Measures exist which can demonstrate the precise contribution of a PR programme to an overall increase in sales

One of the most challenging aspects of any PR programme is the evaluation of its component activities. Many clients view PR results as intangible, wide-reaching, and varied. And not surprisingly, while 5 to 10 per cent of advertising budgets and 10 to 20 per cent of sales force budgets are reserved for evaluation, figures from the Healthcare Communications Association (HCA) suggest that the equivalent PR spend is as low as 3 per cent.

This is not to say that effective evaluation of healthcare PR cannot be readily achieved. Many communications programmes have successfully adopted a systematic approach to evaluation, and despite a lack of `hard endpoints' and `clear objectives', a number of meaningful measures exist which can demonstrate the precise contribution of a PR programme to an overall increase in sales.

Setting objectives
All assessable PR programmes must have clear objectives; ideally defined before the campaign commences. These objectives must be directly related to the overall business goals of the pharmaceutical organisation, and must be SMART in nature:

S pecific
M easurable
A chievable
R ealistic
T imely

SMART objectives may cover:

• Changes in awareness of a product, disease area, or company
• Changes in attitude to a product, disease area, or company
• Changes in practice and/or prescribing behaviour.

For example, if the overall business goal is to achieve use of the new-class anti-biotic by 25 per cent of respiratory consultants within 12 months, a suitable corresponding communications objective would be to build awareness of the new-class antibiotic among 25 per cent of respiratory consultants through attendance of two national symposia held in Q2 and Q3.

SMART objectives should be developed for both the overall PR programme, and for each of the individual projects (see 'Checklist of key evaluation areas' at the end of this article). It is in a client's interest to work with its consultancy to develop these objectives, as its subsequent successful delivery achieves a win-win situation for both parties.

Where possible, baseline measurements should be taken prior to any communications campaign (see 'Checklist for establishing baseline measurements' at the end of this article), with repeated measurements on completion. This will help to determine the direct effect of the PR programme, although other elements of the marketing mix may have also had an impact. An interim measurement may also prove useful.

Outputs, out-takes and outcomes
Once SMART objectives have been set, there are essentially three distinct levels of PR activity evaluation. These are defined as outputs, out-takes, and outcomes:

Output evaluation
This is the most basic form of evaluation, and is simply the measure of the tangible product, achieved as part of your activities. Outputs are usually quantitative in nature, and easy to identify. Examples of output evaluations are:

• The number of target opinion leaders who attended your symposium
• Quantitative delegate ratings on a Round Table meeting evaluation form
• Column inches from a media campaign
• Number of media coverage targets achieved
• Number of key messages portrayed for a given campaign.

These measurement criteria will indicate how much activity has been executed, but will not tell you what happened as a result of the activity (eg. the media campaign may have exceeded all coverage targets, but did it actually change prescribing habits or drive greater patient presentation?) If this information is required, additional research is needed.

Out-take evaluation
This is where you consider the impact of what you have achieved (ie. the quality of the above outputs). Examples of out-takes are:

• The percentage of attendees at a meeting who understood your key messages
• The number of key messages in each piece of media coverage
• The likelihood of a delegate changing his/her prescribing habits.

Outcome evaluation
These are the most valuable measures in that they assess how far you have gone towards reaching your ultimate business objectives. This may be in terms of positive attitude change, actual behaviour change, or improvements in direct sales.

For example, achieving formulary acceptance for a product would be an outcome from a launch meeting, while an increase in the number of local prescriptions would be an outcome from an individual PCT presentation.

Evaluation budgets
It is important to agree evaluation budgets up-front, not forgetting that the consultancy time required to carry out the evaluation should be added to direct costs such as media monitoring.

The question of how much to spend should not be considered in absolute terms, but measured in relation to the overall PR budget. For most PR programmes, an evaluation spend of 9 to 10 per cent of the overall budget is realistic. This is more in line with current practices in healthcare advertising and consumer marketing.

Conclusions
The importance of PR as part of the marketing mix is increasingly recognised, together with the need for its effective evaluation. However, in practice, evaluation is not carried out as extensively as it is for other elements of the mix. All quality PR consultancies will welcome thorough evaluation. This is because it will prove that their activities have been of value, and may ensure that the client-consultancy relationship is further cemented.

All objectives should be agreed between the client and consultancy, prior to the commencement of a PR programme. They should be SMART in nature. Once SMART objectives have been set, there are three distinct measurement levels for each PR activity: outputs, out-takes, and outcomes.

Dedicated budget should be set aside (approximately 10 per cent of total programme fees and expenses) for programme evaluation.

Further Information
If you require further information about evaluating PR programmes, the Healthcare Communications Association (HCA) has developed an Evaluation Toolkit, providing practical guidance on all aspects of PR evaluation. The HCA Secretariat can be called on 01306 742338.

The Author
Sarah Hart is deputy managing director, Munro & Forster Communications. She is also an executive committee member of the HCA and chairs the evaluation sub-group. 

Kindly reproduced with permission from PMLive.com.

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