Whether you are a company advertising a new product or service or an individual attempting to make a name for himself/herself, PR campaigns are crucial in getting the word out to the public. Below are 5 steps to holding a successful PR campaign, and subsequently allowing you to attain the business results you want.
1. Establish your objectives
The first step to creating a successful PR campaign is to identify your objectives with the help of a PR agency. The goals will act as the basis for what moves you make and assessing the effectiveness of your campaign. Consequently, they should be specific, measurable, and relevant.
Your objectives will also determine the components you will require to make your campaign successful. These components include events management, media relations, and community relations. Some objectives for your public relation strategy can be raising awareness of your products, company rebranding, or promoting your company’s reputation.
2. Identify your target audience
You need to clearly define your target audience before beginning your campaign. The best way is to group your audience based on their age, gender, preferences, and location. This will help you to decide on the best strategies to use for each target group. Besides, it enables you to determine the right communication platforms. Using the right communication platforms will help you reach your intended audience without wasting valuable time.
It is essential to also segregate by distinct roles. These can include partners, internal stakeholders, or the media. Doing so can allow you to use specific messages and strategies, making your campaign more effective.
3. Align your campaign business goals
A public relation campaign should be created with business goals and mission in mind. Otherwise, you will lose sight of what you intend to do, making you PR campaign ineffective and redundant.
The key message in your public relation strategy should be created around specific business goals. You should also ensure you set a timeline to achieve them. This may include placing a target to attain a certain number of buyers for a particular product or gaining a set number of followers on your social media outlets.
4. Choose the right platforms
Successful campaigns are the result of effective publicity. You should select your communication platforms based on your target audience and the impact the platform offers. The credibility of a platform should be put into consideration in order to gain the trust of the audience.
You should also consider the cost of acquiring a customer through each channel. You may choose press releases and advertisements in newspapers and on television if you have a bigger budget. For a smaller budget, you can opt for social media platforms that are popular and therefore effective. It is advisable to use multiple communications channels to reach a bigger audience as some people may use some platforms but not others.
5. Evaluate the effectiveness of your campaign
Eventually, evaluation of the campaign should be done at set times throughout the process. This entails going through your objectives, goals, and expectations then comparing them to the results attained. Understanding the strengths and weaknesses is key. This will help you with strengthening your campaign. You can also evaluate the effectiveness of your public relation strategy by asking your target audience questions pertaining to your campaign outcome. This way you will able to come up with better insight that will allow you to keep what is working and change what is not.
The aftermath of the marketing plan determines whether you should hold another campaign and if yes, when and how? It is also used to show if the strategy used was effective or if you should reconsider using a different approach.