PR Check: What to Keep, What to Fix for Maximum Impact

PR Check: What to Keep, What to Fix for Maximum Impact

The calendar flips, the quarter closes, and PR teams everywhere face the essential question: "What worked? What didn't? And what's next?" At S.P.R.D, we see this quarterly rhythm not just as a reporting period but as a strategic opportunity to evaluate, refine, and strengthen PR approaches for the months ahead.

The Quarter-End Mindset

Quarter endings matter because they align with broader business cycles. While sales teams close deals and finance departments finalize numbers, PR professionals gain a natural moment to step back from daily tasks and assess the bigger-picture impact.

Many PR teams treat their work as a continuous flow of press releases, media pitches, and social posts. However, adopting a quarterly perspective transforms these activities into strategic chapters in a longer narrative. The press tour, product launch, or crisis management from recent months tell a cohesive story that informs future strategy.

Taking Stock: What Actually Worked?

When evaluating quarterly performance, PR teams should look beyond basic metrics to answer more substantive questions:

• Did key messages reach intended audiences?

• Which stories genuinely impacted brand perception?

• Where did efforts gain traction versus simply generating noise?

• Which media relationships strengthened?

• How did PR activities support sales conversations?

• What unexpected wins emerged?

Too often, teams celebrate high impression numbers while missing that their key messages were absent from resulting coverage. Quarter-end reviews demand honest assessment of what delivered genuine value.

Keep Doing What's Working

Each quarter reveals approaches worth protecting and amplifying:

Productive media relationships that consistently deliver quality coverage deserve continued investment. Journalists who understand an industry, grasp a company's positioning and produce thoughtful coverage represent valuable assets worth nurturing.

Channel strengths become apparent through quarterly analysis. Perhaps executive LinkedIn content generates triple the engagement of branded posts. Maybe podcast appearances drive more website traffic than press releases. Data reveals these unique advantages.

Resonant messaging stands out after months of pushing various narratives. Some talking points get picked up verbatim while others disappear. When messaging clearly resonates, it deserves continued emphasis even if internal teams have heard it repeatedly.

One cybersecurity company discovered their technical blog posts – content their marketing team considered "too specialized" – actually drove 70% of qualified leads. This quarterly insight prevented a potentially damaging pivot to more generalized content.

Fix What's Dragging You Down

Quarter-end reviews also highlight underperforming areas:

Declining tactics that no longer deliver results. The media landscape evolves quickly, and yesterday's reliable approaches fade in effectiveness. Press releases that once guaranteed coverage might now barely register. Executive Q&As that previously succeeded might yield diminishing returns.

Resource imbalances that consume budget without proportional impact. PR teams sometimes allocate significant resources to traditional activities like award submissions while underfunding higher-impact initiatives. Quarterly reviews make these imbalances clear.

Ineffective messaging requires identification and correction. Whether it's a thought leadership angle that journalists consistently ignore or product messaging that never appears in articles, quarter-end is the time to recognize and address these disconnects.

A marketing technology company once spent an entire quarter emphasizing their "AI-powered" capabilities, only to discover this message appeared in zero articles. Journalists instead focused on ease of implementation – a message the company had relegated to the bottom of their releases.

Quarter-End PR Checklist

Effective quarter-end assessments should include:

• Relationship audit: Which media connections strengthened? Which weakened? Why?

• Content review: Which assets supported sales efforts? Which generated follow-up interest? Which failed to gain traction?

• Budget analysis: Breaking down spend by activity to calculate the ROI of each effort.

• Competitive assessment: Has the share of voice improved or declined? Are competitors dominating conversations the brand should lead?

• Internal feedback: What do sales, product, and leadership teams observe about PR's quarterly impact?

• Crisis readiness evaluation: Did any situations expose gaps in response capabilities?

• Team capability review: Does the PR team have the skills needed for next quarter's priorities?

Planning the Next Quarter

With the assessment complete, attention turns to the future:

Strategic prioritization based on demonstrated effectiveness. This often requires difficult decisions about reallocating resources from traditional but underperforming activities to proven high-impact approaches.

Realistic yet ambitious targets that push boundaries appropriately. Each quarter should advance progress, but PR is fundamentally relationship-based and requires sustainable pacing.

Flexibility reserves of approximately 20% capacity for unpredictable opportunities. Whether it's a competitor stumble or a sudden industry shift that opens a thought leadership window, readiness for the unexpected creates an advantage.

Business alignment ensures that PR planning supports revenue events. Working backwards from sales goals, product releases, and funding announcements guarantees PR synchronization with business priorities.

Closing Thoughts

Quarter-end evaluation transcends mere reporting to become a strategic discipline. Today's PR landscape rewards teams that evolve quickly while maintaining focus on business-driving results.

Effective PR organizations take hard looks at quarterly performance, have difficult conversations about underperforming tactics, and double down on unique advantages. This approach creates clear priorities and smarter strategies for the quarter ahead.

While competitors often default to routine approaches, brands that systematically evaluate what to keep and what to fix gain increasing advantages with each passing quarter.

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Psst! This blog was created after a lot of thought by a real person. #NoGenerativeAI