Public relations campaigns tend to have a very long-lasting effect on a company’s public reputation and image which is why they have to be planned well in advance.
They entail a lot more than simply sending out a press release whenever a business has a new product it was to promote or generate some brand awareness.
Goal
Before a company can start running a PR campaign, the campaign needs to be well planned.
The first step in the planning process involves setting big-picture goals that the company wants to achieve with that campaign.
Those goals can be things like increasing product sales, generating brand awareness, or reaching a brand new audience.
Once the overall goal has been set, it’s time to start breaking it down into specific objectives that are going to be achievable for the business.
That means the company also needs to make the deadline and budget for the campaign into account.
Audience
Before a company gets to decide on how it’s going to be delivering its PR campaign, it has to define the people that are going to be receiving that campaign.
That means businesses have to conduct audience research and create one, or several, buyer personas according to the information that’s generated from the research.
For example, if a company wants to reach parents with its PR campaign, it should focus on how it can target those potential consumers, which might include things like demonstrating why the company cares about how its solutions can affect families, or promoting a family-first message.
Channels
Once the business has decided which audiences it wants to target with its PR campaign, it’s time to dig a little deeper into the information that’s been generated from the audience research to figure out which platforms those potential consumers prefer to use.
That’s the best way for any company to decide which communication channel it should use to deliver a PR campaign in the most effective manner.
Press Release
Finally, it’s time to create the press release for the public relations campaigns, because no campaign is going to be successful without some media coverage from the right outlets. However, companies that want to get help from journalists have to figure out how they can help those journalists first.
That means, instead of creating a standard press release announcing the brand new solution from a business, for example, the company needs to figure out an angle that’s going to make the story a lot more appealing to all types of potential consumers.
That means telling a story through the press release and product announcements and including quotes or additional data that will support the statements that the business is making.
