Impressions are the vanity metric PR cannot seem to quit. They are easy to count, easy to inflate, and almost never tied to anything a business cares about. Better measurement starts by admitting that.

Tie coverage to outcomes. Share of voice against competitors, message pull-through in the actual articles, and movement in the audiences you are trying to reach say far more than a raw reach number.

Quality of placement beats quantity of clippings. One story in a publication your buyers trust outweighs a hundred syndications nobody with intent will ever read.

Measure the things that would change a decision if they moved, and PR stops being a cost to justify and becomes a lever you can actually pull.