It’s traditional in the PR business for relationships to endure -- ideally, for years at a stretch. While many agencies do some project work, typically they hope to keep their clients indefinitely. Most focus on their clients and the goals articulated throughout the PR planning process. Companies realize that PR firms are performing a function that is necessary in the business world -- they absolutely must communicate with their various external constituencies (and a host of internal audiences as well). How they communicate -- via the news media, via analysts and pundits, via the emerging community of bloggers, via customers and partners --- varies widely, but communication itself is not an option.
Public relations isn’t advertising. It cannot be evaluated using the metrics that advertisers require to support their expenditures, whether promoting a brand or a product. There are “ad equivalency” measures in PR, but they don’t reflect the inherent power of editorial - which, after all, isn’t for sale at any price. Most CEOs would agree that nothing matters more than corporate reputation. It is that power and credibility that make public relations so challenging for PR professionals and clients alike. Clients need to have a somewhat longer time horizon and appreciate that it’s precisely the lack of control we all have over the editorial product that makes it so valuable.
All of this isn’t to say that success can’t be measured -- only that PR metrics tend to be qualitative and strategic rather than quantitative and tactical.
