How to set PR goals and KPIs
By Joel Andren · Published by PressFriendly, a PR agency · Reviewed October 13, 2026 · Editorial standards · 3 of 10 in this section
Choose one main reason for investing in PR, name the audience you want to reach, and agree on a few signs of progress. A small startup usually needs a clear conversation about success and a short report it can use to make decisions.
“Get more coverage” describes an output. “Help enterprise buyers understand that we support their use case” explains why the coverage might matter.
Give the agency a business problem it can work with
A useful brief might say: “Prospective customers keep assuming we're a tool for individual developers. We want engineering leaders to understand how teams use us.” That's specific enough for a provider to recommend relevant stories, audiences, and measures.
Ask the agency what it expects to change, what evidence it can collect, and when you should review progress. Agree on targets where you have a sensible basis for them. If you have no history or audience research, establish a starting point before inventing a percentage improvement.
Keep the measures close to the goal
For that fictional developer-tool company, a useful starting set could be:
| Measure | What it helps you judge |
|---|---|
| Relevant stories that explain the team use case | Whether the work reached the intended audience with the right idea |
| Qualified inquiries that mention coverage | Whether any prospects connect the coverage to their interest |
| What sales hears about the product's role | Whether understanding appears to be changing in actual conversations |
The first is a PR output. The others are evidence of audience response and possible business contribution. AMEC's planning guidance connects communication objectives and evaluation to the business need; it doesn't supply a universal target for every program.
Choose measures you can collect without creating an expensive research project. If surveys or formal attribution would materially improve a large investment decision, discuss that cost separately.
Define the numbers well enough to compare them
Agree what counts as relevant coverage and how syndicated copies or press-release republication will be treated. For inquiries, use the same qualifying rule each time. Keep the original links and note where the data comes from.
You don't need a detailed definition for every number in an agency report. You do need shared definitions for the few measures you'll use to continue, change, or end the program.
Use the review to choose what happens next
High outreach volume with little interest is a reason to discuss the story, targeting, or timing. Good coverage with few inquiries may mean the audience is wrong, the buying cycle is long, or the website isn't converting interest. Look at the evidence together before choosing an explanation.
PR rarely acts alone. Record what a prospect says about an article, including whether they say it influenced their decision; avoid claiming all subsequent revenue as PR-generated. Use which PR metrics matter for more detail when the measurement question becomes important to your buying decision.