How Much Should You Spend on PR?

Here’s an oft-asked question in corporate boardrooms and executive retreats: “How much should we spend on PR?”

The real answer depends on the ROI of your PR efforts.

• What is your SEO worth? Look in your web analytics to see what your conversions from SEO are valued at.
• What is word of mouth worth to you?
• What is the value of your email list and added subscribers?
• What is increased PPC CTR worth?
• What is new website traffic worth?
• What about conversions from social media?
• What are inbound links and the traffic they bring worth?

Sum up all of the different marketing metrics that PR impacts and their respective returns on investment (which is a lot more work than a simple sentence might indicate, but it’s so important to do). Then spend until you hit diminishing returns that no longer justify increasing expenditures beyond that point. For example, if the first X dollars spent on PR brings in X + 25% in value, it’d make sense to continue increasing your spend – after all, you’re making money. Increase that until you start to approach break-even territory, then maintain the spending there and watch it carefully.

Obviously, this strategy breaks down fairly swiftly if you don’t know what the ROI of your PR is. Invest the time, energy, and resources in determining that first if you don’t already have at least some sense of what the impact has been! As a shameless plug, this is something we at SHIFT are happy to help you do. Contact us to learn more about it.