PR Strategic-Fit Scorecard
Invest in PR when third-party credibility unlocks a specific strategic goal
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 96%
The scorecard begins with the business outcome rather than a desired publication. A company asks whether it needs help entering a new geography, establishing what kind of company it is, creating a category, protecting reputation, or preparing leaders for public scrutiny. It then identifies the audience whose perception matters—prospects, investors, employees, regulators, or regional buyers—and tests whether independent media can add credibility or accelerate recognition. Relevant regional and niche outlets may score higher than famous national publications. Success is measured through clearer market understanding, stronger sales access, message adoption, reputation resilience, and useful coverage among priority audiences. Direct website traffic can be observed, but it is explicitly not treated as PR's primary purpose.
Origin
Extracted from Marketing Against The Grain through Katie Burke's explanation of the business cases where HubSpot found PR most valuable.
Core principles
- 01Judge PR by strategic outcomes rather than referral traffic
- 02Use earned media where third-party validation matters
- 03Match publications to the audiences that influence the goal
- 04Treat reputation as an asset built before a crisis
How to run it
- 1
Define the strategic outcome
State whether the company needs market entry, category legitimacy, reputation strength, investor understanding, or defensive readiness.
Pro tip Write one outcome rather than a general desire for awareness.
Watch out Do not start with a wish to appear in a famous publication.
- 2
Name the deciding audience
Specify whose understanding or trust must change for the outcome to occur.
Pro tip Separate customers, investors, employees, and regional audiences when their needs differ.
Watch out An audience of everyone produces no usable strategy.
- 3
Test third-party leverage
Ask whether credible independent coverage would accelerate recognition or trust more effectively than owned channels alone.
Pro tip Give extra weight to markets where the brand is difficult to recognize or explain.
Watch out PR cannot compensate for an offer that lacks value.
- 4
Select relevant media
Choose regional, trade, niche, or national outlets according to audience influence rather than status.
Pro tip Prioritize outlets that sales prospects or investors actually encounter.
Watch out A large publication can still be strategically irrelevant.
- 5
Measure perception outcomes
Track message consistency, category recognition, reputation signals, market access, and stakeholder understanding.
Pro tip Combine qualitative feedback with available awareness data.
Watch out Do not declare failure solely because referral traffic is low.
In the wild
HubSpot was widely recognized for its blog, but people were confused about whether it was an agency or merely a content property. Before its public offering, the company pursued coverage that described it as an inbound marketing software company. That language helped prospects and investors understand that HubSpot sold software and supported a SaaS valuation narrative.
→ Priority audiences gained a clearer understanding of HubSpot's business and category.
HubSpot's regional teams used PR to establish recognition where building an owned community would take longer and sales representatives repeatedly had to spell the company name. Regional coverage gave sales teams more credible openings with local prospects.
→ Earned media accelerated awareness and sales access in newer markets.
Common mistakes
Measuring only referral traffic
PR often changes recognition and trust without producing a directly attributable website visit.
Targeting outlets by fame
Prestige does not guarantee influence over the audience tied to the business objective.
Treating one hit as the strategy
A decentralized media environment requires a portfolio of relevant relationships and outlets.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for companies pursuing international growth, reputation building, category creation, investor understanding, or crisis readiness.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal for campaigns whose sole objective is immediate referral traffic or direct sales.
From the transcript
“I do not think that PR is the best vehicle for traffic.”
“if you're a company that cares about international growth, PR should absolutely be part of your strategy.”
“One other use case we haven't talked about is category creation.”
From the episode
Live from INBOUND: Does PR Still Matter? With Katie Burke and Kipp Bodnar
Katie Burke