Topics: PR
PR is about what you do, say and what others say about you.
—Chartered Institute of Public Relations
• Brand awareness
• Target market trust
• Customer engagement
• Keeps you ahead of competition
• Positions you/your business as thought leaders
A strong action plan will ensure that your campaigns are harmonious, efficient and delivered on time and budget. This has direct impact on the success of your brand. Get it wrong and that’s a lot of time, money and effort down the chute, not to mention putting your brand at risk.
There’s more to a good PR plan than writing press releases and pitching them at journalists to create a buzz around one-off events.
A good PR plan delivers ongoing results that have a lasting impact on your brand’s reputation. It’s an all-inclusive strategy that aligns with your business objectives, sales targets and marketing strategy.
• Maps the stories/content to be created. These will include your brand’s central messages, i.e. how you want your audience to perceive your brand.
• Identifies the channels that your audiences have confidence in and use to source information. This allows you to target your audiences with maximum accuracy.
• Schedules how and when to pitch stories to power the most impact for your brand.
What do you want to achieve through PR? This can range from driving website traffic, to increasing sales, to boosting brand awareness. Definition will dictate the tools and tactics to action your blueprint. Make your objectives specific and measurable. This allows you to customise your campaign and monitor the results.
To position your brand you must identify and understand your target audience accurately. This sophisticated level of communication means you can tailor your plan accordingly.
Ask yourself:
• Who do you want to discover your brand/product/service/message?
• What media do they focus on?
• Where do they allocate time?
• Who do they talk to?
Once you know your audience and what publications/websites, etc. they trust, immerse yourself in the same media. Who are the journalists? What are they writing about? Is there an angle for your brand?
This will tell you how to present your brand to these channels and what key messages will resonate with them
It pays to know your demographic inside out. For example, if you’re a tech brand you might want to up your sales by showcasing your goods/services in tech publications.
Or, if you are a start-up, you might want to raise your brand awareness by getting involved in a topical bate—think social media here.
There are many tools to achieve your objectives, from social media campaigns to press releases and events.
It’s best to have a strategy timeframe to work to. Choose what works best for you, from a diary, to a spreadsheet, Trello board or any other online CRM that you use.
Turn projects into smaller, bite-size chunks. Decide and allocate people and deadlines.
This means you can measure how much time and resources you want to spend on PR in the timeline and what can be achieved in that time.
Ignore publication deadlines at your peril. Check whether they publish daily, weekly or monthly and find out when the copy deadlines are.
Monthly titles generally require news six months before the publish date, i.e. if you want your press release to appear in a July issue, make sure you submit the copy and images in January.
Set Key Performance Indicators for every activity as they keep you on target, be this ramping up your Twitter followers or news being published.
This is a form of testing as you can see what has worked well and will work well again in the future.
A well-planned strategy will help you identify your target market, get your main messages out there and maximise your Return on Investment., which is what drives the growth of your business.
Interested in how PR can help to grow your business?...
