As the volume of media coverage generated by public relations increases, so does a company’s desired business outcome.

That’s the conclusion you can draw from the Institute for Public Relations’ research into more than 200 case studies of PR campaigns over the past four years, as reported in Exploring the Link Between Volume of Media Coverage and Business Outcomes – a White Paper written by Angela Jeffrey, VP of editorial research at VMS, David Michaelson of David Michaelson & Company, and Don Stacks, Professor at the School of Communications, University of Miami.

The authors found that volume of media placements alone appears to positively affect business results, but that results are even stronger when the placements include at least one key meaningful or accurate message about the product or service.

They also note that, despite the old adage of “there’s no such thing as bad publicity,” if you get negative publicity, you’ll get negative business outcomes. The report states the following conclusions for media relations:

1. Establish clear, measurable business goal and objectives for a campaign.

2. Establish key messages that resound with your target audiences.

3. Secure as much positive, on-message media coverage as possible.

Or, as Frank Ovaitt, president and CEO of the Institute for Public Relations, notes, “Define your business outcomes, define your messages, and work like crazy to get those reflected in as many relevant media sources as possible.” All told, good publicity means good news for companies.