What PR Metrics Miss
Measuring What Matters
At the PR Daily Conference, DEY's Kavita Tomlinson challenged conventional PR metrics, arguing that for mission-driven organizations, the strongest indicators of success are influence, trust, and the quiet shifts in narrative that drive lasting change.
PR metrics for mission-driven organizations have always required a different vocabulary. Impressions and circulation numbers tell part of a story, but not the part that tends to matter for nonprofits, foundations, and under-the-radar institutions working on issues that shape society quietly and over time. At DEY. our work has long prioritized influence, trust, and cultural alignment rather than flashy visibility.
This became especially clear during the PR Daily Conference in June, where our Head of Strategy and Media Relations, Kavita Tomlinson, spoke about how organizations can rethink what progress looks like. Her perspective reflected the conversations we have with clients every day, the ones focused less on reach and more on resonance. In rooms where climate resilience, pandemic prevention, and tech equity are being debated, the meaningful outcomes often unfold behind the scenes.
Why Traditional Metrics Fall Short
The standard scorecard for PR has always leaned heavily on volume. Kavita shared an example that many communications leaders will recognize: an internal report boasting media impressions that outnumbered the world’s population several times over. It looked impressive on paper. It was also meaningless. Numbers like that mask real questions. Did the work change anything? Did it open a door? Did it spark a conversation that wasn’t happening before?
Traditional metrics often miss the quiet moments where influence forms.
Real progress doesn’t always make headlines. Sometimes its success is defined by the absence of a crisis or the steady alignment of partners behind the scenes. Those signals are hard to quantify, but they are far more honest indicators of traction.
Milestones of Influence
DEY.’s measurement philosophy centers on what we call milestones of influence: small but meaningful markers that reveal whether a message, idea, or piece of storytelling is landing in the right places. These signals often happen quietly, but they reflect real movement.
Examples of Milestones
An invitation into a new room, working group, or convening
A policymaker referencing our client’s framing in a speech or report
A donor, partner, or academic reaching out after an op ed
Competitors or peer organizations adopting similar language
Internal teams beginning to echo the narrative strategy
These aren’t splashy. They’re structural. They indicate shifts in how people think, talk, and decide, long before those shifts show up publicly.
Influence in Action
During her session, Kavita also shared stories from the field. In one case, a public health op ed we placed helped open a door to the White House. In another, a narrative roadshow at Stanford catalyzed an academic partnership that expanded our client’s influence in the tech governance conversation. None of these achievements were measured by raw reach. They were measured by who reached back.
Storytelling is not just a tool for audiences. It is a tool for measurement. It helps clients see the path their work is carving, even when that path is quiet.
Layering in AI Signals
We’re also starting to use AI tools to track narrative penetration — how ideas move across media ecosystems, congressional hearings, social platforms, academic conversations, and cultural moments.
For partners like Stanford Medicine, for example, we can analyze how often ethical AI in healthcare appears in public discourse and how that presence shifts in response to key interventions. This kind of analysis doesn’t replace human judgment. It enhances it. It provides an additional lens for understanding where ideas are gaining traction, where they’re stalling, and where new opportunities may be emerging.
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