Putting Together A Public Relations Plan

Before you start making a public relations plan for your organization, decide who you want to impact with the plan. Not just your customers, but who those customers are and what will ring true for them. It’s not just about getting good publicity for an effective PR plan. It’s about getting the publicity that matters to your target audience. Keeping that in mind …

Know the Objective

Are you reaching out to the media, trying to bring in new contacts for your business, building your internal team? What is the purpose of this particular campaign or part of a campaign? If you want to enhance your brand image with the public and specifically those who are your audience, how will you do that?

You might choose to host an event to launch a product with influencers, or alternatively, you might give several of what you want to sell to organizations that can use them in charitable ways. Hand mixers could be used in an event where local chefs demonstrate desserts. Or they could be given to local soup kitchens and homeless shelters to build the neighborhoods.

Either approach could garner great press. It is up to you to decide which will do the most good in connecting with consumers.

Develop Goals and an Action Plan

Once you’ve decided the approach you want to take, then it is time to set goals and actions. Decide who is responsible and what is needed. Set a budget and then verify that all of the goals and actions are in keeping with the objectives set in the beginning. Sometimes, in the planning process, you can get sidetracked by a great idea, and it might not actually do anything to help the stated purpose of the plan.

You also need to decide how that plan will reach those people you want to impact. What will your message be and how will you connect it to consumers, media, or others? Will you want to create a special hashtag for the event or a logo that can be easily used with all media releases?

What’s the Schedule?

Some campaigns may be connected to multiple days or events, so setting a schedule that shows everything that needs to be accomplished and a due date is important. Whenever you can turn more than one to do item into one trip or effort, it will help, so see how you can streamline the plan. But build in ways to verify everything is done in a timely manner and well in advance of when something will be needed.

How Will You Get the Word Out?

You will probably use a number of different tactics and vehicles to get information to your target audience and the media. Some of these might include articles on social media, press releases, press conferences, customer testimonials, media tours, interviews with press, radio, television, or otherwise, speaking engagements, and seminars. You might also sponsor a related event or participate in some way.

All of these are great tools but don’t feel you need to use them all. Start with a couple, maybe three or four, and see what impact that makes. You can always add some more in later, but keeping it to a couple means you won’t get overwhelmed, and neither will people you are getting the message to.