In This Issue
President's Message
 Some of the key drivers for public relations campaigns for 2009-10 are through the internet. Social media (SM) is more than just a buzzword; it is becoming a critical highlight of PR planning for all stakeholders.
CPRS-VI has maintained a modest profile with some SM sources: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Flickr are in the communications plan. Various members of the board tweet and share information as we move into Web 3.0 dynamics and interfaces.
What exactly does a social media strategy look like? What does it involve? How is it implemented? Who does what when?
These were some of the questions that ran through Sarah Milner’s mind, the CPRS-VI Communications Chair. She put the questions into a format by striking a focus group of committee members and directors to determine how we can best serve the membership and brand CPRS-VI as a voice of action and professionalism.
Planning entailed a one-hour brainstorming session of participants on Skype – no video, but tremendous ideas flying back and forth. Yes, it was a most engaging dialogue! We discussed best uses of – and best practices with – our current SM sites. A number of additional tools were reviewed, including RSS feeds, video blogs, social media news releases and online tracking. Dovetailing this was the recognition of how ROI must be both imminent and measurable, even with our limited social resources.
We now have a social media strategy to compliment the engagement strategy of driving up membership and increasing awareness of CPRS-VI’s core values. Will this be a stronger tool to attract new members? Will it assist with succession planning for future directors to sit on the board? Can it draw a wider pool of volunteers?
Yes. The time is ripe to salute the new digital tools of the 21st century’s online communities by integrating these into our daily activities. Would you read a blog or tweet about the annual Beyond the Hype conference? If you want to be a CPRS-VI evangelist or annual blogger for the November 13 event, contact me and we’ll give you some very colourful digital rope to start the conversation!
Ange Frymire APR MBA
President 2009-2010
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Measuring Return on Investment in Public Relations
By Steve Hutchings
In a recent online survey conducted by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), participants listed providing authentic strategic counsel and demonstrating return on investment (ROI) as two of the top three concerns of public relations specialists in the United States. This finding is more relevant than ever in today’s economic climate. As organizations trim budgets and watch every penny spent, today’s PR specialist must demonstrate a tangible ROI and show value to the client.
“I look at all my PR activities as tied to my client’s own formal business goals,” says Robyn Quinn, owner of Big Bang Communications. Quinn, who has clients in the scientific and high technology industries, measures ROI with a variety of metrics, all outlined in her communications plan. In one project, she might outline a level of support for an initiative and then gauge it by increased or decreased support once communications are complete. In another campaign, perhaps a conference or major event, her goal might be to make a specified number of attendees aware of a product or activity. Quinn also mentions the Media Rating Point System developed by CPRS National as another potential tool for those looking to measure public relations.
Measuring tangible and relevant goals in today’s economy is also important for Dave Davies of Harbourwerks Strategies. “The client has to be happy and see value,” he says, be it in the form of website traffic, sales leads or brand awareness. Davies also caters to the high technology industry. His clients include local firms such as Carmanah and Vancouver Island Technology Park. However, despite the link between marketing and PR in high tech, he doesn’t feel increased pressure to forgo PR work in place of marketing. In fact, he finds that the technology industry is often eager to embrace PR that incorporates social media via tools including video logs, Tweets and search engines. The way he sees it, showing value to clients also includes tutoring technology industry senior executives on the emerging tools of the day.
Davies remains true to the principles of earned media versus advertising. He separates media coverage into offline and online metrics. Offline coverage could include client articles in newspapers and trade journals. He points out that a full-page of advertising in a journal could cost $5000 but a client story written by a journalist could be worth substantially more in terms of brand awareness. He also measures offline metrics by traffic driven to client websites and by volume of client stock activity, while his online measurements include how many times a client’s product links have been clicked, or a YouTube video viewed. Davies has seen a dip in PR investment over the past year, and while clients are beginning to invest in PR once again, he believes the industry is still a year away from true recovery.
Clients in this economy are understandably looking for value in their PR investment. As such, ROI for today’s PR client requires not only one of the fundamentals of PR work – earned media via print and television coverage – but also the incorporation of less easily measured social media, and tactics primarily used in marketing like sales results, website statistics and inventory monitoring. No matter how a practitioner chooses to deliver ROI, ultimately a solid strategy with specific goals used to evaluate results will remains the backbone of the PR practitioner’s ability to deliver value.
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For your information…
Denis Racine Student Bursary – Deadline Approaching!
Need Cash (or know a Student Member who does)?
Applications for the CPRS-VI 2009 Denis Racine Student Bursary are being accepted until November 30.
To be eligible you must:
• be a member of CPRS-VI (enroll online!);
• be registered in a communications-related post secondary educational program;
• have completed three or more courses;
• live on Vancouver Island or the Gulf Islands.
For more information and to download the application form visit http://www.cprs-vi.org/studentbursary.php
We expect this year's bursary amount to be $500. An application form can be downloaded at and completed applications as well as any questions can be sent to David Alexander, Education Committee Chair at CPRS-VI at david@zeroonedesign.com.
Denis Racine was a prominent figure in Victoria's public relations community and a strong mentor for youth. He was president of both CPRS-VI and CPRS National as well as Tournament Director for the Times Colonist Open and an advisor for the University of Victoria. CPRS-VI is proud to have a student bursary named in his honour.
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