Lets get started on working out a PR strategy for your company. There are six steps to an effective public relations strategy. These steps will help you evaluate your needs, goals, how you want to be perceived and what are the various communication tactics suitable to get your message across.
Step ONE
Conduct a situation analysis - look at what competitors are doing, and the resources you have.
Step TWO
Set objectives - these need to be sustainable, measurable, achievable, realistic and timed
Step THREE
Identify target audience(s) - who are you trying to communicate with?
Step FOUR
Define key messages - what do you want to say? Determine a strategy - what is the overall approach going to be?
Step FIVE
Choose tactics - what methods of communication are you going to use and fix timelines after identifying priorities. For example: guest columns, newsletters, feature story, presentations, community initiatives, sponsorship, etc.
Step SIX
Carry out an evaluation - your objectives must be properly evaluated, which will enable the programme to be refined accordingly. Do this by making a monthly media report on your company's coverage against your competition.
June 21, 2008
June 14, 2008
Essentials for Effective Public Relations
Communicate with staff
In the quest to enhance corporate reputation, don't overlook your workforce. Constant, clear and positive communication with employees can help develop staff commitment. Encourage debate and seek feedback through employee surveys or a communication audit.
Work with a consultancy
Depending on the nature of the strategy, you may need to hire the services of a skilled PR professional. Even large companies with in-house PR functions will, at times, retain the services of a consultant with specific expertise. Bear in mind though that even the best (and most expensive) consultants will need to be briefed properly by the client, which includes making sure it understands your expectations.
Media management
Make friends with leading reporters. Think of the relationship as a two-way process - if they know they can come to you for a quote on an issue, you are more likely to have their ear when you have a story to pitch. Arrange photographs of everyone in the organisation who could act as a spokesperson, and check the website has their up-to-date contact details.
Crisis management
PR is also used in times of crisis as part of damage limitation. While it is impossible to predict when disaster might occur, it pays to be sufficiently aware of potential problem areas and situations that could go wrong.
Work up possible disaster scenarios, and how they will be dealt with should the worst happen. Put together a hit-list of individuals/ organisations (safety officers, industry bodies, local press) to be contacted in such an event. Ensure there is a structure in place to inform staff.
Take a long-term view
Commitment at every level is essential to the success of any PR strategy. Make sure senior management is on board and encouraged to play an active role. As with all strategic planning, a PR campaign should be co-ordinated and sustainable - short bursts of PR activity might reap a few rewards, but think of the long-term. Map your objectives against a programme of planned activity for the year, and measure progress.
In the quest to enhance corporate reputation, don't overlook your workforce. Constant, clear and positive communication with employees can help develop staff commitment. Encourage debate and seek feedback through employee surveys or a communication audit.
Work with a consultancy
Depending on the nature of the strategy, you may need to hire the services of a skilled PR professional. Even large companies with in-house PR functions will, at times, retain the services of a consultant with specific expertise. Bear in mind though that even the best (and most expensive) consultants will need to be briefed properly by the client, which includes making sure it understands your expectations.
Media management
Make friends with leading reporters. Think of the relationship as a two-way process - if they know they can come to you for a quote on an issue, you are more likely to have their ear when you have a story to pitch. Arrange photographs of everyone in the organisation who could act as a spokesperson, and check the website has their up-to-date contact details.
Crisis management
PR is also used in times of crisis as part of damage limitation. While it is impossible to predict when disaster might occur, it pays to be sufficiently aware of potential problem areas and situations that could go wrong.
Work up possible disaster scenarios, and how they will be dealt with should the worst happen. Put together a hit-list of individuals/ organisations (safety officers, industry bodies, local press) to be contacted in such an event. Ensure there is a structure in place to inform staff.
Take a long-term view
Commitment at every level is essential to the success of any PR strategy. Make sure senior management is on board and encouraged to play an active role. As with all strategic planning, a PR campaign should be co-ordinated and sustainable - short bursts of PR activity might reap a few rewards, but think of the long-term. Map your objectives against a programme of planned activity for the year, and measure progress.
The True Purpose of PR
Just what is public relations? It's a strategic form of communicating that is used to obtain positive exposure for your company and keep key publics informed. It's news releases, feature stories, interviews, analyst meetings, application stories, speaking engagements, newsletters, websites, product launches and events.
It's also developing a key message that differentiates you from your competition and selecting which mix of tactics will get your message to the marketplace with the most impact.
In order for the media to succeed, they need information that is both useful and entertaining for their readers. This is where you, the business owner, come in. A company that is ‘in the news’ is more visible and more interesting. Good publicity can attract capital, partners and employees as well as potential customers. It can position a business as ‘the expert’ and ‘thought leader’.
The publicity generated is almost always the most valuable and costeffective way of promoting an offering. Unlike an advertisement, editorial publicity carries the perception of an unbiased third-party endorsement. And the benefits of a positive endorsement by the media can hardly be overstated.
It's also developing a key message that differentiates you from your competition and selecting which mix of tactics will get your message to the marketplace with the most impact.
In order for the media to succeed, they need information that is both useful and entertaining for their readers. This is where you, the business owner, come in. A company that is ‘in the news’ is more visible and more interesting. Good publicity can attract capital, partners and employees as well as potential customers. It can position a business as ‘the expert’ and ‘thought leader’.
The publicity generated is almost always the most valuable and costeffective way of promoting an offering. Unlike an advertisement, editorial publicity carries the perception of an unbiased third-party endorsement. And the benefits of a positive endorsement by the media can hardly be overstated.
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