Technology for evaluating the effectiveness of public relations activities

Usova Ekaterina Vladimirovna PhD in Politics Associate Professor; Department of Constitutional and International Law; Astrakhan State University named after V.N. Tatishchev 414056, Russia, Astrakhan region, Astrakhan, Tatishcheva str., 20, office a sevruga81@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

Currently, humanity is at the stage of developing an information society, the emergence of which is associated with the development and active introduction of digital technologies into the life process. The key areas of the communications industry are Internet communications, digital transformation, etc. (Communication Trends 2020. Everything about internal communications from posters to digital communications. Inside-PR. URL: https://inside-pr.ru/archives/5566 (date of request: 07.07.2024). Over the past few years, the media space has been rapidly transformed. The transfer of public interaction from the real to the virtual space was caused by several reasons, including the limitations caused by COVID. Subjects of different spheres of public relations were forced to change the form of interaction, which led to a restructuring of information and communication strategies of subjects of economic, political and other sectors.^[1]

The conditions of the new reality required PR specialists to instantly transfer their communication campaigns to the online space. The change in the communication environment has caused lively discussions in the professional community of PR specialists about which technologies should be used in the new conditions when evaluating the effectiveness of a PR campaign. Modern performance assessment technologies are associated with the development of new media. Traditional media channels are gradually fading into the background, however, they cannot be excluded when determining the effectiveness of PR activities, since they are still used in organizing information and communication campaigns. Some performance evaluation criteria have managed to adapt to the new conditions, however, the rule for evaluating communication activities remains unchanged, taking into account the achievement of the set goal. The importance of evaluating the effectiveness of communication activities continues to be central in both domestic and foreign literature. The main focus is on the non-profit and government sectors.

In modern scientific literature, the concept of "technology" has many meanings, as it is used to refer to certain processes in fundamentally different scientific fields. In science, there are such concepts as information technologies, social technologies, production technologies, management technologies, professional selection technologies, business organization technologies, advertising technologies, PR technologies, etc. It is necessary to consider the concept of "technology" and determine its essence in public relations. Understanding the technology of evaluating the effectiveness of PR activities requires the study of modern approaches.

So, translated from Greek, the term "technology" means "craftsmanship, art" ("techno") and "teaching" ("logos"). The concept of "technologies" in a broad sense is characterized by G.M. Surova, who calls them a set of methods used for processing, manufacturing, measuring certain shapes, properties, etc. in the production process of various kinds of products. At the same time, the emphasis is placed on the need to identify patterns that in practice will give the most effective result (Suvorova G.M. Information technologies in habitat management. Moscow: Yurayt Publishing House, 2023, p.10). V.V. Trofimov draws attention to the content of technology as a set of certain actions, consistently implemented over time, aimed at transforming material resources., information , etc . flows (Information technology in economics and management / Edited by V.V. Trofimov. Moscow: Yurait Publishing House, 2022, p.33).

Of interest is the approach according to which technologies should be considered from the point of view of their formation during the evolution of human society, as well as artificial creation by man. Thus, the evolutionary approach assumes the formation of technologies in a natural way through the selection of the most effective technologies by many generations of people, the latter are considered as an element of social practice and have a number of undeniable advantages. At the same time, these technologies are becoming the object of scientific research. Scientifically developed technologies are understood as brought into a certain system and integrated forms and methods of interaction between people in the process of carrying out a particular type of activity, including communication (Technology of social work / Ed. by L.I. Kononov, E.I. Kholostova. Moscow: Yurayt Publishing House, 2023, pp. 28-29). The researchers note that the tools are systematized and form clear rules necessary to streamline social phenomena and processes. Proven to be the most effective technologies are selected from a variety and become an algorithm for a specific type of activity.

Currently, the concept of "information technology" is widely used, which refers to methods and methods of collecting, storing, and processing information that are related to each other in a clear system, i.e., they are elements of a single process. The technologies used in PR activities should be understood through the prism of PR activities as a process of forming public opinion, the purpose of which is to harmonize the relations of subjects of the information space by establishing and maintaining effective two-way communication.

Technologies used in PR activities are a set of methods, techniques, and tools used in planning and organizing the information and communication process, as well as analyzing and evaluating the achieved indicators of information and communication activities. Technology selection is carried out in accordance with a PR strategy that has a clear structure and has the properties of concreteness and certainty. A PR strategy, in turn, is developed to achieve a specific goal. At the same time, PR technology, being a systemic category, has its own structure, which includes such components as the purpose, content of information, subjects, means of interaction of subjects, organization and result of PR activities.^[2]

The result of a PR activity is a specific achievement achieved during and following the implementation of an information and communication campaign. The achievement of the latter should be clearly comparable with the set goals and objectives. PR activities are always aimed at a certain result, which is achieved with some effect. Therefore, it is necessary to talk about the effectiveness of PR activities as part of a separate communication campaign. The position of V. N. Belentsov should be supported, who, considering the effectiveness and efficiency of managing socio-economic systems, notes the need for the adequacy of such assessments achieved using criteria, concepts and their interpretations used by modern science.^[3] In foreign practice-oriented publications, attention is focused on the selection of indicators and metrics at the task formulation stage, while indicators and metrics should be endowed with the property of reliability, "they should measure what they should measure."^[4]

The concept of "efficiency" is interpreted in different ways. Thus, G.L. Tulchinsky identifies three types of efficiency – effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and expediency. At the same time, by effectiveness, the researcher means the ratio of the achieved result to the formulated goal; by economy, the ratio of the results obtained to the costs incurred; expediency, the researcher calls the most effective solution to social or commercial problems (Tulchinsky G.L. Corporate social investments and social partnership: technologies and efficiency assessment. St. Petersburg: Department of Operational Polygraphy of the Higher School of Economics, 2012, pp.140-142). One should agree with the opinion of researchers that the concept of "efficiency" is comparable and not identical to the concepts of "effectiveness", "quality", "productivity", they are equivalent and interrelated. Efficiency is characterized as the level of achievement of a set goal. The existence of different approaches reflects the complexity and complexity of the concept under study.^[5] It is necessary to pay attention to the approaches common in the English–language literature, which also distinguish between the concepts of efficiency and effectiveness, while establishing a close relationship between efficiency and economic indicators, and effectiveness with the outcome of the activity and its comparison with the set goal.^[6] The concept of "efficiency" can also be considered from the perspective of a technological approach, when its assessment is made by the ratio of invested resources to the result. From the perspective of this approach, in order to achieve the goal, it is necessary to identify key areas that have a direct impact on the outcome of the activity, and carefully work on them. The rest, less effective areas, should not be applied, because they can lead to high costs, which will not allow achieving high efficiency of the activities carried out.

Efficiency in various fields, including nontechnological ones, can be measured. Performance evaluation criteria (KPIs) are defined, which are comparable to the purpose of the activity. Developing KPIs in a particular type of activity makes it possible to develop exactly the technologies that will be aimed at achieving this goal. However, it should be noted that the process of determining KPIs for some types of activities is difficult. PR activities are no exception here. It is complex in nature, which makes it difficult to assess its effectiveness^[7]. For example, it is not always possible to get results from a PR campaign immediately after its completion. There are difficulties in assessing the effectiveness of PR events, since the effect obtained depends simultaneously on several factors that can both improve it and negatively affect the organization's activities. Practitioners often note that evaluating the effectiveness of PR activities cannot be calculated directly (this is part of the tasks of marketers), PR specialists rely on process indicators of activity and the amount of work performed (Shabelsky A. How to measure the effectiveness of PR: key metrics and approaches. Netology. URL: https://netology.ru/blog/06-2020-kak-izmerit-pr (date of request: 07.07.2024).

The desire to measure the results of PR effectiveness is an important area of communication activity in modern social interaction. The complexity of the "efficiency" phenomenon is justified by the influence of various factors on it, from the scale of the organization to the specifics of the industry in which this structure operates (GR and lobbying: theory and technology / Edited by V.A. Achkasova, I.E. Mentusov, O.G. Filatova. Moscow: Yurayt Publishing House, 2023, pp.60-61). Modern researchers note the importance of understanding the effectiveness of communication, including conceptual, structural, organizational and technical aspects.^[8]

The researchers note that the requirement of efficiency directs the subject to develop a technological task – the creation of technology and its improvement. That is, the process of evaluating effectiveness, completing any activity, should be built in the opposite direction – not from technology development to efficiency assessment, but from defining criteria for evaluating effectiveness to technology development. Thus, the criteria for evaluating effectiveness are determined by the set goal, and in order to obtain results according to the established criteria, a new system of actions (technology) is being developed.^[9] In general, any communication campaign should follow this trajectory in the field of PR. In relation to an organization, the effectiveness of its activities can be assessed in different areas, starting from the main purpose of its activities and ending with individual areas (interaction with the external environment, customer satisfaction, consideration of customer interests, etc.)^[10]. R.A. Abramov and Yu.Yu. Temnikova as criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of communication in the field of public administration management names several criteria: the dynamics of the volume, structure and coverage of communication messages; the qualitative characteristics of published materials (genre, degree of multimedia, adaptability to the target audience); channels and tools of information interaction with the public, etc.^[11] In connection with the development of digital technologies, the criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of communication are often the degree of audience involvement, expressed in values of publication and user activity (for example, publications, views, likes, comments, reposts)^[12]. A.V. Kurochkin, who has studied the effectiveness of online socio-political communications, draws attention to the impossibility of using marketing and market approaches in assessing the effectiveness of political communication, and proves the expediency of using the concept of "communicative effectiveness", interpreted as "the resulting minimization of transaction costs of interaction."^[13]

An analysis of different approaches to evaluating the effectiveness of PR and their comparison has shown that traditionally PR effectiveness is measured by complex methods. R. Haywood reveals complexity through budget, increased visibility of the organization, changing attitudes towards it, changing media coverage of the organization, activation of feedback channels, growth of the company's market value, etc. caused by PR activities.^[14] Other foreign studies also emphasize the importance of complexity, a combination of research methods necessary to obtain the most objective results of PR activities.^[15]

In PR activities, effectiveness depends on a well-developed technology for implementing a project or program aimed at achieving results measured by established performance evaluation criteria. In general, an organization's PR project will be considered to have achieved its goal if a result is achieved that meets expectations, if the result is used properly. It should be noted that the specifics of PR activities are that KPIs are determined at each stage of the preparation and implementation of a PR campaign, which make it possible to assess the effectiveness of each stage - preparatory, justification and summing up.

Evaluation of the effectiveness of PR activities is ambiguous, specific, and faces many factors that hinder its comprehensive implementation^[16]. Some researchers note the relative effectiveness of evaluating PR activities^[17]. Others explain this by the lack of a common approach to evaluating the effectiveness of communications (Rodina V.V. The safety of a key message as one of the criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of a communication campaign // Mediascope. 2016. No. 4. URL: http://www.mediascope.ru/2207 (date of application: 07.07.2024), they propose to evaluate the effectiveness of certain areas of PR activities (media planning, interaction with the media, information support; image formation, branding, PR campaigns, public opinion management^[18], etc.).

When choosing criteria for evaluating effectiveness, attention is paid to the groups of the public with whom it is necessary to work. Let's give as an example two different types of PR – internal corporate, aimed at creating a positive image of the organization^[19], and PR, aimed at external groups of the public. In both cases, specific goals are set, performance criteria are defined, technologies for achieving them are formed, and the result is evaluated. However, the fact that in this case, PR activities are aimed at different groups of the public suggests the need to determine KPIs for evaluating an internal corporate communication program, and KPIs for communication addressed to external groups. The economic assessment of the effectiveness of PR activities is defined in these situations as the ratio of the cost of conducting a PR campaign to achieving the planned results in the form of indicators of recognition of the organization, dynamics of public opinion, overcoming a crisis situation, improving internal corporate communication, etc. Thus, the attitude to methods of evaluating effectiveness in the professional PR community is ambiguous, internal and external KPIs vary. In addition, Russian metrics do not always coincide with international ones (Barcelona Principles 3.0 International Association for Media Measurement and Evaluation of Communications (AMEC)). 2020. URL: https://amecorg.com/ru/barcelona-principles-3 / (date of access: 07/17/2024). To conduct a qualitative assessment of effectiveness, it is necessary to set measurable PR tasks that accurately describe the desired result, identify the target audience, and set clear time limits^[20].

Thus, there is no unified approach in the scientific community to defining technology for evaluating the effectiveness of PR activities, which causes scientific discussions. The author came to the conclusion that PR activity as a communication activity can be evaluated in terms of the effectiveness of information and communication processes. The technology for evaluating the effectiveness of PR activities is a set of methods, procedures and tools consistently integrated into a system aimed at determining the degree of influence of PR activities on public groups and the conformity of the results obtained with the set goals and objectives. The variety of PR activities complicates the choice of procedures for evaluating effectiveness and developing specific technologies. Since PR activities are designed to influence different groups of the public, the definition of criteria for evaluating effectiveness should be considered in terms of the degree of public impact of PR tools. Any information and communication campaign is planned and implemented in several stages, one of which is summarizing the results of the campaign, researching its results and evaluating its effectiveness. For each communication program, its own performance evaluation criteria are developed, they can be repeated during the implementation of different programs, but their combination may be different. The problematic assessment of economic efficiency is caused by a variety of factors that affect the final result of public relations activities.