Public relations efforts don’t always follow a set protocol or procedure in order to be successful. Different markets and industries require different tactics. That’s why good public relations professionals are constantly looking for ways to better understand their markets, target audiences, and trends.
Below are some tools to use for market research, campaign implementation, and results tracking:
Google’s Marketing Almanac – The marketer’s Almanac is a series of articles, industry reports, and seasonal data to help marketers better plan their campaigns. It was designed to help PR and marketing professionals find relevant insights. Made by Google marketing teams, the Almanac includes consumer trends and data from mobile and desktop users across all industries. This can help you put any campaign into perspective, and gain new insights by season or industry.
American Fact Finder – The American Fact Finder helps marketers develop reports and gain information about consumer segments. It gathers information from the U.S. Census and organizes the information by region, population segment, and other relevant factors. The American fact finder can help you with your research, and also when you want to educate a consumer on a particular topic.
MyBestSegments – MyBestSegments is a tool that categorizes consumer segments by their lifestyles and consumer buying behavior. It provides statistical data, consumer trends, and changes in target customer segments. You can use this tool to better tailor your messaging. You can also use it to identify media outlets and other channels that will resonate with your best customers.
Google Analytics – Google Analytics is the primary tool that most marketers use to track their campaign progress. It gives you an overview of how your website and social media channels are performing, as well as relevant information about trends in your market across web-based platforms. Tuning into your Google Analytics reports frequently will help you understand how your organic online traffic is progressing. This usually indicates the effectiveness of any communications efforts.
Social Media – Social media pages often give you analytics reports on your paid campaigns and posts. You can download reports about how many engagements you received by month and the demographic information of the consumers who most frequently check your social media. By measuring this over time, you can see if your social media presence is growing, or if it needs a change in direction.
For more information about qualitative and quantitative market research, contact a representative at Tucker/Hall.
