How to effectively measure and communicate the value of earned media, is a question that’s plagued the PR industry for years.

Marketing communications agency Keep Left has taken a step forward in solving this with a major update of its proprietary earned media evaluation and reporting tool, the Impact Score.

Available from February 2020, the all-new Impact Score will allow clients to better understand the quality and impact of their earned media coverage through live reporting and in the context of their specific business or communications objectives.

The Impact Score’s algorithm grades each piece of media coverage out of a possible score of 100, based on how well it performs against a broad set of success metrics, as well a specific metrics relevant to that client. The higher the score, the greater the impact.

The Impact Score is now a cloud-based, digital dashboard that can provide live reporting, supporting a more data-driven approach to public relations, with greater accountability.

Keep Left CEO, Caroline Catterall (feature image), said: “The Impact Score ensures our team really has their finger onthe pulse in terms of campaign performance, and can share live updates with clients.

“This means we don’t have to wait until the end of quarter or end of campaign to know if we’ve generatedthe results our clients care about, and that truly add value for their business.”

Catterall added this major update to the Impact Score had been born out of half a decade of learning and fine-tuning. “We first launched the Impact Score in 2014 and over the last five years have refined theevaluation methodology to factor in shifts in media landscape. The new algorithm applies all theselearnings.”

Charlie Spendlove, Head of Marketing & Communications at Guide Dogs Victoria and NSW/ACT said:“Guide Dogs have worked with Keep Left for the past seven years. We introduced the Impact Score aspart of our earned media analysis when it launched in 2014. It ensures activity is always results-drivenand based on Guide Dogs’ overarching communications objectives.”

Other updates to the Impact Score include customer KPI tracking against a project’s scope of work, theability to measure syndicated coverage, coverage log generation, and the inclusion of podcasts as a measurement option alongside TV, radio, online and print.

The Impact Score is available free of charge to Keep Left’s clients. From mid-2020, multinational clients will have the option to licence the platform to their international agency partners so that all markets can report on their impact, using the same methodology and platform.