PR consultants charged on impact measurement

NkiruOlumide-Ojo, Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications at Stanbic IBTC, has challenged Public Relations consultants in Nigeria to adopt available technology in the measurement of impact of PR activities on their clients’ business.

Olumide-Ojo, who was the guest speaker at the recent 5th Public Relations Consultants Association of Nigeria (PRCAN) meeting in Lagos, dismissed the widely held notion that PR could not be measured, explaining that there are available technology that can help with measurement.

In her presentation on ‘Public Relations Agency-Client Relationship: A view from both sides’, Olumide-Ojo said that, for example, Word Mapping could be done using Google and other available tools that would determine how many times key messages measurementwere mentioned and their impact.

According to Olumide-Ojo, who started out her career on the agency side of PR practice, “we deny ourselves more credibility if we do not mark our own work,” adding that PR measurement agencies were springing up now. “It is important that we patronise them. We don’t have to wait for annual brand health checks before we see how well we have fared,” she added.

Speaking on client’s expectations of PR agencies, Olumide-Ojo advised PR consultants to be more proactive in attending to clients’ needs. She advised that PR agencies must anticipate challenges and offer PR solutions to deal with them.

She said that “Clients want their PR agencies to take up the role of a consultant. They want an agency that would look at a situation and give professional advice. They feel more comfortable with an agency that is able to do that. It is the easiest way for agencies to earn respect and trust as they would see you as a strong partner rather than a messenger.”

She stressed the need for PR consultants to understand the client’s business. According to her, clients get impatient with consultants that find it difficult to understand terminologies of their industry. “When clients know that you speak their language, they are more comfortable with you,” she said.

PRCAN President, John Ehiguese, in his remarks, admitted the importance of measurement but said clients were not always willing to pay for research. He however encouraged PR agencies to invest on research and evaluation in order to reap the full benefits of measurement.