When it comes to a PR campaign, you can follow this 4 step process model: Situational Analysis (What is happening now- defining the PR problem), Strategy (What should we do and say- the planning and programming), Implementation (How and When do we communicate/act- taking actions and communicating) and Assessment (How did we do- evaluating the programme). One by one we’ll be opening this process up and going into some more detail on how to create an effective PR campaign.
Situation Analysis:
When looking at the situational analysis, you should be looking at taking on a communication/PR audit. This is answering questions such as, what is the key audience perception? The media perception? Stakeholder perception? Look towards what your competitors are doing compared to yours, and what is the current societal, economic, environmental, political situation that may impact you and your reputation? To answer these questions, it would be beneficial to complete an internal audit, such as a SWOT analysis and an external audit such as issues and problems ie. a PESTLE analysis. A PR audit is much more than these analysis’ but they are a strong start.
Next, you should be looking towards setting some objectives. These objectives must be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound.) The number of objectives you create must also support the overall organisational objectives, and describe where you want to get to- as these objectives are measurable, these objectives will help form the tactics you use later on in the planning process.
The next step is strategy. This is about finding your target audience, and structuring the messaging you want them to hear along with thinking about how to respond. This stage is about making sure that you get your channels right- what are the best ways to connect with your target audience- is it through social media or not? How are you going to make sure your objectives can be achieved?
When finding your target audience, your objectives are looking for age, martial status, income, gender, social class, education, occupation, hobbies social values, religious beliefs and geographical locations. Everything and anything you can find out about your target audience that could help you choose your tactics and channels.
The next stage is messaging. This essentially is answering three questions: How the organisation is perceived? The language and style of the media to be used? And the values, views and language of the recipients? What messages do you want to portray to your audience and in what way- how can you communicate these messages at the same time, making sure they can be clearly identified.
Once you’ve found your messages, its time for the creative part- Tactics. Your tactics should answer one simple question- How are you going to get where you want to be?
Finally, after your campaign has begun, you should be measuring your objectives. You should look towards the three Os… Outputs, Outtakes and Outcomes.
Output: What your business does. How many events, press releases issued, number of social media posts per day etc.
Outtakes: Consumers sentiment towards your brand, following a PR campaign. It can be measured by characteristics/features associated with your brand.
Outcomes: What consumers do as a result of being exposed to your PR communication. Actions and behavioural changes could include: viewing figures, signing up, people attending events, watching your videos etc.
And that’s a quick rundown of how to create a PR campaign.
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