Checking In Mid-Year: The 4 Questions to Ask During a Half Year Pulse Check

By: Doug Cipriani

Public relations moves at a rapid pace. Suddenly half the year is already in the rear-view mirror and discussions about the back half of the year are upon us. But before just moving forward on the back half plans you developed over six months ago, take pause to reflect on the first half of the year. Midyear is the perfect time to take a look at what’s working, what’s not working, how the year’s efforts are tracking, and what is best to prioritize through the rest of the year. When doing a midyear analysis, asking the right questions is essential to make the exercise successful. Answer these four thought starters to help guide any 1H check in.

1. How are the year-to-date results tracking against goals and KPIs?

Start analyzing the results driven year-to-date by looking back through all of the coverage highlights, social posts, media interviews, activations, and anything else done during the first part of the year. Then, take the time to analyze how this stacks up against the goals and/or KPIs set for the year.

• Are you on track to meet the goal?
• Have you already exceeded the KPI?
• Do you need to step up efforts to get on track to meet the goal?
• Are you reaching your priority outlets?
• What sources are the most/best results coming from?
• What got in your way? Or helped propel better performance than you planned?

By taking this introspective step, you’ll get a clear view on your results to-date for the year while there’s still plenty of time to course correct, redistribute efforts or adjust KPIs. It’s also helpful to take the time to understand the “why” behind all of these questions. Perhaps there was a major story in the news cycle that overshadowed an announcement or a competitor stole the interest. Whatever it is, taking the time to identify not just where you’re at for the year, but the “why you’re here” is essential to making the rest of the year successful.

2. How is the client and/or brand relationship?

Aside from results, the relationships with client contacts, leaders and decision makers at partner brands is an important ingredient in any working partnership. When analyzing these connections, think about:

• How is the overall relationship with the client and brand?
• Is there anyone we should be in contact with more or less often?
• Do we regularly have the right people in the room?
• What can we do to foster these relationships further?
• What questions should we have asked earlier?
• How can we improve the process for 2H?

A strong, positive relationship with effective ways of working makes for a successful partnership, so taking a beat to make sure these relationships are up to par will net both a positive and insightful workflow moving forward.

3. What are our key learnings so far this year?

With six months of work on campaigns, activations, media outreach, influencer partnerships, and everything else comes both successes and hiccups. Turning those experiences into future actions is key to smoother experiences. When thinking about key learnings to apply to the second half of the year, think about:

• What went well that we should replicate or amplify?
• What programs ran into bumps?
• How could we avoid those bumps in the future?

The name of the game is to find both areas of strength and weakness and learn from them. Identifying successful and non-successful programs, ways of working, projects and tasks will be the way to home in on the good for the remaining six months of the year.

4. Where do we need to focus for the back half of the year?

Now apply your findings and insights to the work slated for the remainder of the year. By identifying programs that may need stronger efforts around them or relationships that need nurturing, time, resources, and efforts can be dedicated to having even an even stronger report when looking back at the end of the year.

Double Forte takes a strategic approach, working through all of the above on a regular basis to ensure fruitful and positive partnerships. Reach out to the team to learn more about how Double Forte can bring this approach to your business.