Public relations has never had a shortage of metrics to track. Share of media coverage, impressions, sentiment, volume of coverage, the list goes on. With so many options, it can feel overwhelming. But the truth is, not every metric matters. If you’re serious about demonstrating PR’s role in business growth, you need to focus on earned media metrics that drive real impact.
Now, let’s address the elephant in the room: PR attribution. It’s the holy grail of measurement. Everyone wants it. Everyone talks about it. But to be real, it’s still messy. Attribution models are expensive, often inaccurate, and rarely give PR teams full credit for their role in customer journeys. This is why, heading into 2025, smart PR teams are shifting their focus to the earned media metrics that matter most.
Here are the top three earned media metrics every PR pro should lock in on.
1. Real Article Readership
Forget impressions. Forget “opportunities to see.” If you want to impress a CMO, talk to them about actual readership. Real article readership tells you how many people are genuinely engaging with your media coverage, not just scrolling past it.
This data lets you benchmark your performance against competitors in a way that volume metrics never could. Your competitor might land ten articles for every one of yours, but if your single piece gets more readers than their ten combined, you’re winning where it matters.
This isn’t about social media shares or comments. This is about gaining access to web analytics from the media outlets themselves. Tools like Memo make this possible. If you’re not measuring real readership in 2025, you’re playing checkers while everyone else is playing chess.
2. Referral Traffic
Referral traffic measures how many people click on your website from a piece of earned media. It’s a simple, powerful way to connect PR efforts directly to audience behavior.
Of course, there’s a catch. Many journalists and editors refuse to include links, and getting access to Google Analytics data isn’t always easy for PR teams. But that’s not an excuse to ignore it. When journalists are willing, UTM codes make it simple to track clicks and behavior. Even without direct links, you can watch for spikes in branded search volume after a big media hit.
Referral traffic is not a perfect science, but it gives you tangible proof that your media efforts are driving interest and action. And in a boardroom, tangible proof always beats hopeful speculation.
3. Message Pull Through
Every brand wants to “control the narrative,” but very few measure how often their actual messaging shows up in earned media. That’s a miss. And the reality is, there is very little control. There is only influence.
To track message pull-through, you first need a clear set of branded key messages. Then, you analyze your coverage to see if and how those messages are reflected. This can be done manually with smart tagging or through topic modeling tools.
The results reveal two important truths. First, whether your PR efforts are effective. Good relationships with journalists usually translate into better, more accurate coverage. Second, it uncovers the strength of your brand narrative itself. If your story isn’t unique or compelling, even the best PR team won’t get it across. Without a clear, differentiated brand voice, measuring message pull-through becomes almost impossible.
These Earned Media Metrics Bridge to Business Value
Tracking the right earned media metrics isn’t about making PR look good on paper. It’s about proving PR’s role in driving real business outcomes. Measurement is the bridge that connects storytelling to strategy, creativity to conversion.
In 2025, leadership will demand more than vanity metrics. They will expect PR teams to stand shoulder to shoulder with marketing, sales, and finance in demonstrating tangible ROI. At the same time, media monitoring will move beyond reactive reporting and play a bigger role in real-time risk management. If your earned media strategy isn’t backed by strong data, you’re not just missing opportunities, you’re exposing your brand to unseen threats.
Focusing on real article readership, referral traffic, and message pull-through strengthens your ability to manage reputation, measure true influence, and protect business value. In a world where scrutiny moves at the speed of social media, the brands that win will be the ones that measure smarter and respond faster.
