Key Digital PR Metrics to Track for Success in 2025

Media Coverage and Quality

For most businesses, the foundation of any Digital PR campaign lies in securing media coverage. However, it’s no longer just about quantity; quality is equally critical.

 Is it a publication your audience reads, does it have a high Domain Authority, will it help drive traffic to your site, is it positive or negative?

• Pieces of Coverage - Track the number of pieces / mentions your brand receives across online platforms, including news sites, blogs, and social media. 
• Sentiment Analysis - Meltwater is the perfect tool to use for this as a way to analyse whether the coverage is positive, neutral, or negative. Getting mentioned is great. But if the conversation isn’t favourable, it’s a problem. Sentiment analysis helps you understand if people are talking about you correctly. Digital PR should largely be positive. If it’s not, you may need a shift in messaging.

Image - Meltwater - Sentiment Analysis 

• Domain Authority (DA) of outlets – Domain Authority is a score developed by Moz that predicts how likely a website is to rank on search engines, based on factors like backlinks and site quality. Domain Authority, as well as Trust and Citation Flow scores, are super useful metrics to measure the credibility of the outlets publishing your content. Using tools like Moz, Ahrefs and Majestic can help track these to then dictate the success of campaigns and your Digital PR strategy.
• Key message penetration -  Ensure your overall campaign messages are reflected in the coverage.
• Total reach –  Reach offers insight into the number of unique users exposed to your message, highlighting your potential audience sizeTools such as Meltwater can provide these statistics which are certainly worth including in your reporting to gain an understanding of how many people will potentially see your brand on these sites. Other key metrics which can enhance your reporting, include engagements and estimated views

Image - Meltwater - Highest Potential Editorial Reach

Image - Meltwater - Top Publications by Editorial Reach

Tip: Regularly share high-quality coverage with internal teams to keep morale high and demonstrate the impact of PR efforts. 

Backlink Quality and SEO Impact

In 2025, Digital PR and SEO continue to be closely intertwined. Backlinks from reputable sites are critical for improving your site's domain authority (DA) and a higher DA means your site ranks better on Google, bringing more organic traffic your way.

So how can you measure it? 

1. Number of Backlinks - Backlinks are links from other websites that point to your site, acting as a signal of trust and authority in the eyes of search engines. Track how many links your campaign generates. You can do this manually or use Meltwater or CoverageBook for example, to track coverage.

2. Link Relevance - Ensure backlinks come from industry-relevant sites that align with your niche. As per below we regularly secure coverage for our client Complete Pilates in the likes of Marie Claire, Patient, Women’s Health and the like which not only helps with improving Domain Authority and Trust and Citation flow scores but equally appeals to Complete’s target audience. 

3. Anchor Text Distribution - Ensure the anchor texts align with your keyword strategy.

4. Referral Traffic - Measure the number of website visitors driven by these backlinks.

Tip: Create shareable, value-packed content that naturally earns backlinks—e.g., data reports, infographics, or expert interviews.

Brand Awareness and Sentiment

When someone says, "I see your brand everywhere," that’s brand awareness at work. Well-placed Digital PR ensures your brand name comes up, again and again, building trust with your audience (and with Google). But if you’re not tracking whether your Digital PR efforts are lifting brand awareness it’s time you should. Brand awareness is a long-term benefit of Digital PR, but it’s measurable with the right tools.
Social Listening Tools - Platforms like Meltwater and Brandwatch help monitor online sentiment and emerging trends.

• Survey Data -  You could look at pre- and post-campaign surveys to measure brand recognition.
• Share of Voice (SOV) - Share of Voice measures how much of the conversation your brand owns in comparison to competitors across media and online platforms, helping you gauge visibility and market presence. Compare your brand’s presence with competitors in media and online discussions.
• Net Promoter Score (NPS) - Net Promoter Score is a customer loyalty metric based on how likely people are to recommend your brand to others, typically measured through a single survey question. Track customer willingness to recommend your brand.

Audience Traffic and Behaviour

Another consideration is to delve into how audiences interact with your content. For instance:

• Website Traffic -  Use tools like Google Analytics to track the volume and source of traffic from your Digital PR campaigns. Google Analytics is your real-time report - every mention should lead to a spike in traffic. More importantly, you should be able to track what those visitors do next. Do they convert into leads, or do they leave without a trace? If your main campaign KPI is to bring in qualified traffic and it’s not working, you should perhaps rethink your approach.

• Time on Site -: Gauge how long users stay on your website after arriving.

• Conversions-  Measure how many visitors take a desired action, such as signing up for a newsletter or making a purchase.

Cost Efficiency and ROI

Ultimately, Digital PR campaigns need to justify their costs.

• AVE (Advertising Value Equivalency)- Essentially this is an estimated dollar value of media coverage secured during a specified period (your PR campaign). It’s calculated using potential reach and an industry-standard dollar value measurement. Traditionally, AVE) was used to measure the amount of space a piece of content occupied, compared with the cost of an equivalent paid advertisement. However, it’s important to use it alongside all the metrics noted above to give the full picture.

• Budget vs. Outcome: Compare the campaign’s expenses to its results in terms of reach, engagement, and conversions.

Tip! Use these insights to plan for future campaigns by highlighting cost-effective successes.

Key Takeaways

When it comes to measuring your campaigns, the right Digital PR metrics are essential for tracking the effectiveness of your outreach and content efforts. 

Key performance indicators such as website traffic, engagement, backlinks, and share of voice can help measure the success of your campaign. These insights give you the data needed to assess the impact of your content and ensure that your messaging resonates with your target audience.

 With the right approach, Digital PR metrics not only highlight areas of success but also reveal opportunities for improvement, enabling you to continuously optimise your strategy. 

If you want to level up your outreach and link building reporting in 2025 then our Digital PR experts are here to support your business. Get in touch with our Digital PR team today to help you track the right results for your Digital PR campaigns!