How to measure PR in Poland - metrics that actually matter

You hired a PR agency. They tell you: "we got you 120 media mentions and a 35% lift in website traffic:.

Great. But what does that actually mean?

Did those mentions reach your target audience? Did they drive sales? Or did you pay 50,000 PLN to get your brand name in some random blog that nobody reads?

Collab with top-tier beauty influencer in Poland

Media mentions / "earned media hits"

Your agency says: "We got you 50 mentions"

But they don't tell you:

• Which publications? (A mention in Puls Biznesu ≠ a mention in a random blog)

• Who reads them? (Does your target audience read these outlets?)

• What did they say? (Was it positive or neutral?)

• Did it actually reach anyone? (Or did it get buried in the feed?)

  
  

A single mention in the right publication > 50 mentions in random blogs.

"Reach" and "impressions"

"Your coverage reached 500,000 people"

But:

• How many actually read it? (Most people scroll past)

• How many are your target audience? (Reaching 500K people you don't want to reach = wasted budget)

• Did they care? (Or did they just see your name and forget?)

  
  

Reach without quality = vanity.

"Sentiment score"

"92% positive sentiment"

But:

• Who measured it? (An algorithm or a human?)

• What counts as "positive"? (A mention saying "nice" vs. actually caring about your brand?)

• Did it change anyone's mind? (Or just feel-good metrics?)

  
  

Sentiment without substance = noise.

Metrics that PR can actually measure

1. Media coverage — quality, not quantity

What it is: Where did your brand appear? In which publications? What did the articles say?

Why it matters: An article in Puls Biznesu > 10 articles in random blogs.

How to measure:

• Which publications mentioned you?

• What was the tone of the article? (Positive, neutral, negative?)

• Did the article include your key messaging?

• Did it reach your target audience?

Red flag: If your agency says "120 mentions" but can't tell you which publications - well...

2. Share of voice (in your category)

What it is: What percentage of media coverage in your industry goes to you vs. competitors?

Why it matters: Shows if you're winning the PR game or losing it.

How to measure:

• How many articles about you per month?

• How many articles about competitors?

• What's your % vs. theirs?

Example: "In the beauty category, we have 35% share of voice. Competitor X has 20%"

3. Reach of coverage (in publications that mentioned you)

What it is: How many people potentially read the article where your brand appeared?

Why it matters: Shows scale - did 10K people read it or 500K?

How to measure:

• What are the monthly unique visitors of the publication that mentioned you?

• Multiply by average % of people who read an article (typically 20-40%)

  
  

Example: "The Puls Biznesu article has reach ~200K people. The random blog article has reach ~5K people"

4. Sentiment & messaging accuracy

What it is: Was the article positive? Did it include your key messaging?

Why it matters: A positive article with your messaging > a neutral article without your messaging.

How to measure:

• Read the article

• Did it mention your products positively?

• Did it include your key points?

• Did it quote your spokesperson?

  
  

Red flag: If an article mentions you but doesn't include your messaging — your agency didn't do a good job.

5. Influencer engagement (on posts promoting your brand)

What it is: How many people engaged with the influencer's post promoting your brand?

Why it matters: Shows if the post actually reached people or was a "ghost post"

How to measure:

• How many likes, comments, shares does the post have?

• What's the engagement rate? (engagement / followers)

• What are the comments? (Are people actually interested?)

  
  

Red flag: A post from an account with 100K followers but only 50 likes = fake followers.

6. Brand mentions (in social media, after PR campaign)

What it is: How many times is your brand mentioned on social media after a PR campaign?

Why it matters: Shows if the PR campaign generated organic buzz.

How to measure: Tools like Mention → track mentions of your brand → compare before and after campaign.

Example: "Before campaign: 50 mentions/month. After campaign: 200 mentions/month"

7. Media relationships & access

What it is: Did the agency build relationships with key journalists and publications?

Why it matters: A good relationship = easier access to coverage in the future.

How to measure:

• Does the journalist respond to the agency's emails?

• Did the publication invite you to an event?

• Does the journalist quote you in articles?

  
  

Red flag: If the agency doesn't have relationships with key publications - they won't be able to deliver coverage.

PR clipping in national top-tier lifestyle portal

What you CANNOT measure in PR (and why agencies lie about it)

"Conversions from PR" 

PR has no access to conversion data. An article in Puls Biznesu won't have a UTM parameter. You don't know how many people bought after reading the article.

If an agency says "PR generated 100 conversions" - they're making it up.

"Direct sales from PR" 

You can't track which sales came from PR. Sales might come from PR, but they might also come from organic search, word-of-mouth, or something else.

If an agency says "PR generated 50,000 PLN in sales" - they're guessing.

"ROI of PR" 

ROI requires knowing: how much it cost and how much it generated. In PR, you know the cost, but you don't know the revenue (because you can't track conversions).

If an agency says "PR ROI is 5:1" - they're lying.

"Website traffic from PR" 

Unlike paid ads, PR articles don't have trackable links. You can't tell if traffic came from a specific article or from something else.

If an agency says "PR drove 500 visitors to your website" - they're estimating, not measuring.

Our proof: PR that delivers real results

• Lamel Cosmetics saw 120+ earned media hits and a 35 % lift in webshop visits within two months, thanks to targeted press releases and influencer partnerships that aligned perfectly with the brand’s clean-beauty ethos (see case study).

• For Orient Watches, our strategic placement in lifestyle and business titles generated a 25 % jump in branded search volume and sustained engagement on social channels, proving that precision pitching pays off (read more).

• Kikkoman benefited from a series of bespoke food-media activations, resulting in a 40 % increase in recipe-blog referrals and a noticeable uptick in positive product reviews online (explore the results).

These aren't just vanity metrics. They're real business results: better coverage, more brand awareness, stronger positioning.

How to measure PR realistically

Instead of: How many conversions did the campaign generate?

Ask:

• In which publications did we appear?

• What was the reach of those publications?

• Did the articles include our key messaging?

• Was the sentiment positive?

• Did brand mentions on social media increase?

  
  

These metrics you can measure. And they show whether the PR campaign worked.

Red flags - how to spot a BS PR agency

• "We got you 100 media mentions" (but can't tell you which ones or their quality) → Vanity metrics. Ask: "Which publications? What was the reach?"

• "Your sentiment score is 95%" (but can't show you the articles) → Meaningless. Ask: "Show me the articles and explain why they're positive."

• "PR generated 500 website visitors" (but can't show you the source) → Guessing. Ask: "Which articles drove traffic? How do you know?"

• "We'll measure results in 3 months" (but don't set KPIs upfront) → They're making it up as they go. Ask: "What are our specific targets?"

• "Trust us, we know what we're doing" (but can't show you a dashboard) → Red flag. Ask: "Show me the data."

What to ask your PR agency

Before you hire them:

1. "How do you measure PR results?" (If they say "media mentions," run.)

2. "Can you show me examples of coverage you've secured?" (Quality, not quantity.)

3. "How do you track share of voice?" (Do they monitor competitors?)

4. "What are our KPIs for this campaign?" (Specific metrics, not vague goals.)

5. "How often will you report on results?" (Monthly? Weekly?)

   
   

If they can't answer these clearly - find another agency.

Bottom line

PR should build your brand and position you as a leader. Not just generate vanity metrics.

Before you spend budget on PR, define what success looks like. Then measure it. Then optimize based on real data.

If your agency can't show you real metrics - they're not doing PR. They're doing press release distribution.

Discover our full portfolio of success stories on the case studies page and let’s start defining your next set of KPIs for the Polish market.