Today's Question: Are All Media Impressions Created Equal?

As the landscape for PR professionals continues to change, we are faced with how to measure our results. Traditional metrics including impressions, CPM and Web site traffics have made way for positive blog posts, Tweets and online recommendations. With that said, many of our programs are still evaluated on impressions--how many people can we reach; how many eyeballs will see our placements. The new question becomes--how many of these impressions are engaged and will result in action?

There are standard multipliers for evaluating a paid versus earned placement, but how do we rate a blog placement or comment on a message board. Aren't these more engaged placements? The overall numbers are smaller, but the direct feedback from purchasers is much more meaningful, so isn't it OK that the volume is less?

It really comes down to a better understanding by professionals on how to evaluate today's programs. So, all impressions are not created equal and they shouldn't be!