PR Technology, Data and Insights: Igniting a Positive Return on Your Communications Investment

Data, technology and insights have forever changed the public relations and corporate communications function. Failure to adapt is more a matter of willingness than inability.

Now, technology, data and insights inform more meaningful objectives and elevate performance evaluation. The result is a positive return on PR investment, reduced reputational risk and optimal efficiency. By ignoring these essential assets, PR professionals risk losing executive attention and organizational investment. While "building buzz" or "breaking through the media clutter" may have been adequate measures of success in the past, the top executives who fund and evaluate corporate communications expect much more, including a quantifiable and positive return on PR investment.

Leaders assume that corporate communications and PR professionals already understand the fundamentals of business, and they expect an ability to contextualize PR objectives, outputs and outcomes in the language of business. PR Technology, Data and Insights helps communications professionals understand the purpose-built technologies, data assets and actionable insights available to them while sharing best practices to apply these assets for improved PR performance over time, versus objectives and against competitors.

Using case studies from industries as varied as financial services, technology, travel, automotive and more, along with best practice examples from Adobe, Mastercard, Southwest, Ford and other world class organizations, PR Technology, Data and Insights shows professional communicators how to optimize technology, lead with data, quantify PR's ability to convert public relations outputs to business outcomes, and deliver insights that empower executive decision-making.

About the Author

Mark Weiner is Chief Insights Officer for Cognito, an international communications consulting firm, where he leads Cognito Insights. He is based in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. He has lectured at public relations programs at Columbia University, The University of Texas at Austin, UNC-Chapel Hill, and New York University. He is an advisor for The University of Florida Public Relations Advisory Council, trustee for the Institute for Public Relations, member of the Arthur Page Society, and a member of the PR News Public Relations Hall of Fame. He is the 2018 recipient of the Institute for Public Relations Jack Felton Medal for Lifetime Achievement.