Right??

I suspect it was the measurement aspect that scared a few of you off from answering.

But I did promise we’d help you identify the right metrics to measure your progress.

It’s only through setting goals and measuring our results that we will move PR forward.

It’s the only way we’ll change its public image from being a nice-to-have budget expense to being a vital component to business success.

Increased Domain Authority a Key 2017 PR Goal

Some of you did answer the question (thank you…I owe you!) so let’s look at that.

It’s not surprising our crew of PESO model supporters is planning to work on domain authority.

That’s definitely a primary outcome from implementing this approach.

My top PR goal is to increase my domain authority by 20 points.

I’ll do that through strategic guest posts and posts to my blog and by regularly focusing on Google Analytics and keyword analysis to ensure I am adding value.

One thing that really clicked for me was watching The Mastering Modern PR video series and taking Standout Guest Posting online course and really getting that what we are doing is not fragments, but part of the same continuum.

We (collectively) sometimes treat these tasks as fragments without the knowledge that they are interrelated.

If we can treat these tasks as guideposts along a journey, then, good work will beget good work. — Sue Duris

This is kind of cheating, because I essentially used the example from the 30-day challenge.

But here’s one: Use The Modern Blogging Masterclass content formula to increase the domain authority of Honestly Thrive to 15.

I will do this by building a content calendar using specific key terms that are relevant to PR for small businesses by December 31, 2017. — Hanna Knowles

I LOVE seeing these goals! They’re perfect. 

I knew we weren’t the only ones setting significant domain authority growth goals.

(And Sue and Hanna, I’ll be curious to see if this blog post helps your authority increase ever-so-slightly.)

Use PR to Drive Business Goals

PR is an exceptional driver of business growth when all of your communication activities are working towards the same goals.

It’s exactly how we go from a nice-to-have to a necessity.

To build my business.

I will measure it by the number of new prospects, new clients, and revenue growth.

How is that a PR goal, you ask?

To achieve this goal, I have or I will l be implementing several PR tactics to help me get there. Eden Spodek

Not to pick on Eden in a blog post, but I’m totally going to pick on Eden in a blog post.

love this goal, but I recommend adding the M and the T of SMART goals.

Sure, success could be achieved if one new client is signed, but is that all you’re going for?

Add the metric and the timeline and this is perfect!

The Next Big Question: Amplifying Your Success in 2017

Effective planning requires looking back on your goals and noting both what goals you didn’t quite hit, and in which areas you exceeded expectations.

So this week’s Big Question is an easy one and won’t require any math:

What was your biggest PR success in 2016 and how will you build upon it in 2017?

You can answer it here (and who doesn’t want to talk publicly about their successes??).

Or, pop answers into our Slack community or send them to us via social media, using the hashtag #SpinSucksQuestion.

Let’s hear it!

Gini Dietrich

Gini Dietrich is the founder, CEO, and author of Spin Sucks, host of the Spin Sucks podcast, and author of Spin Sucks (the book). She is the creator of the PESO Model and has crafted a certification for it in partnership with Syracuse University. She has run and grown an agency for the past 15 years. She is co-author of Marketing in the Round, co-host of Inside PR, and co-host of The Agency Leadership podcast.

View all posts by Gini Dietrich