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Too often time pressures leave you few opportunities to think about how effective your actions have been. So make sure your timetable includes some way to measure your effectiveness. You will want to do even better the next time. You worked hard to get media coverage. You sent out press releases, made follow-up calls, answered tough questions, and used some persuasion to get the media to appreciate your point of view. Then you got some hits — your name and your message is out there in print, on the air, and in cyberspace. But your job is not finished.
In order to evaluate your media strategy you need to monitor and review the coverage received. You need to find out how people understood your message or perceive your organization and what other impact did your campaign have. Did your message stand out clearly? If not, what issue dominated the media coverage and do you need to react? Always think about what you might change to improve upon your performance or strengthen your relations with the media. Ask people outside your organization to evaluate your publicity, too.
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There are several important reasons for monitoring media coverage. |
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To determine the impact of your media relations efforts. |
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To identify misstatements and errors for correction. |
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To identify those persons in the media who are most attuned to your issues. |
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To replicate successful media strategies. |
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To identify areas which need more media coverage. |
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To compare your organization’s position vis-ŕ-vis others in the same field. |
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Monitoring coverage of your organization is one of the most important elements of a well-executed media strategy. Monitoring should be one of the day-to-day activities that are part of implementing your media plan. As described in the beginning of this book, your media strategy includes “measures of success,” which can serve as specific indicators for evaluating the effectiveness of your media strategy and plan. In addition there are five general indicators to consider when conducting an evaluation:
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1.
Media content analysis:
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How has media coverage of your cause changed
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because
of your initiative? Has there been more or less coverage of your organization. Is it more often positive or more often negative?
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2.
Shifts in public opinion:
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Has there been a change in the way
the public views |
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your cause or organization?
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3.
Records of events:
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Has the number of participants at your events increased?
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4.
Policy changes:
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Has there been a significant policy change as a result of your
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initiative?
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5. Change in your organization’s participation: |
Has there been an increase
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in your organization’s membership?
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Evaluation can often seem expensive and daunting, but there are often simple ways to gain feedback about your initiative. These tools will help measure the five indicators listed above, and can also be used to measure more specific indicators that are listed as your media strategy’s “measures of success.”
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