The word strategy scares a lot of people. But it doesn’t need to be hard. Follow these steps and you will be able to write a strategy in an afternoon.
Without a strategy you will be reaching the wrong audience and your PR won’t be delivering results.
Your PR Strategy needs Business Objectives
This is where you outline your priorities for your business for the year ahead.
Before you can establish your PR objectives you need to know your business objectives. That way the two can be aligned.
It may be the case that you realise that your objectives don’t align with a proactive PR campaign. But if you want to drive sales and grow your business then they will!
PR Goals
This is where you set out what you want to achieve from your PR activity. It could be to grow awareness of your brand, to educate people, to inspire people or solely to drive traffic to your website.
It may be that you want to build the profile of a particular element of your business or a particular person.
PR Target Publications
Be realistic. Don’t assume your audience is like you!
Do your research. What do they read? What TV news do they watch? What online news do they consume? Talk to your audience as much as possible and look in the the profiles of different demographics and the media they consume. It’s all there on Google.
Then read those publications yourself. Sign up to those social media channels. Get involved. You can’t get coverage in Grazia if you have never read Grazia.
PR Approach
What’s your communications approach going to be? Proactive? Reactive?
What’s your tone going to be? Who will be the face/voice?
3 Things Holding You Back
Time? Money? Fear? Skills? Confidence?
Once you work them out you can work out how to overcome them.
3 Reasons Why You Are Better Than Competitors
What’s your USP? What makes your brand different? This will help you craft your key messages.
Desired Perception
What do you want your audience to think of your brand? What do you want them to feel about your brand?
Every PR Strategy needs KPIs
These is where you set out your objectives for your PR activity. Make sure they are achievable and SMART.
It’s also crucial you focus on outputs rather than inputs. Don’t put write 3 press releases in Q1. Put achieve three broadcast mentions in Q1.
Risks
This is where you outline anything that might come out if you start profiling your brand. Poor customer service reviews? Some dodgy suppliers?
Think carefully about what might come under scrutiny if you are more visible and how you might respond to anything negative.
Big Dream
What’s your ideal PR coverage? Regular slot on BBC Breakfast? Interview on BBC Essex? Your own podcast? A book?
TV show behind the scenes of your business? An influencer wearing your product?
DREAM BIG!!
Assets
What do you have? Photos of your products? A website? Case studies of happy customers? A spokesperson that’s media trained? Product samples?
Dependencies
Are you dependent on someone else to sign off on your press releases? Does someone else upload content to your social channels? Do you own the rights to your images?
Where to Start
This should become clear when you start pulling this all together. But start with baby steps and do a little something every day. Even if it’s just reading the news.
Quarterly Review Dates
Set these now and revisit your strategy and see how far you have come. At each review you should have an idea of what the roadblocks are and what’s achievable quickly and what isn’t!
If you have any questions just drop me an email.
Alison Jackson-Carter is a ‘PR Pro’ who has spent her career helping people and businesses share stories. As a journalist she spent her 20s working for newspapers, ITV’s This Morning programme, Sky News and 5 News. She then moved into PR where she has worked with hundreds of household brands to increase their media profile.
Since she moved to PR she has led teams that have won awards, launched a successful podcast that has been downloaded more than 100,000 times, and achieved millions of pounds worth of media coverage for brands.
Her passion for supporting women in business led her to launch Enlighten PR where she helps small business owners and entrepreneurs raise their profile and communicate with confidence about their business. In her downtime she can be found listening to The Archers or trying to read while her children and dog climb all over her.