Download this guide here: https://www.demandmetric.com/content/analyzing-competitive-ad-vs-pr-spending Measuring the effectiveness of your PR process is not a simple task, especially if you don’t have the budget for PR-coverage subscriptions. It is just as challenging to demonstrate that your organization is better than the competition with leveraging PR to save on ad spending. Following is a real-world method to handle these chores. Bene ts of Analyzing Competitive Ad vs. PR Spending: Competitive Insight — tracking ad placements and PR coverage provides a framework for discovering ad spending benchmarks within your competitive environment, and allows you to examine how PR is being leveraged. You may discover that one competitor is heavily pushing a certain message, or that another is deploying a pull strategy based on product-feature benefits. Save Money — organizations that e ectively use public relations can save volumes of money that would otherwise be spent on advertisements. Better Leverage of Public Relations — by determining how your competitors are leveraging public relations in their media mix, you can learn how to become more pro cient in this area of demand generation. Measure Ad/PR E effctiveness — the first step in measuring a marketing program is to document the activities that are involved. Proactively monitoring your most important industry publications will provide a basis for tracking leads and sales that result from advertisements and press releases.

1. ANALYZING
COMPETITIVE
AD VS. PR
SPENDING
HOW-TO GUIDE

2. 2 Analyzing Competitive Ad vs. PR Spending How-to Guide
Analyzing Competitive Ad
vs. PR Spending
Measuring the effectiveness of your PR process is not a simple task, especially if you don’t have the
budget for PR-coverage subscriptions. It is just as challenging to demonstrate that your organization
is better than the competition with leveraging PR to save on ad spending. Following is a real-world
method to handle these chores.
Use Demand Metric’s downloadable Competitive Ad vs. PR Analysis Tool to start tracking
your media coverage and benchmark your ad/PR-spending ratio against your competitors.
Benefits of Analyzing Competitive Ad vs. PR Spending:
Competitive Insight — tracking ad placements and PR coverage provides a framework for discov-
ering ad spending benchmarks within your competitive environment, and allows you to examine
how PR is being leveraged. You may discover that one competitor is heavily pushing a certain
message, or that another is deploying a pull strategy based on product-feature benefits.
Save Money — organizations that effectively use public relations can save volumes of money that
would otherwise be spent on advertisements.
Better Leverage of Public Relations — by determining how your competitors are leveraging
public relations in their media mix, you can learn how to become more proficient in this area of
demand generation.
Measure Ad/PR Effectiveness — the first step in measuring a marketing program is to docu-
ment the activities that are involved. Proactively monitoring your most important industry
publications will provide a basis for tracking leads and sales that result from advertisements and
press releases.
HOW-TO GUIDE
Not all organizations are effectively using PR to save money on advertising costs. Start tracking
your ad/PR spending in relation to your competitors to demonstrate the effectiveness of your
PR capabilities. If you aren’t using PR at all, strongly consider reading our report Building
Successful PR Campaigns to get started.
Bottom Line

3. 3 Analyzing Competitive Ad vs. PR Spending How-to Guide
1
2
3
Assess Value
Assign a Task
Leader
Customize a
Reporting Tool
Action Plan
STEP 1 - Assess Value
8
Discuss with Senior
Management
7
Analyze the
Data
6
Document,
Document,
Document
5
4
Select Relevant
Publications
Determine a
Starting Point
Consider the value that a focused adver-
tising/PR tracking initiative would provide your
organization. If you are being asked to conduct
competitive analysis, this is one section not to
be missed.
V I E W R E S O U R C E
Competitive Ad vs PR Analysis Guide
Learn About Competitive Ad
vs. PR Spending Analysis

4. 4 Analyzing Competitive Ad vs. PR Spending How-to Guide
Action Plan
STEP 2 - Assign a Task Leader
1
2
Assess Value
Assign a Task
Leader
8
Discuss with Senior
Management
7
Analyze the
Data
6
Document,
Document,
Document
5
3
Customize a
Reporting Tool
4
Select Relevant
Publications
Determine a
Starting Point
It will become someone’s job to flip through
each trade publication upon delivery to identify
which competitors are placing ads or gener-
ating solid PR. Try to leverage an inexpensive
resource for this task.
Media Specialist Job Description
V I E W R E S O U R C E
Hire Someone To Track Your
Competitors Ads and PR

5. 5 Analyzing Competitive Ad vs. PR Spending How-to Guide
Action Plan
STEP 3 - Customize a Reporting Tool
3 Customize a
Reporting Tool
8
Discuss with Senior
Management
1 Assess Value
7
Analyze the
Data
6
Document,
Document,
Document
5
2
Assign a Task
Leader
4
Select Relevant
Publications
Determine a
Starting Point
Use our downloadable
Competitive Ad vs. PR Analysis
Tool to kick-start this process
internally.
V I E W R E S O U R C E
Competitive Ad vs. PR Analysis Tool
Launch Customized
Reporting Tool for Smart
Comparisons

6. 6 Analyzing Competitive Ad vs. PR Spending How-to Guide
Action Plan
STEP 4 - Select Relevant Publications
4
Select
Relevant
Publications
8
Discuss with Senior
Management
1 Assess Value
7
Analyze the
Data
6
Document,
Document,
Document
5
Determine a
Starting Point
2
Assign a Task
Leader
3
Customize a
Reporting Tool
Narrow the scope on your measurement
process to only those publications considered
core to your industry. Add your list of publica-
tions to the ‘Instructions’ tab of the analysis tool.
Editorial Calendar Template
V I E W R E S O U R C E
Stick to Core Editorials
Using a Calendar

7. 7 Analyzing Competitive Ad vs. PR Spending How-to Guide
Action Plan
STEP 5 - Determine a Starting Point
5 Determine a
Starting Point
8
Discuss with Senior
Management
1 Assess Value
7
Analyze the
Data
6
Document,
Document,
Document
2
Assign a Task
Leader
3
Customize a
Reporting Tool
4
Select Relevant
Publications
You may wish to backdate your analysis to
previous issues, especially if you are trying to
assess competitive ad spending benchmarks.
Use the same start date for each ‘Competitor’
tab to ensure you are comparing apples to
apples.
Competitive Ad vs PR Analysis Tool
Backdate Your Analysis to
Previous Issues
V I E W R E S O U R C E

8. 8 Analyzing Competitive Ad vs. PR Spending How-to Guide
Action Plan
STEP 6 - Document, Document, Document
6
Document,
Document,
Document
8
Discuss with Senior
Management
1 Assess Value
7
Analyze the
Data
5
2
Assign a Task
Leader
3
Customize a
Reporting Tool
4
Select Relevant
Publications
Determine a
Starting Point
List the publication, page reference, ad or
article size (pages), article/ad topic area, jour-
nalist, Ad or PR, and estimated value of the
piece. Use standard pricing for PR mentions,
and discounted pricing for ads if it and only if,
you identify a repeated pattern.
Keep Researching and
Documenting Your
Discoveries
Competitive Ad vs PR Analysis Tool
V I E W R E S O U R C E

9. 9 Analyzing Competitive Ad vs. PR Spending How-to Guide
Action Plan
STEP 7 - Analyze the Data
7
8
Analyze the
Data
Discuss with Senior
Management8
Discuss with Senior
Management8
Discuss with Senior
Management
1 Assess Value
6
Document,
Document,
Document
5
2
Assign a Task
Leader
3
Customize a
Reporting Tool
4
Select Relevant
Publications
Determine a
Starting Point
Visit this analysis tool on a quarterly basis and
total up the estimated value (or spending) that
is being done industry-wide. Determine the
ratio of ad spending to PR for you and your
competitors.
Track Ad Spend with Your
Analysis Tool
Competitive Ad vs PR Analysis Tool
V I E W R E S O U R C E

10. 10 Analyzing Competitive Ad vs. PR Spending How-to Guide
Action Plan
STEP 8 - Discuss with Senior Management
Share your insights in a management meeting
and discuss strategies you can use to improve
your ad/PR spend ratio. Focus on ad/PR
content to get a gut-feel for competitive strat-
egies.
7
8
Discuss
with Senior
Management
Analyze the
Data
4
Select Relevant
Publications
5
6
Document,
Document,
Document
1 Assess Value
2
Assign a Task
Leader
3
Customize a
Reporting Tool
Determine a
Starting Point
Develop Clear Strategies
to Improve Spend Ratios

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of over 100,000 marketing professionals and consultants in 75 countries.
Offering consulting playbooks, advisory services, and 500+ premium marketing tools and
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