The strategy in the world of Public Relations

As PR professionals it is our job to build and nurture relationships between brand and every reporter, influencer and consumer who can help tell our story. But to do this well, it takes time.

Rather than sending a press release for every new project launch or a one-off pitch, our PR efforts should start with a strategic plan. Building a solid foundation for our public relation efforts can not only save time and resources, but valuable budget dollars as well (which are often scarce in the PR department). More importantly, a PR plan can keep us from spinning our wheels on tactics that don’t work. 

It’s important to not plan in a vacuum. Understanding the marketplace, what your competitors are doing, industry news and trends can all give you valuable insight into your brand’s relevance and the best strategies to pursue.

Target audience:

Your target audience are the individuals, groups and communities that have influence and decision making power over your products or services. They are the ones you are trying to attract and sell to - they are the people you want to communicate with.

To understand who your target audience is start by thinking who would be interested in hearing about your business, who are key decision makers, who will have the greatest impact on the business’ outcomes and who will take action or purchase your products/service.

Once you’ve identified your target audience, research their behaviours, such as what publications they read and how they consume media. By defining your target audience you can tailor your communication to suit their behaviours and therefore increase the effectiveness of your PR strategy.

Messages: 

Key messages are the core messages you want your target audience to hear and remember about you and your business. They are an important part of a PR strategy because they can shape your content and communicate a unified message. You can include key messages in your written and spoken communication to convey a specific message about your business to your target audience. The best key messages are believable, easy to understand, distinctive, credible, succinct and drive your agenda.

Tactics:

Tactics are the activities that will help you to achieve your PR objectives. Your tactical options can include email newsletters, social media campaigns, blogs, public speaking or pitching interesting story ideas about your business to journalists. A good place to start is to make a list of the types of publications your target audience reads, the events they go to and how they spend their time online. This may help to guide what type of tactics will work for you.

How to know if it was successful or not?

It’s important to measure the success of your PR strategy. Consider creating your own measurement tools or set key performance indicators (KPIs) for what you want to achieve. You could also measure your success on whether you achieved your goals in the set time frame. By monitoring your success you can determine whether your PR activities are working and discover the areas you need to improve on. It’s also a good idea to regularly review your PR strategy to ensure it’s working effectively.

By developing a well-thought-out and measurable PR strategy, you can make sure you’re setting yourself and your team up for success.