Speaking at the AMEC Virtual Global Summit on Measurement about the new frontier of earned attribution are Mary Elizabeth Germaine, Partner/Managing Director at Global Analytics, Ketchum, and Erin Lanuti, Chief Innovation Officer at Omnicom PR Group.

“One of the things we have seen consistently over the decades is that PR is facing a series of challenges that prevent us from getting earned attribution – one being that there is limited visibility into the audience’s behaviour,” suggests Erin.

She adds that “data is everywhere. However, it is not typically connected”. In order to connect the pieces and so unlock the potential of data, Omnicom Group has introduced OmniearnedID. This platform “obtains insights into anonymised individuals who have liked/commented on certain posts. This allows us to connect to multiple data sets”.

Mary Elizabeth suggests that this is going to change how we approach, plan and measure our work. For instance, Ketchum recently used the software for its seasonal influencer campaign, where the team were looking for influencers to help drive sales of a client’s products.

OmniearnedID was used as an integral part of this task, introducing a new way to pick an influencer by revealing the purchase rates amongst their followers. This led them to work with the influencer Allison Holker, who had the highest reach and best sales growth potential with average sales. After the campaign, the brand was able to see an 8% rise in sales.

However, it is important to note that not all clients are looking for sales. Some, for instance, are simply looking to reach their audiences. The OmniearnedID methodology allows them to look at exposure of the brand. It is different from other surveys, because it allows the user to isolate the exposure from any previous exposure that a brand has gained and show how this has impacted people’s behaviour.

Mary Elizabeth ends the presentation with the following thought. “I want us to think about data differently, and how we can integrate it more broadly by thinking beyond the norm. We have the opportunity to elevate PR within the marketing mix, and we should use the past to predict and guide future decisions.”