You’re not imagining it—PR is under more pressure than ever. The days of counting impressions and calling it a win are officially over. The industry is shifting hard toward outcome-based metrics, and if your reporting isn’t aligning with sales, trust, or lead generation, then you’re already behind. This report breaks down the shift, mapping out what’s now considered best-in-class measurement—and what’s just noise.
The real headline? PR is being held to the same standards as marketing. Stakeholders want proof that earned media drives business results. So, teams are ditching vanity metrics and adopting smarter tools, integrated frameworks, and predictive AI that connect media coverage to actions that matter.
Key Takeaways
- Outcome > Output. Impressions and clip counts won’t cut it. Business results like leads, conversions, and brand trust are the new north star.
- Tools like Memo, Muck Rack, and Signal AI are changing the game with real readership data, narrative analysis, and media influence scoring.
- PR pros are being asked for KPIs they couldn’t fake if they tried—like conversion rates from earned media or the actual quality of the audience reached.
- Measurement frameworks like PESO and AMEC’s Integrated Evaluation Framework are now table stakes, not nice-to-haves.
- Dashboards beat decks. Clients want real-time access to data that proves PR’s value without a song and dance.
Download the full report and use it as your playbook to start measuring what matters—and stop defending what doesn’t.
