You think your company is doing great, but do you have data to prove it? Which KPIs are crucial in measuring brand value and its position on the market? We've got you.
Check how to measure brand recall and which brand marketing metrics are the most important ones.
You must follow brand metrics to keep them in line and care for your image.
A good software, such as Prowly, may help you with that. Keep reading or try it for free and start tracking brands right away.
Brand metrics - what are they?
Brand metrics are measurable indicators that assess a brand's health, performance, and perception.
They are vital for gaining the impact of PR efforts because they translate sorts of abstraction like reputation and awareness into actionable data.
PR plays a crucial role in shaping brand health over time, not just through one-off campaign successes but by building trust. It supports recognition and influences public perception consistently.
Examples?
👉 PR amplifies brand awareness by securing media coverage and driving engagement on social platforms. Moreover, it enhances brand perception through positive sentiment.
👉 By tracking metrics such as media mentions, sentiment analysis, website traffic, and conversion rates, businesses can understand how PR contributes to long-term brand equity.
Below you can find some tips on brand tracking metrics as well as gain a practical framework for measuring PR’s impact on brand performance. And all of that is supported by real-world examples that illustrate how strategic PR can drive meaningful business outcomes.
What are brand metrics exactly (and why are they important)?
Brand metrics help you understand how well your brand is performing over time.
Unlike marketing KPIs (like conversions, clicks, or sales) focusing on short-term success, brand metrics give you a bigger picture.
They measure aspects like brand awareness, reputation, and customer perception - showing how your brand connects with people and stands out from the competition.
For PR, these metrics are crucial in building brand equity and trust over time.
Activities like media coverage, storytelling, and reputation management help shape how audiences perceive a brand. The better they see the brand, the more loyal they are. In many cases, that means more than a temporary sales peak.
👉 If you build a solid strong image, customers will come back and bring new ones.
👉 As a result, your sales will be growing and assure you a good position long-term.
Core categories of brand metrics include awareness (how recognizable the brand is), perception (how positively it is viewed), equity (the value attributed to the brand), and reputation (the trustworthiness and reliability associated with it).
By focusing on these areas, PR professionals can demonstrate their role in driving meaningful business outcomes and sustaining long-term brand growth.
| Aspect | Brand Metrics (PR Focused) | Marketing KPIs (Performance Focused) |
| Main Objective | Long-term perception, trust, and visibility | Direct performance, conversions, and ROI |
| Focus Area | Brand awareness, reputation, sentiment, share of voice | Leads, sales, CTR, conversion rates, ad performance |
| Time Horizon | Long-term impact and brand image building | Short- to mid-term performance tracking |
| Common Metrics | Share of voice, sentiment, brand recall, media engagement, brand consistency | Click-through rate, cost per lead, customer acquisition cost |
| Data Sources | Media coverage, sentiment analysis, PR reports, surveys | Web analytics, CRM platforms, paid ad dashboards |
| Tools Typically Used | Prowly, media monitoring tools, brand trackers | Google Analytics, HubSpot, Meta Ads Manager, email platforms |
| Measurement Style | Qualitative and quantitative | Mostly quantitative |
| Main Stakeholders | PR teams, comms directors, reputation managers | Marketing managers, performance teams, sales |
| Report Format | Narrative + visuals + sentiment breakdowns | Dashboards, funnel reports, ROI breakdowns |
| Outcome Examples | To improve brand trust, increased media share, message consistency and build relationships with audience | Higher traffic, more leads, lower customer acquisition cost |
10 brand metrics every PR pro should track
You know what brand metrics are in general but let's dig into details. Below you can find a list of 10 indicators that will help you with branding measurement.
Let's dive in!
#1 Share of Voice (SOV)
Share of Voice reflects how much media coverage your brand gets compared to competitors.
Why it matters?
A higher SOV means more brand visibility and authority in your niche. If you are wondering how to measure brand strength, it's your go-to brand metric.
How to measure it?
Track brand mentions across news, social media, and industry publications. And then compare versus competitors.
💡 How Prowly helps
Use Prowly’s media monitoring tools to track brand mentions and compare SOV with competitors. With Prowly you can follow also keywords related to your brand as well as those competitors related.
#2 Brand awareness
Brand awareness shows how well your audience recognizes and recalls your brand.
Why it matters?
High awareness means customers think of your brand first when considering a product or service in your category. This is some sort of brand popularity metric.
How to measure it?
Monitor organic brand mentions in media, branded search volume, and direct website traffic.
💡 How Prowly helps
Prowly’s media monitoring features help track brand mentions and sentiment over time. You can follow not only mentions across the web but also print and broadcast ones.
#3 Sentiment analysis
Sentiment analysis evaluates whether conversations about your brand are positive, negative, or neutral.
Why it matters?
Helps PR teams understand brand perception and identify potential reputation risks.
How to measure it?
Use e.g. AI-powered sentiment analysis tools to assess the tone of media coverage and social conversations. You can also use all-in-one platforms like Prowly with a built-in sentiment analysis feature.
💡 How Prowly helps
Leverage Prowly’s sentiment analysis to track media tone and adjust PR strategies accordingly. The platform indicates if the tone is positive, negative, or neutral.
#4 Brand salience (Top-of-Mind recall)
This one reflects how quickly and frequently consumers think of your brand when prompted with a category.
Why it matters
Strong brand salience increases the likelihood of being chosen over competitors.
How to measure it
Conduct consumer surveys and track unaided recall rates.
💡 How Prowly helps
Prowly’s media monitoring tools help track how often your brand is mentioned in relevant industry discussions, which can be an indicator of salience. Additionally, its PR analytics provide insights into media trends that can impact top-of-mind recall.
#5 Brand reputation
This one indicates how your brand is seen. It is shaped by media narratives, customer trust, and overall public perception.
Why it matters?
A strong reputation builds credibility, while a negative one can deter potential customers and partners.
How to measure it?
Assess media sentiment, customer reviews, and trust indicators in industry reports.
💡 How Prowly helps
Use Prowly’s media analysis tools to monitor sentiment and detect reputation shifts.
#6 Brand consistency
Thus brand metric ensures that your brand’s messaging, tone, and values remain consistent across all channels.
Why it matters?
Inconsistent messaging can confuse audiences and weaken brand trust. So its crucial to keep the tone coherent.
How to measure it?
Analyze PR content, press releases, and media mentions for alignment with brand messaging.
💡 How Prowly helps
Use Prowly’s press release and media database tools to standardize messaging.
#7 Media engagement
This brand metric measures how well media outlets engage with your campaigns.
Why it matters?
Strong media engagement boosts credibility, SEO, and audience reach.
How to measure it?
Track media coverage, journalist responses, and backlinks to brand content.
💡 How Prowly helps
Prowly’s journalist outreach and press release tools help secure media coverage.
#8 Brand equity
Brand equity is the overall value and strength of your brand in the eyes of consumers.
Why it matters?
High brand equity means customers are willing to pay a premium and stay loyal.
How to measure it?
Analyze brand preference, loyalty metrics, and willingness to pay for your products/services.
💡 How Prowly helps
Prowly’s media monitoring and sentiment analysis tools help track consumer perception and public sentiment toward your brand. Additionally, PR analytics can provide insights into how media coverage impacts brand loyalty and perceived value.
#9 PR crises & spikes in mentions
It detects anomalies. For example, sudden increases in brand mentions. These may often linked to PR crises or viral events.
Why it matters?
Helps PR teams respond quickly to mitigate risks or leverage opportunities. The sooner you know, the better answer you can craft.
How to measure it?
Monitor media trends for unusual spikes in coverage or sentiment shifts.
💡 How Prowly helps
Use Prowly’s media monitoring alerts to detect and respond to crises in real time. You can also benefit from sentiment analysis and be aware that negative mentions are rising.
#10 Brand recognition metric
This brand metric measures consumer familiarity with your brand’s logo, name, or tagline.
Why it matters?
Strong brand recognition ensures that consumers can easily identify your brand in crowded markets. E.g. golden arches (McDonald's) or white, red and blue in a circle (Pepsi)
How to measure it?
Conduct consumer surveys, focus groups, and analyze qualitative feedback.
💡 How Prowly helps
With this tool, you can monitor mentions across the web and analyze what people say about your brand.
How to measure brand performance over time
Follow the below steps to benefit from brand metrics analyses.
#1 Tip: Consistent tracking
Being regular pays off. Track brand metrics monthly or quarterly. It helps you to identify trends and assess the impact of marketing campaigns.
You can also use tools like dashboards for real-time tracking and visualization of key metrics, ensuring actionable insights.
#2 Tip: Benchmarking against competitors
Benefit from Share of Voice to measure your brand’s presence compared to competitors.
- How to measure it: Share of Voice (SOV)=Your Brand Metrics/Total Market Metrics
- or do it automatically in Prowly
Compare sentiment scores to index audience perception and brand tone over time. Follow posts about your competitors and narrative about them, too.
💡 Read this article on Share of Voice in PR and make sure you make the most of SoV with little effort.
#3 Tip: Tools and templates
You can use downloadable templates like monthly or quarterly marketing reports to streamline the process of data collection and reporting. These templates can help consolidate metrics like reach, impressions, and conversions into a single report.
By combining consistent tracking, competitive benchmarking, and actionable reporting tools like Prowly's PR reports, you can effectively measure and improve your brand performance over time.
P.S. To truly understand and measure brand impact, it helps to first explore how visible your brand is—this guide to brand visibility breaks it down.
💡 Prowly users can generate client-facing PR reports that visualize brand visibility, tone, and media reach with just a few clicks, making it easier to communicate results with stakeholders.
Reporting brand metrics to stakeholders
Tips for creating executive-ready data visuals
- Prioritize key metrics.
To prevent information overload, focus on essential data points like SOV, brand sentiment, and media reach. There you need actual data. - Leverage visuals.
Use charts, graphs, and infographics to simplify complex information. Pie charts work well for sentiment analysis, while trend lines effectively illustrate media reach. - Customize.
Tailor the level of detail to the stakeholder’s role. Senior executives benefit from high-level summaries, while marketing teams may need deeper insights. All your actions are about knowing your recipients, - Delive context.
Compare data to past performance and competitors to highlight trends and benchmarks clearly. Show how the market has changed over time.
Brand metrics you should include in your reports
A comprehensive report should include all essential data to gather the whole complex. There is no need for extensive storytelling and extra information. Just go straight to the point. What to include?
- Media coverage & mentions - a breakdown of your press features, media placements, and journalist interactions in a specific period.
- Share of Voice - show your brand’s visibility compared to competitors across the media (online and offline).
- Sentiment analysis - bring a summary of positive, neutral, and negative mentions to assess brand perception.
- Key campaign performance - show your PR campaign results, including media reach, audience engagement, and ROI.
- Social media & digital metrics - back to the roots, i.e. growth in followers, engagement rates, and and reach.
- Takeaways & further actions - present insights and deliver recommendations for the next steps.
Sample OKRs for brand metrics
Setting clear objectives and key results (OKRs) helps track brand performance effectively. Here are a few examples:
1️⃣ Objective: Increase brand visibility in the media.
OKR examples:
- Increase Share of Voice (SOV) by 20% over six months.
- Secure at least 5 Tier-1 media placements per quarter.
2️⃣ Objective: Improve brand perception.
OKR examples:
- Achieve a 3:1 positive-to-negative sentiment ratio in brand mentions.
- Increase Net Promoter Score (NPS) by 10 in the next quarter.
3️⃣ Objective: Enhance audience engagement.
OKR examples:
- Boost social media engagement rate by 5% in one month.
- Grow branded search volume by 10% over the next quarter.
The above list is just an exemplary one. Feel free to adjust it to your brand, market specifications, and needs.
💡 Tip: If you want to make your PR strategy truly robust, learn how to measure, report, and protect your brand with this article on brand reputation management.
Common mistakes in brand measurement metrics
You know what to do when it comes to brand metrics, but know it's time for the list of your don'ts.
- Relying too much on vanity metrics – likes and followers may look impressive but don’t always reflect true brand impact or audience sentiment.
- Not measuring message alignment or media tone – tracking only coverage volume without assessing tone can lead to misleading conclusions about brand perception.
- Skipping long-term tracking – focusing only on short-term campaign results makes it difficult to measure sustained brand growth and reputation.
- Not aligning brand metrics with PR goals – following metrics that don’t connect to overall PR and business objectives can lead to wasted effort and misdirected strategies.
- Overlooking security issues – failing to ensure data integrity and protect proprietary insights can compromise reporting accuracy and decision-making. Do not overlook password security, 2FA and timely review of your accounts and content.
💡 Extra Tip: Add a mini checklist for your marketing to secure social accounts and align teams before going public.
How to use brand metrics in business? Case studies & good practices
Time for practice. Let's dive into some examples on how brand uses these metrics to save their image.
Tracking sentiment during a crisis – H&M’s backlash (2018)
When H&M faced criticism over an ad featuring a Black kid wearing a hoodie with the phrase “Coolest Monkey in the Jungle”, the brand monitored real-time sentiment analysis to assess public reaction. As you may presume the negativity was overwhelming. It led to an apology, removal of the ad, and a commitment to improving diversity efforts.
Measuring media coverage post-rebrand – Dunkin’ drops “Donuts” (2019)
When Dunkin' Donuts rebranded to simply Dunkin’, the company analyzed media coverage and public reception.
By tracking news sentiment and social media discussions, Dunkin’ confirmed that consumers embraced the modernized brand identity while still associating it with coffee and breakfast.
Using Share of Voice (SOV) to prove PR ROI – Pepsi vs. Coca-Cola
Pepsi has long used SOV metrics to measure its media presence compared to Coca-Cola. So what are they doing?
By tracking mentions, ad spending, and media coverage, Pepsi's PR teams can demonstrate the effectiveness of campaigns like Super Bowl ads or celebrity endorsements. Living proof of proving their marketing investments values.
P.S. Even Pepsi makes PR mistakes. You can read about their campaign that was widely criticized (and why it went so wrong.
How tools like Prowly help PR pros track brand metrics
#1 Simplifying media monitoring
Prowly offers a straightforward way to monitor brand mentions across various platforms. It analyzes the sentiment and tone. It provides valuable insights into how your brand is perceived. Moreover, you gain real-time updates, so you can stay on top of every conversation about you.
#2 Building strong media relationships
The Journalist CRM feature helps you manage your media contacts effectively. You can track interactions and build a history of engagement. Thus, there is a way to foster stronger relationships with journalists, increasing your chances of securing media coverage that aligns with your brand's message.
#3 Effective press release distribution
Prowly makes distributing press releases easier. How? By customizable templates and access to a vast media database. So you can be sure that your message reaches the right audience, amplifying your brand's visibility and share of voice.
#4 Reporting made easy
Creating reports is streamlined with Prowly's customizable reporting tools. Whether you're part of an agency or an in-house team, these reports help you present campaign results clearly and effectively to stakeholders.
Prowly is an intuitive platform that will help you manage your workflow efficiently, track brand metrics accurately, and enhance overall brand presence.
Brand metrics - summing up
You want a strong, lasting brand reputation?
Metrics like sentiment analysis, customer satisfaction, and share of voice provide insights that may give you a hand.
But remember, proactive tracking ensures you stay ahead of potential issues and adapt strategies to meet evolving consumer expectations, rather than waiting until the end of a campaign to assess impact. Ready to take control of your brand’s reputation? You can keep your finger on the pulse with Prowly’s powerful features.
