PR campaign

When it comes to planning a PR campaign one mistake that many people tend to make is that they think that all they need to do is to simply write a press release. And once they have written the press release all they need to do is give it to the media and sit back and enjoy the benefits. This is very far from the truth. Sure you are going to need to write a press release, in fact a press release is one of the main aspects of your overall PR campaign, but just having a press release is not going to make your PR campaign. In order to have the best PR campaign possible you are going to want to include some of the following ideas, in fact you would be better off making sure that all of the following ideas were included in your plan:

• Newsworthy product - you want something that is interesting and also is considered a quality product. This item should be something that both the public and the media will find merit in
  

• Press release - this is not supposed to be a glorified sales ad, but you want it to be a concise and well written release. This is going to detail the benefits of what you have to offer and also what kind of affect it is going to have for the people or businesses that use it
  

• Media list - this is not something that you are going to want to throw together at the last minute, but rather you want to have one that has been thoroughly researched. This list is going to need to detail all of the applicable media outlets whose profiles match what you have to offer. Keep in mind that the targets of your pitch should be name specific not just title specific. This means that the information that you gather on the media should give you the particulars not just the general information, like the Movie Critic rather than the Managing Editor.

• Media contact - this is someone that you are going to use to help get your release or media kit directly into the hands of the best person in the media for your needs. This person or business that you use should be trustworthy and be able to deliver what they promise. Many people use PR agencies for this particular job. But when doing this you want to make sure that you look closely at what the companies have to offer and pick the one that best meets your needs.

• Media relations - you want to make sure that you have put into place that you can use to handle any and all of your media requests as soon as they come in. But you also want to have something that can follow up with the various media contacts that you have made over a certain period of time. This is done so that you can generate as many media placements as possible in a few months period. This is important because sometimes media people can't get to your story idea because of tight deadlines or other things that might come up, but by continuing to contact them about your pitch over the next several weeks or months you increase your chances of getting their attention.

• Media tracking abilities - you need to have some sort of method in place that allows you to track everything that you are doing with the media. This includes your own media follow ups, internet research, etc. This is important because you want to have hard copies of everything that you have done because it can be vital in the further marketing of your business or product, meaning you can use it in later PR campaigns or to help generate new ideas. Not to mention that media placements can help you convince new customers that your product or service is worth investing in.

But even knowing what ideas and things you should include in a PR campaign isn't enough. You also need to know what you should do to make sure that you plan a successful PR campaign. Many times people plan what they think is going to be a great PR campaign only to find that it doesn't work. One of the key things you need to know about planning a successful PR campaign is that it takes meticulous planning and thorough management.

Here are the steps that you should take when planning a PR campaign to ensure that it is a successful one.

Step one:
Research. It does not matter what kind of an activity that you are involved in the most basic part of the activity is going to be doing research. In fact research is probably the biggest and most important thing you will be doing. But what kind of research and the different methods that you will be using is going to depend on what you are actually going to be trying to do. But you will end up using two different groups of research. The primary research that you will be doing is going to be finding out the information that you need to know first hand. This is done through the use of questionnaires, blogs or even interviews. Then you have your secondary research which is used to gather information from other sources that are already published.

Step two:
 Situation analysis is done to find out what an organizations current situation is in the market. Basically you want to see how it is perceived by its current customers and staff, but also how it is doing financially. All of this information should be gathered during the research phase of the planning. But you are also going to want to so a SWOT analysis which looks at Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of the current situation and a PEST analysis which looks at the External environment - Politically, Economically, Socially, and Technologically.

Step three:
Objectives. Because you have figured out the various problems that your company is going to be facing through the situational analysis you are then going to want to figure out what you want the end result of your PR campaign to be. When planning your objectives you want to make sure that each one is SMART:

• Specific - clearly defined and comprehensible
  
• Measureable - can be measured in the evaluation
  
• Achievable - when looking at other factors can you achieve these objectives
  
• Realistic - given the resources that you have can you actually do these things
  
• Time - how long you plan on taking to achieve the objectives

Step four:
Indentifying publics and stakeholders. This is where you figure out who you are trying to talk to when it comes to the general public; basically who it is you are trying to reach.  But you also need to take a look at who the stakeholders are. This is important because in order to successful get your messages to the people that matter you are going to need to know who they are and how to reach them.

Step five:
Key messages. Make sure that you know what it is that you want to say. You want to keep in mind that every PR campaign has to have a set of messages because this is the main thrust of the communication that is involved in that campaign, without these messages there would be no campaign. These messages are going to need to be clear, concise and easily understood. These messages are important because they are an essential part of the attitude forming the process and they also demonstrate the effectiveness of the communication. Make sure that they never cross over or conflict one another.

Step six:
Strategy. This is not the same thing as tactics that you are going to use in the PR campaign, but it is the foundation on which the tactics are built. This step involves where the current situation is and planning on how you are going to get it where you want it to be. This is usually the way that the campaign takes the tactics and applies them to meet the objectives.

Step seven:
Tactics. There are a number of tactics that you can use to reach your objectives. The hardest part is choosing the right tactics that are going to allow you to meet your objectives. This is going to depend on what type of campaign that you are involved in, but keep in mind that you don't want to use a tactic just because it is new or considered cutting edge. You want to pick tactics that will work to help you meet your goals. Here are some examples of some tactics that you might use:

• Media relations
  
• Newsletters
  
• Podcasts
  
• Websites
  
• Conferences
  
• Photography
  
• Interviews
  
• Presentations

Step eight:
Timescale. You are going to want to ensure that you give yourself plenty of time to employ your tactics. This involves planning when you will be using what tactics and when you will introduce a new tactic. It also helps you keep track of certain deadlines and makes it easier to evaluate what is working and what needs to be changed.

Step nine:
Budget. You are going to need to take into account all of the costs that are going to be associated with your entire PR campaign. This is done to make sure that you have the money to follow through with your campaign or if you need to make adjustments to how you want to approach. Here are some costs that you need to keep in mind:

• Operating costs - distribution, administration, travel, production, seminars
  
• Human - overheads, expenses, salaries
  
• Equipment - telephones, furniture, computers

Step ten:
Evaluation. This is something that you are going to want to do continuously throughout the PR campaign, but you also want to do it at the end as a type of review. But when evaluating the campaign you want to look at all of the elements of the campaign to see what is working and what needs to be fixed or eliminated.