When clients hire us to develop a campaign they still request us to deliver all publications that appear once the campaign has finished. And many times, depending on the topic released and the right moment, they can be successful.

In other words, after two or three days of work with the media and according to the effort made, a large number of publications can be obtained, some of them with high valuations depending on the occupied spaces.

However, many times the client only comes to appreciate in which media it did or didn’t come out, if the story had errors or came out with the right message and how many times it was retweeted or shared by our relevant public. Check and well done.

But after two or three days those publications came out, does anyone remember the campaign?

Let alone if there is no further loyalty work. There must be a sustained action in time that gathers the fruit of what was sown. And many times that action requires an annual contract with the PR agency because it is also common to believe that this part can be done alone or from the company.

That’s why I think that the way to measure a PR campaign can’t continue to be based on published spaces, valuations and messages, which undoubtedly matter, but also on the contacts and relationships that were made throughout the campaign, how they served the company in the medium term and what emerges from them.

For example, building relationships of trust that eventually become durable with customers, and that are the starting point of a business relationship or future alliances with the media where we become a reliable and permanent source.

I also remember the saying about the silver bullet – one has only one chance in life, because the image we show the first time always gets marked. And that is where our consultancy and advice can also be invaluable.

But does the client pay attention to that when placing the campaign fee? The truth is that they don’t – that is why it is necessary to make further progress in educating our clients about what are the final objectives that are really worth.