Tag Archive for: PR ROI

Why CEOs Are Losing Confidence in CMOs, and How PR Closes the Gap

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A new survey from Boathouse dropped this week, and if you work in marketing or PR, it deserves more than a scroll-past, because CEO confidence in CMO performance is down, but the more interesting take away doesn’t fit into the headline.

The Fifth Annual CEO Study surveyed 150 CEOs, and the numbers are uncomfortable. Only 15% gave their CMO an A grade, down from 24% last year. CEO confidence in their CMO fell to 43%, from 50% the year prior. And 60% of CEOs now view marketing as a cost center. Last year that number was 35%.

A 25-point swing in one year. Forget disruption, that’s pure rupture.

But I don’t think this comes down to CMO competence. When I look at the context, the AI disruption picture is everywhere in this data, and it explains a lot. The good news? Through my lens, I see some answers.

The AI Impact Arrived Before the ROI Did

Only 1 in 10 CEOs say AI is already delivering measurable impact on marketing. More than a third don’t expect measurable impact for at least a year. But AI’s impact on marketing effectiveness has already arrived, even if the ROI hasn’t. CAC is up. Organic click-throughs are down. The channels CMOs have relied on for years are mid-disruption, and CMOs are being graded on results during the disruption itself.

The good news is that CEOs seem to understand their CMOs are at least showing up. 79% said their CMO showed strong commitment to the CEO and the board, the highest since the survey began in 2021. 74% credited their CMO with pushing the organization forward. The message from CEOs is clear: you’re here, you’re committed, but the results aren’t landing yet.

That distinction matters.

CEO Confidence in CMO Performance: Who Actually Owns Narrative Transformation?

47% of CEOs cited transforming the company’s narrative in the marketplace as a top priority this year, more than double last year’s 23%. At the same time, only 43% see the CMO’s primary role as strategic. The majority see CMOs as leading execution.

So CEOs want narrative transformation, but they don’t see marketing as the function to lead it. I’ve watched this exact tension play out my entire career.

Narrative transformation lives in PR. If there’s no separate PR function, it lands in marketing by default. The challenge is that every stakeholder sees the narrative problem differently. A CMO wants a narrative shift that drives click-throughs. A Chief Communications Officer wants one that builds trust and authority. Investors and boards want to see narrative changes show up in revenue, stock price, or valuation.

Connecting those dots requires a new way of thinking about ROI. I address this in detail in my upcoming book, The Invisible Asset, but the short version is this: PR and marketing have to stop running as separate lanes. The companies getting this right are the ones where authority, trust, and commercial metrics are finally speaking the same language.

The Metric That Actually Belongs in the Boardroom

I want to make the case for something that got buried when digital dashboards took over: Share of Voice in earned media.

SOV got brushed aside in favor of faster, more immediate digital numbers. Click-throughs, referrals, session time. Those are campaign health metrics. They matter to the marketing team. They don’t move a board.

SOV in earned media coverage is a leading indicator of market share and growth, and the research behind this is decades deep. Les Binet and Peter Field analyzed effectiveness data from the IPA databank and found that an excess share of voice of 10 percentage points produces roughly 0.5% to 0.7% of annual market share growth. Nielsen’s analysis of 123 brands landed on approximately the same number. The B2B Institute confirmed the relationship holds in B2B markets as well.

Four decades of research. Hundreds of brands. The relationship keeps holding. We just stopped paying attention to it because click-throughs were easier to report.

When a CMO or CCO walks into a board meeting and shows how SOV is moving ahead of improved CAC, ahead of increased branded search, ahead of loyalty gains, that’s when the cost center conversation starts to change. SOV is the only forward-looking indicator that captures the full value of narrative. And right now, almost nobody is using it that way. CEO confidence in CMO performance radically shifts when that CMO-CEO gap starts to close.

Authority Is the Edge That Compounds

The survey found CEOs are prioritizing narrative transformation precisely because we’re in a volatile moment. That instinct is right. But most companies are still acting like visibility is the goal. It isn’t. Authority is.

Here’s what I’m seeing with clients right now: incoming traffic from LLMs is still a small share of overall search, sometimes around 10%. But it’s growing at 300%, 400%, 500% year over year. That growth doesn’t come from paid placement or SEO tricks. It comes from whether AI systems trust your brand enough to cite it. And that trust is built through reputation, credibility, and authority, which has always been a PR function.

We’re also buried in choices as consumers. For any product you can name, the options outpace anyone’s ability to process them. Buying decisions are increasingly outsourced to AI, to trusted sources, to brands that have already done the work of being credible. Decision fatigue is real, and authority is the answer to it.

The CMOs who figure this out, who stop optimizing only for immediate metrics and start building brand authority that compounds over time, will have a very different conversation with their CEO next year.

The data is telling us the current playbook isn’t enough. The question is whether marketing and PR leaders are ready to build a new one together.

 

The Invisible Asset, written by Avaans Media founder Tara Coomans, is the PR ROI framework that builds brand equity, drives valuation, attracts capital, and wins high-stakes moments. It’s built for CMOs defending budgets, CEOs preparing for a capital event, and operators in regulated categories. Get the book →

 

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Measuring PR ROI for Executives and Boards

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Measuring PR ROI for executives and boards isn’t like measuring other initiatives.

The board doesn’t care about impressions, and investors don’t care about headlines. They care about:

  • Narrative control
  • Valuation growth
  • Revenue acceleration
  • Risk insulation

And most importantly, they care whether PR is tied to business outcomes.

Here’s the problem: less than 10% of Fortune 500 CEOs come from marketing or communications backgrounds (Spencer Stuart CEO Transitions Report). Most come from operations or finance, which means when PR reports in vague or campaign-centric language, it gets filtered through financial logic. That’s exactly why who you hire matters as much as what you measure. And most PR metrics measure campaign health, not enterprise impact.

Boards understand the value of reputation instinctively, but instinct doesn’t get line items approved. So let’s talk about PR ROI the way executives and boards actually understand it.

The Executive PR ROI Framework

PR ROI is not measured in impressions. It’s measured in premium. If PR isn’t building premium, it’s eroding value. Valuation is the ultimate scoreboard.

According to McKinsey, strong brands outperform weaker competitors in total shareholder return by a significant margin over time because brand strength supports pricing power, loyalty, and resilience (McKinsey, “The Value of Getting Brand Building Right”).

1. Valuation Premium

Existing valuation vs. target valuation: brand strength directly influences multiples. Interbrand’s long-standing brand valuation studies show that strong brands command materially higher earnings multiples due to reduced perceived risk and increased growth confidence (https://interbrand.com/best-global-brands/).

Boards don’t measure PR in headlines. They measure it in expansion.

2. Sales Velocity & Revenue Efficiency

Time to close. Win rates. Sales cycle compression. Trust shortens due diligence on all three, and trust isn’t a soft metric: it directly affects conversion rates and deal friction.

If PR is working:

  • Sales cycles shorten
  • Objections decrease
  • Procurement moves faster

That’s measurable ROI.

3. Pricing Power

Pricing power rarely increases because of better product alone. Product is table stakes. Brand is staying power.

If your company competes on price, you have a brand problem. If your company commands premium pricing, PR is contributing to enterprise value.

4. Talent Magnetism

Employer brand isn’t an HR function. It’s a reputation function. LinkedIn’s Global Talent Trends report shows that strong employer brands reduce cost per hire and increase acceptance rates. So ask yourself: are candidates negotiating comp aggressively, or are they negotiating for speed to join?

If top-tier talent is eager before compensation discussions even start, your reputation is already doing the selling.

5. Risk & Regulatory Insulation

Reputation reduces friction in moments of scrutiny, and companies with strong stakeholder trust recover faster from crises and regulatory challenges. PwC’s Global Crisis Survey shows that organizations with established trust and strong communication practices recover revenue and reputation more quickly after disruption. That insulation has financial impact, and boards understand risk mitigation.

What Not to Measure

Visibility. You can be visible and untrusted. Visibility is cheap. Trust is earned.

Cost per headline. Reducing PR to output volume is like reducing finance to spreadsheet count. Vanity metrics don’t build valuation.

Early Indicators Boards Should Track

Valuation takes time to move, so what moves first? Here’s what I look at:

Independent Influence

  • Do prospects repeat your positioning back to you?
  • Are analysts referencing your narrative?
  • Are customers advocating without incentive?

Third-Party Validation

  • Are tier-one outlets adopting your framing?
  • Are investors using your language in earnings calls?
  • Are you invited into industry conversations, not pitching into them?

Efficiency Signals

  • Lower CAC
  • Higher LTV
  • Increased pricing tolerance
  • Reduced talent acquisition friction

According to Bain & Company, increasing customer retention by just 5% can increase profits by 25-95%. Reputation is a retention driver, and these are leading indicators of enterprise-level ROI.

PR ROI Is Cross-Functional

Everyone owns PR ROI. Reputation is no stronger than the weakest executive misstep. The CEO shapes narrative, but doesn’t own reputation alone: finance doesn’t operate in isolation, product doesn’t innovate in isolation, and PR can’t grow reputation in isolation either.

When PR is aligned cross-functionally:

  • Product strengths are amplified.
  • Sales friction is reduced.
  • Investor confidence grows.

If the product isn’t market-fit, PR won’t save it. If the company operates without integrity, PR won’t mask it. But when rigor, ambition, and values exist, PR converts them into enterprise premium.

The Financial Framing of PR Risk

What’s the risk of doing nothing with PR? Look at your total addressable market, and look at your current market share. What would it take to be in the top three? That delta is your PR risk.

Because differentiation at scale is rarely product alone. It’s narrative dominance. It’s authority. It’s trust built over time.

The Only Metric Boards Ultimately Care About

Valuation. Measuring PR ROI for executives and boards means understanding that everything feeds up to that:

  • Pricing power
  • Sales efficiency
  • Talent magnetism
  • Risk mitigation
  • Market positioning

All roads lead to valuation. If you want PR to prove ROI, track valuation movement alongside leading indicators.

Track it relentlessly. Make it cultural, make it financial, make it board-level.

PR is a value creation function, and the organizations that understand that early build premium faster, and defend it longer.

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From PR Wins to Pipeline: Turning Media Coverage Into Sales Enablement

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Most companies treat media coverage like a trophy. They land a great article, post it on LinkedIn, add a logo to the website, and file it away under “PR wins.” Meanwhile, sales keeps doing what sales has always done, pitch decks, case studies, and discounting when deals stall.

That’s a missed opportunity.

When used correctly, media coverage is one of the most effective PR sales enablement tools a company has. Not because it’s flashy, but because it does the one thing sales teams can’t do alone: borrow trust at scale.

Earned media is a trust asset, not an awareness metric

Buyers don’t struggle to find options, they struggle to decide who to trust. That’s where third-party credibility comes in. Earned media works precisely because it’s not your voice. It’s validation from someone your buyer already respects.

But here’s the nuance: media coverage doesn’t influence sales by existing. It influences sales by being operationalized.

If your coverage lives only on a press page, it’s passive, if it lives inside your sales motion, it becomes leverage.

Where PR for sales enableable usually break down

In most organizations, PR and sales sit adjacent, but not aligned.

PR celebrates impressions.
Sales wants pipeline.

So PR teams focus on reach, while sales teams say, “That’s great, but how does this help me close?”

The answer isn’t more coverage. It’s using media coverage in sales intentionally.

Here’s what that looks like in practice.

1. Match coverage to buying-stage objections

Not all media is created equal.

A feature story might help early-stage trust.
A trade quote might unblock a technical concern.
A founder op-ed might reduce perceived risk.

Smart sales enablement maps earned media to buyer objections:

  • “Are you credible?” → Tier-one or respected trade coverage

  • “Do you understand our industry?” → Niche vertical commentary

  • “Are you stable enough to bet on?” → Executive thought leadership

When sales teams know which article to send and why, media stops being generic proof and starts being a precision tool.

2. Embed earned media directly into sales workflows

If sales has to hunt for coverage, it won’t get used.

The highest-performing teams I see treat media like any other sales asset:

  • Pre-built email snippets with contextual links

  • One-slide inserts in pitch decks

  • CRM notes tied to specific objections

  • Follow-up sequences that reference relevant coverage

This isn’t about flooding prospects with links. It’s about timing credibility when trust matters most.

3. Train sales to talk about coverage—not just send it

Sending an article without context is lazy enablement.

What works better is coaching sales to frame coverage strategically:

“You might find this helpful—this article addresses the exact challenge you mentioned, and it’s why companies like yours come to us.”

That subtle shift turns earned media into a conversation extender, not a brag.

4. Use media to shorten sales cycles, not just open doors

One of the most under-discussed aspects of earned media ROI is sales velocity.

When trust is established earlier:

  • Fewer stakeholders need convincing

  • Less time is spent validating claims

  • Discount pressure drops

That’s PR attribution in its most practical form, not last-click nonsense, but time-to-close impact.

If you’re not tracking how media influences deal speed, you’re underestimating its value.

5. Think beyond humans AI is watching too

There’s a newer layer here that sales teams should care deeply about.

Large language models are increasingly shaping how buyers research vendors. And LLMs don’t rank brands by pitch decks, LLMs prioritize consistent third-party validation.

Media coverage now functions as both:

  • A trust signal for buyers

  • A training signal for AI systems deciding who’s credible

That means PR sales enablement isn’t just about closing today’s deals. It’s about making sure your company is discoverable, defensible, and credible tomorrow.

The takeaway

PR doesn’t drive revenue  incidentally, it drives revenue when leadership stops treating media as a vanity metric and starts treating it as a sales asset—one designed to reduce friction, increase confidence, and move deals forward faster.

If your media coverage isn’t helping sales close, the problem isn’t the coverage, it’s an indication of alignment or operationalizing coverage.

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PR Sprint vs. PR Retainer: Which One Fits Your Situation

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Key Takeaways

  • A PR Sprint proves something fast. Fixed scope, defined timeline, built for launches, funding announcements, or a specific seasonal window.
  • A PR Retainer builds credibility over time. Ongoing, adaptive, and layered, it’s designed for brands managing multiple audiences, a regulated category, or a runway to a funding event.
  • Choosing the right model depends on timing, goals, and growth stage: Startups or time-sensitive campaigns benefit from Sprints, while established brands aiming for sustained influence should invest in Retainers; Sprints can also serve as a testing ground before transitioning to a Retainer.

 

A PR Sprint and a PR Retainer solve two different problems. Pick based on budget alone and you can end up with a program that runs exactly on schedule and still doesn’t move the number that actually matters to your business.

Some brands need proof, fast, before they scale further. Others need credibility that compounds over months or years, timed to a moment that hasn’t arrived yet. That’s why Avaans Media offers two engagement models: the PR Sprint and the PR Retainer.

This guide breaks down what each model actually solves, and walks through the specific situations that point you toward one or the other.

What Is a PR Sprint?

A PR Sprint is a short-term, outcome-driven public relations campaign. It delivers measurable visibility for a specific goal, such as a product launch, funding announcement, or seasonal campaign, within a defined time frame.

Usually lasting 6–12 weeks, a PR Sprint operates like a focused strike. Strategy is fast, media pitching is proactive, and results are measured in real-time. It’s built for brands that need media impact now, not six months from now.

PR Sprints are ideal for:

  • Launching a new product: consumer or B2B
  • Testing brand messaging or positioning before a bigger commitment
  • Generating momentum before a retail, fundraising, or industry milestone
  • Capturing a defined seasonal or category moment

Sprints are also a smart way to evaluate an agency partnership with minimal risk. You get speed, clarity, and measurable results.

What Is a PR Retainer Package?

A PR Retainer (some clients and press refer to this as Bespoke PR, since the scope adapts as the program matures) is an ongoing strategic partnership built for sustained visibility. Instead of a single campaign, it prioritizes continuous brand storytelling, media relationships, and layered credibility building.

With a Retainer, Avaans Media functions as an extension of your team, pitching press, keeping executives visible, and building a record of coverage that holds up under scrutiny.

This model fits brands managing more than one audience at once, operating in a regulated category that needs an adaptive approach, or building toward a funding event that’s still a year or more out. Retainers build familiarity and brand authority with media that can’t be replicated through a single campaign.

Which One Fits Your Situation

Skip the feature list. The fastest way to know which model you need is to find your situation below.

You need PR tied to a buying season or a specific event. Choose a Sprint. A fixed scope and defined timeline mean the work concentrates entirely on your window, with category exclusivity while it runs.

You’re 12 to 18 months from a funding event. Choose a Retainer. Investor-grade credibility doesn’t come together in a 90-day scope. It accumulates over months, so the record already exists by the time due diligence starts.

You need consumer PR and investor-facing narrative running at the same time. Choose a Retainer. Two audiences means two narrative tracks moving in parallel, which takes ongoing strategic oversight.

You have momentum and need to prove the PR channel works before you scale it. Choose a Sprint. A concentrated effort in a defined window is how you get proof of concept before committing to something longer.

You’re in a regulated category and your PR needs to adapt as claims or regulations shift. Choose a Retainer. Regulated brands need a program built to adjust in real time, since a locked-in scope can’t keep up with shifting claims or rules.

You’re new to PR with big goals for this quarter. Choose a Sprint. It gives you a clear deliverable scope and a fast read on what PR can do for your brand before a bigger investment.

 

What This Looks Like in Practice

The Sprint model, in action: A parental-safety SaaS platform needed more than beta users ahead of launch. It needed a real community willing to co-create the product. Avaans built an 8-week program combining social listening, an influencer and expert track, and a closed feedback loop between the community and the product team.

In 8 weeks, the brand went from near-zero social presence to 2.8 million organic digital impressions and a 300% lift in Facebook impressions, with a 23% increase in website traffic. That’s the fast proof a Sprint is built to deliver, ahead of a launch date that wasn’t moving. Read the full case study.

The Retainer model, in action: A consumer wellness brand in a regulated, emerging category needed something a single campaign couldn’t deliver: an independent editorial record that would hold up under institutional investor scrutiny. Avaans built a 3-year program in deliberate sequence, trade press first, then consumer lifestyle, then business and financial media, timed to land as the IPO window closed.

By the time investors began their own research, the record was already there to meet them. The result: a 300% stock price increase on an oversubscribed IPO. That level of brand authority gets built in layers, over years, timed to the moment it needs to matter. Read the full case study.

Two very different programs, because the two situations called for it.

Is a PR Sprint a Good Way to Test an Agency?

Absolutely. Many clients begin with a PR Sprint to experience how Avaans delivers data-driven, transparent PR.

A Sprint that mismatches your actual situation, though, won’t tell you much. Forcing sustained, adaptive work into a fixed six-week scope just produces mediocre results that never compound. Narrative consistency – the throughline that makes coverage add up to something instead of a pile of disconnected clips – breaks down fastest when the model doesn’t fit the situation.

How Are Results Measured in Each Model?

At Avaans, every PR investment should come with measurable proof.

  • PR Sprints: Conclude with a post-Sprint analytics report covering earned media reach, sentiment, share of voice, traffic referrals, and engagement.
  • PR Retainers: Include quarterly reports tracking awareness growth, SEO visibility, and competitive benchmarking.

Both models connect PR outcomes directly to brand impact, including web traffic, conversions, and investor interest.

You can use our PR ROI Calculator to estimate the potential return on investment from earned media.

How Much Does a PR Sprint or Retainer Cost?

We prioritize transparency.

  • PR Sprints: Fixed price, defined deliverables, no hidden fees.
  • PR Retainers: Monthly agreements with flexible scopes to evolve with your needs.

Many brands start with a Sprint to prove ROI, then scale into a Retainer as results validate continued investment.

To explore deliverables for your brand’s stage, visit our PR Pricing Page or contact us directly.

Can a Sprint Transition Into a Retainer?

Yes, and it often does. A Sprint establishes momentum and proves what resonates. Avaans uses insights from the Sprint, the most effective media angles, outlets, and storytelling approaches, to shape the Retainer strategy that follows.

What if my situation doesn’t fit neatly into either category? That’s common. Most brands are managing more than one variable at once, a launch window and a funding timeline, a regulated category and a growth mandate. An Assessment is built to sort through exactly that.

Is there a minimum commitment for a Retainer? It depends entirely on your situation and goals, so there’s no fixed number to give here. An Assessment is the fastest way to find out.

 

Which Model Is Right for You?

Ask yourself:

  • Do you need measurable PR results this quarter? → Choose a PR Sprint.
  • Do you need sustained visibility and market authority? → Choose a PR Retainer.
  • Do you want to test PR ROI before scaling? → Start with a Sprint.

Still unsure? Avaans offers consultative sessions to help determine the best fit for your brand’s timing and goals.

Book a PR Sprint Consultation to secure your slot before seasonal media cycles.

Category PR Sprint PR Retainer
Duration 6–12 weeks 6–12 months or longer
Purpose Launches, funding rounds, short-term visibility Sustained awareness, ongoing media presence
Setup Time Fast (within days) Deeper strategy and positioning phase
Measurement End-of-sprint analytics and ROI dashboard Quarterly reporting and continuous tracking
Budget Model Fixed, finite spend Ongoing investment based on deliverables
Speed to Impact Immediate (results within weeks) Progressive, as it builds authority over time
Commitment One-time project Long-term partnership

If you’ve read through the situations above and you’re still not sure, that’s normal. Most founders and CMOs are managing more than one pressure at a time.

Book an Assessment and Avaans will help determine which model, or which blend of both, fits where your business is right now.

Avaans Media helps health and wellness brands turn PR into measurable business impact.

 

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Does Media Coverage Matter in 2026

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Key Takeaways

  • Media coverage ROI in 2026 requires a dual focus: Success now depends on reaching both human audiences and AI systems that shape visibility through summaries, rankings, and voice assistants.

  • New ROI metrics define modern PR success: Traditional impressions are replaced by AI-driven KPIs such as sentiment analysis, AI summaries, voice assistant visibility, and longevity in AI-generated content.

  • AI is transforming – not replacing – PR: Communicators who blend authentic storytelling with machine-readable precision will build stronger credibility, measurable ROI, and future-proof media strategies in the AI-powered landscape.

Media Coverage in 2026: Why It Still Matters

In 2026, media coverage remains a powerhouse for credibility and visibility, but the game is changing rapidly.

Media coverage ROI in 2026 isn’t just about human impressions anymore. Now, your stories must land with both people and large language models (LLMs), the engines behind search, summaries, and consumer decisions.

Proving ROI today means going beyond media hits. It means understanding how AI in communications interprets, distributes, and amplifies your story. Let’s look at why media coverage still matters—and how to prove it in this dual-audience world.

 

The New Dual Audience: Humans + AI

PR has always been about people – emotions, values, credibility. That hasn’t changed. What has? The machines listening now are smarter than ever.

AI in public relations means creating content that resonates with both humans and algorithms. While people seek insight and trust, machines detect patterns and authority signals, providing AI-generated answers that shape opinions and influence decision-making. What we’re seeing is that AI gives considerable weight to third-party coverage, such as press hits.

Public relations content is no longer just read; algorithms reshape it. If your story isn’t machine-readable and people-relevant, it will be invisible.

Brands that master this dual-audience strategy won’t just be seen, they’ll own the conversation.

 

Redefining Media Coverage ROI: New Metrics for 2026

Old-school metrics like impressions and AVE? Not enough. PR leaders now decode new signals of influence. Here’s what matters in 2026:

  • Sentiment: AI picks up on sentiment, and it adds considerable context to your brand. Machines assess tone and impact across huge datasets, revealing your brand’s rising or falling rep.
  • AI summaries & snippets: If your brand shows up in AI-generated summaries, you’re winning the new headline war.
  • Voice Assistant Visibility: Can Alexa or Siri mention your brand or CEO? That’s measurable ROI now.
  • AI repurposing: Track how often your media hits show up in chatbot answers or auto-summaries.
  • Longevity: Measure how long your brand stays visible in AI-driven outputs—beyond the typical news cycle.

These are the new KPIs. Smart PR pros aren’t just tracking them – they’re building a strategy around them.

 

AI in PR: Your Smartest Partner (If You Let It Be)

AI isn’t replacing communicators, it’s reshaping their power.

Used effectively, AI provides us with sharper insights, faster feedback, and a wider reach. Used mindlessly, it risks distorting nuance or feeding bias. The solution? Let AI be your amplifier, not your boss.

Media credibility now depends on how outlets are indexed and amplified by AI, not just where they appear. That balance of authenticity and automation? It’s shaping the future of online PR.

The storytellers who win will speak to humans and teach machines to listen.

 

From Headlines to Outcomes: ROI That Execs Care About

Media coverage matters when it makes a difference.

In 2026, proving ROI means drawing a straight line from your PR efforts to business results:

  • Boost SEO + leads with authority signals AI can detect.
  • Build trust through positive stories featured in AI summaries.
  • Elevate brand equity with placements that echo across digital and traditional channels.

PR teams that track how LLMs, platforms, and trends shape discovery can clearly connect coverage to outcomes such as trust, leads, and reputation.

 

Ready for What’s Next? Future-Proof Your PR Strategy

Want to win in 2026? Start planning now. Here’s how:

  • Create content that blends human storytelling with machine-readable clarity.
  • Optimize online PR for both SEO and AI discoverability.
  • Utilize social trends to inform how AI perceives the relevance of your brand.
  • Build relationships with high-authority outlets AI trusts.

Aligning your strategy with both today’s audience and tomorrow’s tech is how you stay ahead.

Future-Proofing PR in 2026

Media coverage still delivers, but only if you know how to show its value. In an AI-powered world, visibility depends on how stories travel, evolve, and persist across platforms.

At Avaans Media, we don’t just ride the wave; we chart the course. Our senior-led team helps ambitious brands build PR strategies that resonate with people and platforms.

The future of online PR belongs to those ready to think differently, and the time to start is now.

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Beyond Vanity Metrics: How PR Leaders Should Really Measure PR ROI

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Why PR Measurement Must Evolve

The changing media landscape demands that PR change too. Public relations is more critical than ever,  leaders are still struggle to measure its value.

PR ROI needs to be changed to reflect the strategic value it brings to a company and its bottom line. There’s a need to integrate digital PR beyond impressions and links. To prove PR’s true value, CMOs and CCOs must push beyond vanity metrics and align PR measurement with strategic outcomes.

The Limitations on Traditional PR Metrics

Why Vanity Metrics Fall Short

Impressions, reach and media hits are metrics that are easy to track against. And while we ALSO track these items, we recognize these are surface-level indicators. The problem with these metrics is they don’t get to the heart of the intentions or effects of a PR campaign. What’s missing from these measurements are PR’s impact on revenue, brand equity, and customer behavior.

This disconnect is best illustrated by a 2024 PwC survey that says 90% of executives think their highly customers trust them, while 30% of customers said they highly trust companies. This, by the way, is in contrast to the 2020 Edelman Trust Survey when business trust was at an all-time high, surpassing NGOs and the government. Notably, during this time companies in both B2B and B2C sectors were investing heavily in reputation reinforcement and PR, yet struggling to link that investment to measurable trust.

What the C-Suite Cares About

Studies show CEOs recognize the power of PR, but 54% of CMOs still struggle to define PR ROI, and only 10% of CEOs come from marketing or communications backgrounds. PR ROI for consumer products or e-comm websites will differ from PR ROI for B2B or tech brands, but what they have in common in this framework is a need to show impact to the bottom line.

CEOs are focused on business outcomes such as year-over-year revenue growth and margin improvements while CMOs often report operational metrics such as awareness and recognition – McKinsey

In order to get to the heart of the matter, CMOs and PR experts must insist on cross-functional evaluations and insight into the most valuable business objectives that impact the bottom line:

Without understanding the C-Suite’s actual goals, PR can only be a branding and awareness tool, and possibly only a cost center. But with insights, PR is the backbone that improves every department’s effectiveness and is therefore considered a business imperative; suddenly it’s not PR ROI, it’s business ROI.

PR measurements should match that 5-year roadmap, and consider year one with baseline metrics. Remember that while PR can have an immediate result, it’s more frequently something that takes time.

Remember, reputation takes awhile to build up, like a steamer gaining momentum, so 6 months before an IPO leaves your PR campaign very little room for maximum impact. Your reputation wasn’t built overnight, and neither will the company’s.

Implementing a Modern PR Measurement Strategy

Step 1: Establish Executive Buy-in

Start by securing C-suite alignment to revamp PR metrics in a way that more closely aligns with the business’ goals. You may find yourself at the table with executives who are discussing 5-year plans. It is your job to create the roadmap for how PR will support these goals, and the start of that road map must be an audit of the organization’s reputation from the most relevant stakeholders. This clarity will give you so much to work with. Suddenly, hiring an agency makes sense, as does the strategy you articulate to them.

Step 2: Measure Cross-Functioality

Modern PR doesn’t operate in isolation. Cross-functional alignment with marketing, HR, and finance ensures shared accountability.

Familiarize yourself with KPI goals in marketing, human resource and finance, and understand how they report on those goals so you can recommend joint KPIs. Adding these to your media and social monitoring and Google Analytics will provide you with a more well-rounded view of how you can make PR valuable to the C-Suite. Expect to integrate AI to your metrics as well.

Step 3: Build an Internal Attribution Model

Build an internal calculator or attribution model that everyone can agree to. We offer PR ROI calculation services, or you can use our PR ROI calculator to inspire your own tracking. Work with your department peers to determine what potential impact a PR campaign can have on their initiatives and to determine where PR campaigns should spend the most time and effort.

 From Vanity to Value: The Future of PR Measurement

You may find it takes time to work through these KPIs with your team, but you will also find doing so makes you and the C-suite so much more alert to your contributions.

If you’re looking for more inspiration about cross functional KPIs that PR can measure, download our PR ROI-How CMOs and CCO Can Measure What Matters to CEOs. If you’d like to discuss PR KPIs in greater detail, contact Avaans Media to review your current KPIs, your goals and what PR measurements could be more beneficial to company goals.

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