Have you decided to invest your time and resources into public relations? Congratulations! That’s an important first step. But how do you take the next steps to start a successful PR campaign? Follow the guide below to begin!
How to Start a Successful PR Campaign
Follow this guide to create a successful PR campaign!
1. Determine measurable goals. What do you want your PR campaign to accomplish? Make sure you set measurable goals from the very beginning so you can tell if you were successful when you look back in 6 months or a year. Although you want to dream big, remember to be realistic as you set goals, too.
2. Outline your PR campaign strategy and available resources. How will you achieve the goals you set? For example, if one of your goals is to have 200 new Facebook fans in the next 6 months, how do you plan to achieve the objective? Do you have an advertising budget you can spend on promoted posts or traditional Facebook ads? Or, if you set the goal of 3 media placements, will you spend the time researching journalists and pitching them yourself or will you hire outside help? This is a great time to be creative! Think about which public relations goals you really want to achieve and how you can try a few new tactics to achieve them.
3. Create a public relations plan. Actually write out what you plan to do and when you plan to do it. For example, write that during month 1 you’re going to audit your social media pages to make sure the branding and messaging is consistent across all platforms. Then, under month 2, note that it’s time to start promoting posts once or twice a week.
4. Stick to the plan, but remain flexible. This takes some discipline as well as awareness. For your PR campaign’s success, it is extremely important you stick with your strategy long enough to see if it’s working. Still, if it becomes apparent something isn’t working right away, such as if you email all the reporters on your media list and no one replies, don’t be afraid to change things up and try the same public relations tactic with a slightly different approach. Use a fresh subject line in your email pitch, or revise what you include in the email to give the reporter a different story idea.
5. Measure your success. After a period of at least six months (or even up to a year), look back at how successful your PR campaign was. Did you achieve your goals? What strategies worked and which ones didn’t? How can you change up your public relations tactics moving forward? Make sure you use resources like Google Analytics, Facebook Insights and other measurement tools for objective data to consider during this step.
Want to know more about creating a successful PR campaign? Or do you want help putting your public relations plan into action? Contact us for a complimentary consultation! Remember to keep reading our blog and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest for more advice to get the word out about your business, too.
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