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Public Relations Business Plan

Amidst the fierce competition, the demand for PR business is increasing day by day, so if you are starting one, plan everything to make it another level successful.

Need help writing a business plan for your public relations business? You’re at the right place. Our public relations business plan template will help you get started.

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Download our free public relations business plan template now and pave the way to success. Let’s turn your vision into an actionable strategy!

• Fill in the blanks – Outline
• Financial Tables

How to Write A Public Relations Business Plan?

Writing a public relations business plan is a crucial step toward the success of your business. Here are the key steps to consider when writing a business plan:

1. Executive Summary

An executive summary is the first section planned to offer an overview of the entire business plan. However, it is written after the entire business plan is ready and summarizes each section of your plan.

Here are a few key components to include in your executive summary:

• Introduce your Business: Start your executive summary by briefly introducing your business to your readers.This section may include the name of your public relations business, its location, when it was founded, the type of public relations business (E.g., agency, corporate PR, technology PR, financial PR), etc.
• Market Opportunity: Summarize your market research, including market size, growth potential, and marketing trends. Highlight the opportunities in the market and how your business will fit in to fill the gap.
• Products and Services: Highlight the public relations services you offer your clients. The USPs and differentiators you offer are always a plus.For instance, you may include media relations, crisis communication, strategic communications planning, or reputation management as services.
• Marketing & Sales Strategies: Outline your sales and marketing strategies—what marketing platforms you use, how you plan on acquiring customers, etc.
• Financial Highlights: Briefly summarize your financial projections for the initial years of business operations. Include any capital or investment requirements, associated startup costs, projected revenues, and profit forecasts.
• Call to Action: Summarize your executive summary section with a clear CTA, for example, inviting angel investors to discuss the potential business investment.

Ensure your executive summary is clear, concise, easy to understand, and jargon-free.

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2. Business Overview

The business overview section of your business plan offers detailed information about your company. The details you add will depend on how important they are to your business. Yet, business name, location, business history, and future goals are some of the foundational elements you must consider adding to this section:

• Agency or consultancy
• Corporate PR
• Technology PR
• Financial PR
• Healthcare PR
• Consumer PR
• Government PR
• Nonprofit PR
• Describe the legal structure of your public relations company, whether it is a sole proprietorship, LLC, partnership, or others.
• Explain where your business is located and why you selected the place.
• Owners: List the names of your public relations company’s founders or owners. Describe what shares they own and their responsibilities for efficiently managing the business.
• Mission Statement: Summarize your business’ objective, core principles, and values in your mission statement. This statement needs to be memorable, clear, and brief.
• Business History: If you’re an established public relations service provider, briefly describe your business history, like—when it was founded, how it evolved over time, etc.Additionally, If you have received any awards or recognition for excellent work, describe them.
• Future Goals: It’s crucial to convey your aspirations and vision. Mention your short-term and long-term goals; they can be specific targets for revenue, market share, or expanding your services.

This section should provide a thorough understanding of your business, its history, and its future plans. Keep this section engaging, precise, and to the point.

3. Market Analysis

The market analysis section of your business plan should offer a thorough understanding of the industry with the target market, competitors, and growth opportunities. You should include the following components in this section.

• Target market: Start this section by describing your target market. Define your ideal customer and explain what types of services they prefer. Creating a buyer persona will help you easily define your target market to your readers.For instance, corporations & businesses, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, professional services, healthcare, or startups would be an ideal target audience for a public relations business.
• Market size and growth potential: Describe your market size and growth potential and whether you will target a niche or a much broader market.For example; the market of the worldwide public relations (PR) industry is around 107 billion US dollars in 2023, showcase the market size of your business, and how many niches you will cover.
• Competitive Analysis: Identify and analyze your direct and indirect competitors. Identify their strengths and weaknesses, and describe what differentiates your public relations services from them. Point out how you have a competitive edge in the market.
• Market Trends: Analyze emerging trends in the industry, such as technology disruptions, changes in customer behavior or preferences, etc. Explain how your business will cope with all the trends.For instance, data-driven PR has a booming market; explain how you plan on dealing with this potential growth opportunity.
• Regulatory Environment: List regulations and licensing requirements that may affect your public relations company, such as privacy & data protection, advertising & marketing laws, intellectual property rights, financial regulations, media regulations, etc.

Here are a few tips for writing the market analysis section of your public relations firm business plan:

• Conduct market research, industry reports, and surveys to gather data.
• Provide specific and detailed information whenever possible.
• Illustrate your points with charts and graphs.
• Write your business plan keeping your target audience in mind.

4. Products And Services

The product and services section should describe the specific services and products that will be offered to customers. To write this section should include the following:

• Media Relations
• Crisis communications
• Strategic communications planning
• Reputation management
• Content creation and management
• Social media management
• Event management
• Stakeholder engagement
• Describe each service: Provide a detailed description of each service you provide, including the process involved.For example; for media relations: to get their clients’ favorable media coverage, PR specialists create media proposals, craft news releases, and schedule interviews, press conferences, or media tours.
• Additional Services: Mention if your public relations company offers any additional services. You may include services like event management, internal communications, community relations, investor relations, etc.

In short, this section of your public relations plan must be informative, precise, and client-focused. By providing a clear and compelling description of your offerings, you can help potential investors and readers understand the value of your business.

5. Sales And Marketing Strategies

Writing the sales and marketing strategies section means a list of strategies you will use to attract and retain your clients. Here are some key elements to include in your sales & marketing plan:

• Unique Selling Proposition (USP): Define your business’s USPs depending on the market you serve, the equipment you use, and the unique services you provide. Identifying USPs will help you plan your marketing strategies.For example, expertise & industry knowledge, strong media relationships, an integrated communication approach, or personalized client attention could be some of the great USPs for a professional public relations company.
• Pricing Strategy: Describe your pricing strategy how you plan to price your services and stay competitive in the local market. You can mention any discounts you plan on offering to attract new customers.
• Marketing Strategies: Discuss your marketing strategies to market your services. You may include some of these marketing strategies in your business plan—social media marketing, brochures, email marketing, content marketing, etc.
• Sales Strategies: Outline the strategies you’ll implement to maximize your sales. Your sales strategies may include direct sales calls, partnering with other businesses, offering referral programs, etc.
• Customer Retention: Describe your customer retention strategies and how you plan to execute them. For instance, introducing loyalty programs, discounts on annual membership, personalized service, etc.

Overall, this section of your public relations business plan should focus on customer acquisition and retention.

Have a specific, realistic, and data-driven approach while planning sales and marketing strategies for your public relations business, and be prepared to adapt or make strategic changes in your strategies based on feedback and results.

6. Operations Plan

The operations plan section of your business plan should outline the processes and procedures involved in your business operations, such as staffing requirements and operational processes. Here are a few components to add to your operations plan:

• Staffing & Training: Mention your business’s staffing requirements, including the number of employees, account executives, copywriters, or other staff needed. Include their qualifications, the training required, and the duties they will perform.
• Operational Process: Outline the processes and procedures you will use to run your public relations business. Your operational processes may include client onboarding, research & strategy development, media relations, content creation, social media management, etc.
• Equipment & Software: Include the list of equipment and machinery required for public relations, such as computers & laptops, printers & scanners, audio equipment, media monitoring tools, social media management platforms, press release distribution services, media monitoring & analysis tools, etc.Explain how these technologies help you maintain quality standards and improve the efficiency of your business operations.

Adding these components to your operations plan will help you lay out your business operations, which will eventually help you manage your business effectively.

7. Management Team

The management team section provides an overview of your public relations business’s management team. This section should provide a detailed description of each manager’s experience and qualifications, as well as their responsibilities and roles.

• Founders/CEO: Mention the founders and CEO of your public relations company, and describe their roles and responsibilities in successfully running the business.
• Key managers: Introduce your management and key members of your team, and explain their roles and responsibilities.It should include, key executives(e.g. COO, CMO, PR director), senior management, and other department managers (e.g. operations manager, customer services manager, content manager, event manager.) involved in the public relations business operations, including their education, professional background, and any relevant experience in the industry.
• Organizational structure: Explain the organizational structure of your management team. Include the reporting line and decision-making hierarchy.
• Compensation Plan: Describe your compensation plan for the management and staff. Include their salaries, incentives, and other benefits.
• Advisors/Consultants: Mentioning advisors or consultants in your business plans adds credibility to your business idea.So, if you have any advisors or consultants, include them with their names and brief information consisting of roles and years of experience.

This section should describe the key personnel for your public relations services, highlighting how you have the perfect team to succeed.

8. Financial Plan

Your financial plan section should provide a summary of your business’s financial projections for the first few years. Here are some key elements to include in your financial plan:

• Profit & loss statement: Describe details such as projected revenue, operational costs, and service costs in your projected profit and loss statemen t. Make sure to include your business’s expected net profit or loss.
• Cash flow statement: The cash flow for the first few years of your operation should be estimated and described in this section. This may include billing invoices, payment receipts, loan payments, and any other cash flow statements.
• Balance Sheet: Create a projected balance sheet documenting your public relations business’s assets, liabilities, and equity.
• Break-even point: Determine and mention your business’s break-even point—the point at which your business costs and revenue will be equal.This exercise will help you understand how much revenue you need to generate to sustain or be profitable.
• Financing Needs: Calculate costs associated with starting a public relations business, and estimate your financing needs and how much capital you need to raise to operate your business. Be specific about your short-term and long-term financing requirements, such as investment capital or loans.

Be realistic with your financial projections, and make sure you offer relevant information and evidence to support your estimates.

9. Appendix

The appendix section of your plan should include any additional information supporting your business plan’s main content, such as market research, legal documentation, financial statements, and other relevant information.

• Add a table of contents for the appendix section to help readers easily find specific information or sections.
• In addition to your financial statements, provide additional financial documents like tax returns, a list of assets within the business, credit history, and more. These statements must be the latest and offer financial projections for at least the first three or five years of business operations.
• Provide data derived from market research, including stats about the industry, user demographics, and industry trends.
• Include any legal documents such as permits, licenses, and contracts.
• Include any additional documentation related to your business plan, such as product brochures, marketing materials, operational procedures, etc.

Use clear headings and labels for each section of the appendix so that readers can easily find the necessary information.

Remember, the appendix section of your public relations business plan should only include relevant and important information supporting your plan’s main content.

The Quickest Way to turn a Business Idea into a Business Plan

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This sample public relations business plan will provide an idea for writing a successful public relations plan, including all the essential components of your business.

After this, if you still need clarification about writing an investment-ready business plan to impress your audience, download our public relations business plan pdf .

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Frequently asked questions, why do you need a public relations business plan.

A business plan is an essential tool for anyone looking to start or run a successful public relations business. It helps to get clarity in your business, secures funding, and identifies potential challenges while starting and growing your business.

Overall, a well-written plan can help you make informed decisions, which can contribute to the long-term success of your public relations company.

How to get funding for your public relations business?

There are several ways to get funding for your public relations business, but self-funding is one of the most efficient and speedy funding options. Other options for funding are

• Bank loan – You may apply for a loan in government or private banks.
• Small Business Administration (SBA) loan – SBA loans and schemes are available at affordable interest rates, so check the eligibility criteria before applying for it.
• Crowdfunding – The process of supporting a project or business by getting a lot of people to invest in your business, usually online.
• Angel investors – Getting funds from angel investors is one of the most sought startup options.

Apart from all these options, there are small business grants available, check for the same in your location and you can apply for it.

Where to find business plan writers for your public relations business?

There are many business plan writers available, but no one knows your business and ideas better than you, so we recommend you write your public relations business plan and outline your vision as you have in your mind.

What is the easiest way to write your public relations business plan?

A lot of research is necessary for writing a business plan, but you can write your plan most efficiently with the help of any public relations business plan example and edit it as per your need. You can also quickly finish your plan in just a few hours or less with the help of our business plan software .

How do I write a good market analysis in a public relations business plan?

Market analysis is one of the key components of your business plan that requires deep research and a thorough understanding of your industry. We can categorize the process of writing a good market analysis section into the following steps:

• Stating the objective of your market analysis—e.g., investor funding.
• Industry study—market size, growth potential, market trends, etc.
• Identifying target market—based on user behavior and demographics.
• Analyzing direct and indirect competitors.
• Calculating market share—understanding TAM, SAM, and SOM.
• Knowing regulations and restrictions
• Organizing data and writing the first draft.

Writing a marketing analysis section can be overwhelming, but using ChatGPT for market research can make things easier.

What's the importance of a marketing strategy in a public relations business plan?

Marketing strategy is a key component of your public relations business plan. Whether it is about achieving certain business goals or helping your investors understand your plan to maximize their return on investment—an impactful marketing strategy is the way to do it!

Here are a few pointers to help you understand the importance of having an impactful marketing strategy:

• It provides your business an edge over your competitors.
• It helps investors better understand your business and growth potential.
• It helps you develop products with the best profit potential.
• It helps you set accurate pricing for your products or services.

About the Author

Upmetrics Team

Upmetrics is the #1 business planning software that helps entrepreneurs and business owners create investment-ready business plans using AI. We regularly share business planning insights on our blog. Check out the Upmetrics blog for such interesting reads. Read more

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How to Create a Public Relations Business Plan: The Ultimate Guide

Any PR professional's primary responsibility is to manage and keep a positive relationship with the public. But the position has become more challenging than it has ever been because of the significant changes to this role over time. 

The media and communications industries are fast-paced, particularly due to the growing emphasis on social media and technological developments. 

With audiences expecting more from PR in terms of authenticity and trust and the growth of methods like content marketing, it became evident that PR had to change or risk becoming essentially outdated.

Marketers must develop the ability to successfully connect their PR operations with other marketing disciplines to stay ahead of the competition. 

This means that the correct audiences must be the focus of your PR campaigns, and quantifiable objectives should accompany each strategy you choose. A PR strategy can be useful in this situation.

We will go over the components of a successful PR strategy in this post and then provide you with the instructions to make one for your own company. Are you prepared to become a PR pro? Come on, let's go.

What is Public Relations?

Public Relations, often abbreviated as PR, is a strategic communication process aimed at building and maintaining favorable relationships between an organization and its various stakeholders. 

The primary goal of PR is to shape public perception, generate positive awareness, and establish a strong reputation for the entity it represents. 

It encompasses a range of activities designed to create and maintain a positive image in the eyes of the public, clients, investors, employees, and other relevant groups.

What is the The Role of PR Agencies?

PR agencies are instrumental in executing effective communication strategies on behalf of organizations. Daily use of a media database (57%) and media monitoring software (51%) is common among agency PR professionals. 

Notably, 49% of PR professionals surveyed said they don't measure and analyse the results of their earned media and marketing efforts using PR reporting tools .

These agencies specialize in managing and enhancing the reputation of their clients. Their roles are diverse and multifaceted:

Media Relations : PR agencies cultivate relationships with journalists and media outlets to secure positive media coverage for their clients. This involves creating press releases , meet the press conferences, and responding to media inquiries.

Strategic Communication : Crafting a compelling narrative is crucial in PR. Agencies work on developing key messages and stories that align with the client's objectives. They strategically disseminate this information to reach the target audience.

Crisis Management : PR agencies are on the frontline during crises. Whether it's a product recall, a scandal, or a negative public event, PR professionals work to mitigate damage, control the narrative, and rebuild trust.

Event Management : Organizing events, sponsorships, and partnerships is another facet of PR. Agencies plan and execute events that enhance the client's visibility and strengthen connections with the audience.

Social Media Management : In the digital age, maintaining a strong online presence is crucial. PR agencies oversee social media strategies, ensuring that the client's message is effectively communicated across various digital platforms. 

Thirty-five percent of PR professionals feel media relations is roughly the same as it was last year, while sixty percent say it's much harder or harder still ( JOTW Communications Survey, 2021 ). 

Stakeholder Engagement : PR is not just about the external audience; it involves engaging internal stakeholders as well. This includes employees, investors, and partners. Agencies develop communication plans to keep these groups informed and engaged.

What is the Importance of an Effective PR Plan?

A well-crafted Public Relations (PR) plan is a cornerstone for the success and sustainability of any organization. It serves as a roadmap for strategic communication, reputation management, and relationship-building with key stakeholders. 

Here are several reasons highlighting the importance of an effective PR plan:

1.  Strategic Direction : A PR plan provides a strategic framework that aligns communication efforts with organizational goals. 

It outlines clear objectives, target audiences, and key messages, ensuring that communication efforts contribute directly to the organisation's overall success.

2.  Reputation Management : Reputation is a priceless asset for any organization. An effective PR plan includes strategies to build and protect the organization's reputation. 

In times of crisis, the plan becomes a critical guide for managing the narrative and mitigating potential damage.

3.  Crisis Preparedness : No organization is immune to crises. A well-thought-out PR plan anticipates potential challenges, outlining protocols and communication strategies to navigate crises effectively. 

This proactive approach can significantly minimize the impact of unforeseen events.

4.  Targeted Communication : PR plans help in identifying and understanding target audiences. By tailoring messages to specific demographics, interests, and concerns, organizations can create more meaningful connections, fostering trust and engagement.

5.  Media Relations : For many organizations, media coverage is a vital component of public relations. A PR plan strategically guides interactions with the media, ensuring that press releases, interviews, and other engagements align with broader communication objectives.

6.  Brand Building : Effective PR contributes to brand building by consistently reinforcing positive messages about the organization. It helps create a strong brand identity, making the organization recognizable and memorable to its audience.

7.  Stakeholder Engagement : Organizations have diverse stakeholders, including employees, customers, investors, and the community. A PR plan facilitates engagement strategies, ensuring that each stakeholder group receives relevant and timely information.

8.  Competitive Edge : A well-executed PR plan can set an organization apart from its competitors in competitive markets. It helps showcase the organization's strengths, achievements, and values, providing a competitive edge for consumers and partners.

9.  Employee Morale : Internally, a PR plan can positively impact employee morale. Clear communication about organizational goals, achievements, and values fosters a sense of pride and belonging among employees, contributing to a positive workplace culture.

10.  Measurement and Evaluation : An effective PR plan includes metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) for evaluating the success of communication efforts. 

This allows organizations to measure the impact of PR activities and make data-driven adjustments for continuous improvement.

How to Craft a Public Relations Business Plan in 15 Steps

Public Relations (PR) is a critical component of a business's overall strategy, influencing how it communicates, builds relationships, and manages its reputation. 

Crafting a comprehensive PR business plan is essential for organizations looking to navigate the ever-evolving landscape of public perception strategically. Here are 15 steps to guide the process:

1. Define Business Objectives

Begin by clearly defining the overall business objectives. Understand what the organization aims to achieve in terms of growth, market positioning, or any specific goals relevant to its industry.

2. Identify Target Audiences

Determine the key stakeholders and target audiences for your PR efforts. This could include customers, investors, employees, media, and the wider community. Tailor communication strategies to address their specific needs and concerns.

3. Conduct a SWOT Analysis

Perform a thorough Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis. Identify internal strengths and weaknesses as well as external opportunities and threats that could impact the business.

4. Establish Key Messages

Develop clear and concise key messages that align with the organization's brand and objectives. These messages should resonate with the target audiences and consistently reflect the organization's values.

5. Set Measurable Goals

Define specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals. These could include metrics such as increased brand awareness, positive media coverage, or improved stakeholder relations.

6. Determine PR Strategies

Based on the goals and target audiences, outline the overarching PR strategies. This could involve media relations, community engagement, content marketing, crisis communication, or a combination of these.

7. Budget Allocation

Allocate a budget for PR activities. Consider the resources needed for media outreach, events, content creation, and any other initiatives outlined in the plan. Ensure that the budget aligns with the expected outcomes.

8. Select PR Tactics

Choose specific tactics to execute the strategies outlined. This might involve press releases, social media campaigns, thought leadership articles, events, or collaborations. Each tactic should directly contribute to the overall goals.

9. Develop a Content Calendar

Create a content calendar that outlines the timing and themes for various PR activities. This ensures a consistent and organized approach to communication throughout the year.

10. Build Media Relationships

Cultivate relationships with relevant media outlets and journalists. Understand their interests and preferences, and tailor pitches and press releases accordingly. This can enhance the likelihood of positive media coverage.

11. Monitor Industry Trends

Stay abreast of industry trends, competitor activities, and emerging issues. Being proactive in addressing industry developments can position the organization as a thought leader and contribute to overall credibility.

12. Establish Crisis Communication Protocols

Develop clear protocols for handling crises or negative publicity. Outline who will be responsible for communication, the approval process for statements, and steps to mitigate reputational damage.

13. Implement Measurement Tools

Implement tools and metrics to measure the success of PR efforts. This could include media monitoring, social media analytics, surveys, and other methods to assess the impact of the plan.

14. Evaluate and Adjust

Regularly evaluate the effectiveness of the PR plan against the established goals. If certain tactics are not yielding the expected results, be prepared to adjust strategies and tactics accordingly.

15. Review and Update

PR is dynamic, and a successful plan evolves over time. Regularly review and update the PR business plan to reflect changes in the business environment, industry trends, and organizational goals.

Crafting a PR business plan involves a strategic and holistic approach that aligns communication efforts with broader business objectives. There are also advertising agencies salesforce app for PR agencies to manage projects.

By following these 15 steps, organizations can create a roadmap for effective PR that contributes to their overall success and reputation.

Top PR Agency Project Management Software

Effective project management is crucial for success in the fast-paced realm of Public Relations (PR). PR agencies juggle multiple tasks, deadlines, and collaborations, making reliable project management software necessary. 

This comprehensive overview delves into five top-notch PR agency project management software , each designed to streamline workflows, enhance collaboration, and ensure seamless project execution.

1. ClientVenue: Elevating PR Project Management

ClientVenue stands out as a dedicated project management platform tailored for PR professionals. It offers a centralized communication, collaboration, and efficient task management hub. 

With an emphasis on adaptability, ClientVenue ensures that PR teams can easily navigate their projects.

• Centralized Communication : Foster real-time collaboration with a centralized communication hub, ensuring all team members stay informed.
• Task Management : Assign, track, and manage tasks efficiently, providing clarity on responsibilities and project progress.
• Collaborative Workspaces : Dedicated workspaces for collaborative efforts, facilitating seamless sharing of ideas, files, and feedback.
• Integrated Communication Tools : Streamline discussions with built-in messaging and video conferencing, eliminating the need for external platforms.
• Automated Notifications : Stay on top of deadlines and updates with automated notifications, reducing the risk of oversights.
• Version Control for Assets : Ensure the team works with the latest versions of files, promoting clarity and efficiency.
• ClientVenue offers flexible pricing plans to accommodate businesses of all sizes. From free basic plans to premium packages, starting from $47/user per month. Choose the option that aligns with your client management needs.

2. Asana: Unleashing PR Potential

Asana is a widely recognized project management tool that caters to various industries, including PR. Known for its intuitive interface, Asana offers a straightforward solution for task management and project collaboration.

• Task Assignment and Tracking : Easily assign tasks and monitor progress, ensuring accountability within the team.
• Collaborative Workspaces : Create dedicated spaces for collaboration, fostering a conducive environment for idea exchange.
• Integrated Communication Tools : Seamless communication through messaging features, enhancing team coordination.
• Starting from $10.99 per user/month

3. Monday.com: Empowering PR Teams

Monday.com is a versatile project management tool that excels in visual project tracking. PR agencies benefit from its user-friendly interface and customizable workflows.

• Customizable Workflows : Tailor workflows to match the unique processes of PR teams, optimizing project management.
• Integrated Communication Tools : Facilitate team communication through built-in messaging, ensuring clarity in discussions.
• Time Tracking and Reporting : Efficiently monitor project timelines and generate insightful reports for data-driven decision-making.
• Monday.com provides various pricing plans, starting from $8/ user per month allowing businesses to select the various features.

4. Teamwork: Collaborate with Confidence

Teamwork is a robust project management software known for its emphasis on collaboration. PR agencies leveraging Teamwork benefit from its suite of features designed for effective team coordination.

• Task Assignment and Tracking : Assign tasks and monitor progress in real-time, promoting transparency within the team.
• Collaborative Workspaces : Dedicated spaces for collaboration, enhancing teamwork and idea sharing.
• Automated Notifications : Stay informed with automated notifications, ensuring timely updates on project developments.
• Free Forever Plan: Free for 5 users
• Starter Plan: $8.99 per user/month (3 user minimum)
• Deliver Plan: $13.99 per user/month (3 user minimum)
• Grow Plan: $25.99 per user/month (5 user minimum)

5. Wrike: Orchestrating PR Success

Wrike is a powerful project management solution with a focus on scalability. PR agencies appreciate its flexibility and comprehensive approach to task management.

• Customizable Workflows : Adapt workflows to align with the specific needs and processes of PR teams, ensuring seamless integration.
• Integrated Communication Tools : Enhance team communication through integrated messaging, fostering collaboration.
• Time Tracking and Reporting : Monitor project timelines and generate detailed reports for informed decision-making.
• Wrike’s paid plans start at $9 per user/month. Also Free 14-day trial (No credit card required).

How ClientVenue can help in the project management of the Public Relations Business Plan?

ClientVenue can significantly contribute to the project management of a Public Relations (PR) Business Plan by providing a centralized and collaborative platform tailored to the specific needs of PR professionals. 

Here's how ClientVenue can assist in the project management of a PR Business Plan:

1. Centralized Communication

ClientVenue offers a centralized communication hub where PR teams can collaborate, share updates, and discuss strategies in real-time.

Communication channels within the platform facilitate efficient coordination among team members, ensuring everyone is on the same page.

2. Task Management and Progress Tracking

The platform allows PR managers to assign tasks to specific team members, ensuring clarity in roles and responsibilities.

Task tracking features enable PR professionals to monitor the status of assignments, identify bottlenecks, and keep projects on track.

3. Shared Work Environments

ClientVenue provides collaborative workspaces dedicated to PR projects, where team members can share ideas, files, and feedback seamlessly.

These workspaces foster a cohesive environment essential for creative brainstorming and continuous collaboration.

4. Seamless Communication Integration

With integrated communication tools such as messaging and video conferencing, ClientVenue eliminates the need for external platforms for discussions.

PR teams can conduct virtual meetings, brainstorming sessions, and client presentations within the same platform, streamlining communication.

5. Streamlined Data Access

Creative PR projects involve numerous files, and ClientVenue offers robust file organization features.

Team members have easy and secure access to project files, reducing delays and confusion, especially in situations where quick access to specific assets is crucial.

6. Real-time Notification Features

The platform automates notifications for deadlines, task assignments, and updates, keeping team members informed and projects moving forward.

Automated reminders help prevent oversights and ensure that everyone is aware of critical project milestones.

7. Collaborative Client Interaction

For PR projects involving client collaboration, ClientVenue provides a platform for sharing project updates, drafts, and receiving feedback.

The approval process is streamlined, reducing delays and ensuring that PR projects move forward smoothly with client input.

8. Comprehensive Time Analytics

Efficient time tracking features help PR teams monitor the time invested in each project or task.

Reporting tools provide insights into resource utilization, allowing for data-driven decisions to optimize workflows and resource allocation.

9. Adaptive Workflow Configurations

Recognizing that every PR team operates differently, ClientVenue allows for customizable workflows to align with the unique needs and processes of each team.

This adaptability ensures that the platform enhances existing workflows rather than imposing rigid structures.

In the dynamic world of Public Relations, where strategic communication is paramount, crafting an effective business plan is the key to success. 

This article has provided insights into the importance of PR, the role of PR agencies, and the significance of a well-designed PR plan. 

A comprehensive PR business plan becomes an invaluable tool as PR professionals navigate the challenges of reputation management, stakeholder engagement, and media relations.

ClientVenue emerges as the game-changer in PR project management, offering a tailored platform for seamless collaboration and efficient workflows. 

With features like centralized communication, task management, and real-time notifications, ClientVenue ensures that PR teams can focus on strategic initiatives while streamlining their operations. 

The platform's adaptability, collaborative workspaces, and version control for assets make it indispensable for PR professionals seeking to optimize their project management processes.

Elevate your PR business plan to new heights with ClientVenue – the ultimate project management platform designed for PR professionals. 

From centralized communication to adaptive workflows, ClientVenue offers a suite of features tailored to the unique needs of PR teams. Streamline collaboration, enhance communication, and ensure project success with ClientVenue . 

Kirti Prakash

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How To Write a PR Plan: A Comprehensive Guide [2022]

Do you need to write a pr plan but don’t know how to develop your tactics – beyond sending out a press release or using a press release distribution service.

Are you unsure how to make your PR plan connect with your broader marketing objectives?

Our comprehensive PR plan guide will give you the answers you need.

And o nce you understand the process behind creating a PR plan you will be 10 steps ahead of your competition.

Public Relations and Marketing, when executed properly, work hand in hand to build a trusted and much-loved reputation for your brand.

But to get the most out of this relationship you need to be strategic and go beyond simply knowing how to write a press release .

In this article, I’m going to walk you through a step-by-step process so you can create a successful public relations plan that:

• Builds brand awareness
• Earns trust with your target audience
• Gets your customers engaged and excited
• Keeps you ahead of the competition
• Positions you or your company as thought leaders
• Is the foundation of all crisis communication 

How do I know this PR plan works?

We’ve been running Arc Seven Communications , a leading healthcare PR Agency in the UK, for more than a decade, and this public relations plan is what we use with each and every one of our clients.

And if you follow my process, it will work for your business too.

If you can’t wait and want a free PR Plan Example to get started right now, then download our free PDF here.

But if you’re here for the instruction, let’s get into it.

First up, let’s agree what a PR Plan actually is.

What Is A PR Plan?

A PR plan is:

A document that outlines how you are going to interact with your audiences, customers, and stakeholders for an ongoing period of time.

Its purpose isn’t just to create a buzz around one-off events or anniversaries. Instead, it delivers ongoing results that have a lasting impact on your brand’s reputation.

Here’s what a PR plan does for your business

• Details the stories and content that you intend to create. These stories strategically include your brand’s key messages – what you want your audience to know about your brand.
• Maps out the channels that your audiences trust and use to consume information. It removes all the guesswork so you can be incredibly targeted when reaching out to your audiences.
• Schedules how and when to pitch stories so that you generate the most impact for your brand.  

It is a comprehensive document that is aligned with business objectives, sales targets and the marketing communications strategy.

What makes for a successful PR plan?

It’s simple. For the plan to work, ALL content must be newsworthy.

Whether you’re pitching stories to the national media, trying to learn how to get a story on the local news , to social influencers or sharing them on your own channels, if your content is not newsworthy then it won’t generate engagement.

Newsworthy is another way of saying relevant – relevant and of interest to your audience. A story that makes people sit up and take notice. A story that won’t be ignored.

Here are 46 proven public relations examples to get your juices flowing. 

PR professionals have, through years of practice, developed their sense for which stories are news, and which aren’t. Fortunately for you, there are nine questions you can apply immediately. These questions will enable you to think like a journalist and decide what stories have genuine news value.

This is how you help a reporter out and make the most of PR tools such as Response Source .

The 9 steps to creating a PR plan:

• Map out your brand elements
• Define your target audience
• Formulate your key messages
• Identify the channels to reach your audience
• Find newsworthy stories in your business
• Write your PR plan
• Plan your media pitches and use a press release template
• Boost the success of your story
• How to measure the success of your PR Plan

Once you understand the formula for a successful PR Plan, with these nine simple steps, you can create a bespoke strategy that sets you apart from your competition and guarantees the results you want.

Let’s start with making sure PR and Marketing are working together in perfect harmony.

How To Map Out And Prioritise Brand Elements

Fake News Alert – PR is about getting media coverage, isn’t it?

PR plays an important role in reputation and brand management.

So in order to create an effective PR plan you need to understand your brand and what it stands for.

The first question you should ask is, what do your stakeholders think about your brand? How do they feel?

Brands mean different things to different people

Your customers will see your brand differently than your employees will. Your investors want will interact with your company in a contrasting way to the companies that you partner with to deliver your service.

Without getting into too much brand theory (you can do PhDs in this stuff!) it helps to know that there are different brand elements. And knowing which ones your PR plan will focus on will help you achieve more targeted results.

Some of the most common brand elements are:

• Consumer brand : how your customers view your brand
• Financial or company brand: how your investors, shareholders or anyone interested in the financial or legal set up of the company views your brand
• Employer brand: how your employees view your brand
• Community brand: how your company engages with your local community/charities/campaigns/causes (and how this affects your brand)

One of the biggest mistakes you can make when writing a PR plan is to try and cover every single brand element.

There will be the cross over between your brand elements. A story can be relevant to more than one, but the more focused and targeted you are, the more impactful your PR Plan will be.

There is no blanket approach to PR. No one size fits all tactic. Each brand element needs a tailored and targeted approach.

Choose your preferred brand element based on business objectives and make sure the PR priorities are aligned with the company-wide focus.

It’s vital that you spend time agreeing which brand element requires a PR focus at the start as it will inform which audiences you interact with and what stories you share.

Ther Right Target Audience For Your PR Plan

Once you’ve agreed which brand element will be your focus, you can drill down into your audiences.

Simply put, your target audience is the group of people you want to communicate with, the people you want to hear your stories.

You can have a singular target audience or more than one, but it is important that you identify them and understand who they are.

Important audience details to understand:

• Demographics : age, gender, income, marital status, occupation/industry, educational level
• Location: country, city, neighbourhood
• Psychographics : likes and dislikes, attitudes and opinions, hobbies/interests

Sharing stories and content with a targeted audience is proven to increase engagement. So it is essential to understand your audience prior to creating content.

Knowing this level of detail is an essential foundation for your PR plan. It will help inform the key messages and stories you create and share.

How To Formulate Your PR Plan Key Messages

Key messages are concise and clear sentences that articulate important information about your brand. Simple, short, and specific.

Why the emphasis on brevity? Your audience is inundated with news and advertising. It’s your job to keep your key messages simple and focused on one thing – attracting the attention of your target audience.

Have you ever tried remembering a poorly written paragraph someone has put in front of you, or a waffling advert you heard on a podcast? It’s pretty much impossible.

Key messages contain particular information that you want your target audiences to hear and remember about your service, product or your public relations campaign .

The messages are deliberately chosen to create the brand image and reputation that you desire, communicating your unique selling points so that your company stands out from the competition.

Each brand element needs its own targeted key messages

These messages need to be tailored to the demographics of the audience, and not trying to attract everyone. Knowing these is critical if you want to make the most of your media training . 

For example, a 20 something student hip hop fan living in London will need a different message than a 75-year-old in a retirement village in Florida who likes playing golf.

To get started on your key messages, ask yourself these questions:

• What’s the most important thing about my product/service/campaign?
• What is the most interesting thing about my product/service/campaign?
• What does my product/service/campaign do differently to my competition?

Once you have a draft message, here’s a checklist for you:

Did you pass the PR Plan checklist?

Great! Then onto the next step – testing your message.

You can do this with focus groups, surveying your database, or more informally within your own team.

Don’t be afraid to adjust messaging based on constructive feedback, but make sure it stays focused and retains its clarity.

How To Identify The Channels For Your Audience

So now you’re in an awesome place, the foundations of a successful PR plan are coming together. You know:

• Which brand elements your PR plan will focus on
• What audience your PR plan will engage
• What messages your PR plan will share

The next step is to identify what channels you can use to communicate your messages to your audience.

Unfortunately, there’s no shortcut here, you’ll need to research where your target audience consumes their information.

Do they watch YouTube, follow influencers on Instagram, or are they more likely to listen to podcasts or tune in to the 6 o’clock news on the television?

Here’s a selection of popular channels:

One of the biggest benefits of identifying your target channels before you start your public relations planning process (that’s the next step) is that you’ll know what type of stories each channel is usually interested in.

There are three types of story

• A news story: must be timely – it is happening today, tomorrow or next week. It could be an event, or breakthrough that occurs and due to its importance (or triviality in some cases), it is deemed to be newsworthy. Note – make sure you know how to write a press release for an event , a boilerplate and an attention grabbing headline .
• A feature story : much more reflective and examine current trends, patterns, mark an anniversary or take a more in-depth look at a current news story. Features can include case studies or discuss a particular issue.
• A product placement story :  describes the detail of the product and general information

Learning the difference between a news story and feature story examples takes practise and patience, but it is essential to the impact your PR efforts.

Although it depends on the channel, generally the type of stories each channel wants is as follows:

• Mainstream media : print and online – a combination of news and feature stories
• Niche media : trade and specialist – a combination of news, feature stories and product placement
• Digital influencers: product placement and feature stories
• Podcasts: f eature stories
• Blogs : product placement and feature stories

If you’re thinking about approaching social media influencers then check out our definitive guide to Influencer Marketing .

How To Find Newsworthy Stories In Your Business

Now it’s time to start looking for stories within your business.

Your stories are the heart of your PR plan, and they are essential to sharing your key messages with your target audience.

A well-crafted story becomes the vehicle to get your key messages to your target audience.

We use the analogy of a train: The story is the engine, which pulls the key message carriages along the channel’s track, to the audience’s station.

If you just share a list of reasons why your product or service is brilliant, who will care? No one, because it’s just an advert. And we are inundated with them!

When you engage your audience with a compelling and relevant story, then you’ll be much more likely to keep their attention. Plus you’ll be able to build a more informal and conversational dialogue with your customers, which is proven to build brand loyalty.

This is such a crucial part of the PR plan but it’s often the most challenging.

Many people get stuck at this point because they don’t know whether or not their business has a story or where to find those stories.

So we’ve created a special g uide on How to Find The Story in Your Business .

It comes with a free Story Finder template – a tool for thinking through your business in a systematic way to uncover all the areas in which your stories might be hiding.

Once you have your list of stories, the next step is to start populating your PR plan.

Match your stories, and the key messages you’ll share through them, with media channels that will love them. This simple formula will give you a super effective PR plan that will bring you amazing results.

Let’s talk through how it’s done.

How To Write Your PR Plan

Get your free PR Plan Template here or create your own grid with the following columns.

From left to right these are your column headers:

Part 1 – your own research

Date: everything must be tied to a date to make sure you achieve your goals within a set period. Awareness days can help here to give you a news hook.

Row input: you’ll put the month or quarter that you are working on this story.

Story: every story you work on should have an easily recognisable title, one that is shared across teams (marketing, business development, fundraising) for consistency.

Row input: Add the different story names e.g. ‘ Single-Use Plastic Campaign Launch ’, ‘ YouTuber Extreme Ironing Challenge ’, ‘10th Anniversary Party’.

Brand element: use this column to identify which brand area you are working from.

Row input: You can list more than one brand area per story, just make sure you are being as targeted as possible.

Audience: use this column to detail the groups of people that you want to target.

Row input: As with brand areas, you can list more than one audience per story, but by being more targeted you’ll generate greater success.

Key messages: the clear, concise and important information that you want your target audience to remember.

Part 2 – PR plan media research

Channel: the media that you want to share your story through.

Row input: With big stories, you may have a number of target channels – prioritise them, you may not be successful with all of them so focus on the ones that will create the most positive impact for your brand.

Media outlet: the name of the individual show, magazine, podcast that you want your story to be featured in.

Row input: Be specific and do your research, list individual shows rather than channels etc.

Frequency: this describes the frequency of the show or publication – how often they are on air, how many times do they post content etc.

Row input: This is vital information that informs when you pitch your story to ensure it is featured on the correct show or date.

Story type: news, features or product placement story.

Row input: Include the detail – is it an ‘Industry Round Up’ news story, ‘Best 10 FinTech Apps of the Year’ product placement story, or ‘How to lose weight quickly’ feature story?

Contact: the name and contact details of your target journalist, influencer or blogger.

Row input: Don’t spam, do your research and find the contact details of the exact person you need to speak with.

How To Plan Your Media Pitch

If you’re at the point in your PR where you’re writing a PR plan then I’m assuming you understand how to pitch single stories to a media list .

But here we’re talking about pitching a number of stories to many varied outlets, coordinating content and meeting deadlines, so you need to have nailed the perfect media pitch already.

If you need help with your pitching then check out How To Write a Media Pitch: The Ultimate Guide

This is also useful so you know how to find someone’s email.

The purpose of a PR plan is to run multiple stories throughout the year and consistently earn media coverage and increase engagement for your brand.

Every media outlet, whether mainstream media or digital creators, works to their own editorial calendar – not yours.

Editorial calendars vary between outlets depending on the frequency of the show, publication or broadcast.

But one thing’s for sure – if you want to secure media coverage, you need to work to their deadlines and give them stories when they want them.

Timelines for pitching the media your stories:

• Magazines: 3-6 months in advance
• Newspapers: anything between 1 day and 1-3 weeks
• Social media influencers: 1-2 months
• Podcasts: 2-6 weeks
• Radio: 1-2 days

You need to ensure that everyone who’s involved in the creation of your story understands these deadlines.

That could be:

• Photographers supplying the media-ready images
• Your digital team who may be making video content to accompany the story
• Spokespeople who supply the quotes
• Senior team members who provide sign-off of facts and figures, get consent for photographs etc
• Your marketing team who need to create complementary material for social channels

Never go to the media with an incomplete pitch

If you’ve got a great story but the accompanying photograph is not ready, you’ll lose out to another story.

And worse still, if you promise a journalist something but then can’t deliver it, because it’s not signed off or not ready, then you’ll have seriously let them down.

They need to supply stories to set deadlines. If they trust you to provide something and you don’t, they won’t ask again.

How To Boost The Success Of Your Stories

Once you’ve secured coverage then don’t rest on your laurels, here’s a checklist to help you share your story far and wide.

How To Measure The Success Of Your PR Plan

The best PR plans produce data, both quantitive and qualitative, that can help measure the success of your media relations strategy.

This is essential in all public relations jobs .

You can measure:

Share of Voice

• Tone of Voice

These are two really useful metrics to analyse how you stack up against your competition. They will enable you to see how effective your PR has been in raising awareness and influencing the conversation around your brand.

Share of Voice is a popular advertising metric, so you may already be familiar with the phrase if you’re a marketeer.

In terms of PR measurement, Share of Voice refers to the percentage of all online, print, and broadcast coverage and conversations about your company or brand that you have secured, compared to those of competitors.

Add up all your coverage and all of the coverage of your competitors then see how you stack up.

Each week, keep track of all the coverage you achieve through your PR plan – cuttings, screenshots, clips of broadcast coverage so you have a record of everything.

This is a very time-consuming job and unfortunately, Google search won’t bring up everything, especially if your media targets are niche and trade-specific.

To do this properly, I advise paying for one of the best media monitoring services – there are lots out there –but two that I currently use are:

• Kantar Media

If you don’t have the budget for a paid service then just try to keep on top of your own coverage as best as possible so you at least know which of your pitches were successful.

Cross check your successful media outlets against your audiences – have you achieved success where you needed to reach your targets? Have any audiences not been reached? If so, rethink your strategy and see if there’s a way to engage them.

Measuring Share of Voice on its own won’t provide you with any qualitative data, which is why I always recommend to combine it with Tone of Voice.

Tone of Voice 

Tone of voice measures how your company is presented within the media – is it positive or negative?

Is the tone of the writing favourable, was the presenter kind in their presentation of the brand? Or was the interviewer accusatory, was the review critical of the product?

You can also make a list of keywords or phrases and keep a track of how often they appear – is there any repetition in how your brand is being described? Are you becoming known for something positive or negative within the media?

Most businesses and brands have an official Tone of Voice document (check with your marketing department for this) and see if the way the media are speaking about you matches how you want to be presented.

If not you can feed this back into your next PR plan and make sure you set a specific goal to address this difference in representation.

This ties us in nicely to the next measurement, how has the perception of your brand changed through the execution of the PR plan.

Brand Perception

Building on the qualitative data from your Tone of Voice assessment, you now need to review your overall positioning for your brand.

You can do that by answering these questions:

• Has there been any change in how your brand is viewed by target audiences?
• How were your key messages received and what response did they get?
• Were they believed?
• Were there any negative responses?

The best way to obtain this information is by gathering customer feedback.

Some brands find that periodic audience surveys (mostly online) work best. If you have an engaged database then it’s certainly a method I would recommend.

Create a short series of questions which help you understand how your list feels about the brand, perhaps asking them to review your product and how it can be improved, or offer a simple star rating.  

Another popular method is to actually speak with customers face to face through focus groups. A great benefit of this method is that you can do more in-depth questioning and have more detailed conversations.

Whatever method you choose it’s important that this is not a one-off event.

The key here is to make gathering audience feedback an ongoing effort, so you can measure any change in perception and feeling towards the brand.

Digital Presence

Here’s an important point to bear in mind – not all PR success leads to immediate consumer action.

This is both one of PR’s biggest criticisms but also (as I often argue) one of it’s greatest strengths.

PR is not advertising. The media who cover your product or service don’t end the coverage with BUY NOW! Or GO TO THEIR WEBSITE NOW!

Often media outlets don’t even include a link to your website – much to SEO people’s annoyance. But that’s what editorial is, it should be a non-bias exploration of a topic or issue. Informative but balanced.

Mainstream media are very cautious and do not want to be seen to be unfairly endorsing a company or brand.

However, the halo effect of being featured in respected media outlets is VERY real and VERY impactful.

PR influences consumer behaviour more through nudging than shoving. The objective is to build trust and long-lasting loyalty.

A consumer may not take immediate action but your compelling story has been engaged with and has triggered their interest.

I recommend measuring consumer action over set periods – monthly, quarterly, etc. This way you can see a clear pattern.

Here are a few questions you can ask:

• Has there been an increase in web traffic over the time period?
• Has there been an increase in followers and engagement visible on social media management tools ?
• Have there been more signups to your database?
• Has the rate of opt-ins to lead magnets improved?
• Have you seen online sales improve?
• It’s vital that you work in partnership with your digital teams for this measurement.

Every element of your PR plan should be in partnership with the other areas of your business and the measurement element is no different.

In fact, it’s important that this data is shared across all the departments involved in the PR plan.

Not only will this improve your future stories, but it reveals business-critical information about your brand awareness levels and detailed brand perception.

Now It’s Your Turn to Create a PR Plan

Take your awesome story ideas and follow the PR plan step by step – you’ll be impressed by the results.

Execute it properly and your PR plan will help transform your brand’s awareness levels and credibility throughout 2022.

And if you’re ready to take your PR work to the next level grab our  PR Starter Kit .

Our must-have kit has every template, script, strategy and guide you’ll ever need to do PR – all in one place.

Get your story in the national media with our FREE press release template…never hire a PR agency again.

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How to Do PR: The Ultimate Guide to Public Relations in 2023

Discover how to do PR and use public relations to increase brand awareness and drive campaign traffic.

FREE DOWNLOAD: INBOUND PRESS RELEASE TEMPLATES

+ Bonus Newsworthy Guide to Public Relations

Published: 05/12/22

Public relations walks a tightrope between creativity, persuasion, and strategy. If you know how to do PR you can impact every part of a business or brand.

Are you looking to expand your brand’s reach? Would you like to expose your business to new people who might want to try your product or service?

Welcome to the world of public relations.

What Is Public Relations?

What is a PR Strategy?

Public Relations Tactics

Public Relations KPIs

Public Relations Tools

What is public relations.

Public relations (PR) is the practice of using media channels to promote your organization and cultivate a positive public perception. PR is also the process of managing your organization’s brand and communications — especially in times of crisis.

PR is how brands manage the spread of their information, so it’s similar to branding . The main difference is that PR focuses on communication and reputation, while branding relies on visual elements like logos, websites, and marketing materials.

Free Press Release Template

A free guide and template to help you run your company's PR.

• Company Announcements
• Promotion Checklist
• Guide to PR Best Practices

Download Free

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Click this link to access this resource at any time.

Why is public relations important?

Public relations defines how a company communicates with people — customers, partners, journalists, philanthropists, politicians, and the general public.

All businesses need public relations, regardless of their size or industry.

According to the Pew Research Center , only 27% of U.S. adults trust the information they find on social media. But 56% trust national news media, and 75% trust local news outlets.

Public relations professionals are expert storytellers. They find strategies for how to get your story out in front of the people you want to see it, in media outlets that build trust.

Why? Because, nowadays, customers want to trust the brands they do business with — and nothing builds and fosters trust like public relations.

What is a PR strategy?

A PR strategy helps a business create, organize, and measure the effectiveness of its public relations tactics over time. It's separate from a marketing plan but should support marketing efforts.

A public relations strategy may cover a full year of campaigns or address a single goal, like a product launch.

Developing an authentic PR strategy requires a collaborative approach to communication. Sharing a point of view about climate change, diversity, equity, and inclusion is no longer optional for brands.

Internal and employee communications also play a more important role. 46% of PR professionals in 2021 report directly to their CEO, up from 34% in 2014. This figure speaks to the increasing importance of PR in business operations and brand perception.

It can be easy to jump on one-time opportunities for media attention. But if you want to know how to do PR right, start with a public relations strategy.

How to Build a PR Strategy

1. research internal and external brand factors..

Start with what has gone well in the past for your business, and what efforts didn't work out. This could include:

• Tracking media mentions
• Reviewing influencer relationships and results
• Evaluating social media engagement and traffic KPIs
• Review buyer personas and customer insights

Next, do some competitive analysis to figure out what is working best for other businesses in your industry. Social listening tools can help speed up this process.

As you close out your research, list any internal or external factors that could have had an impact on your brand. These might include:

• Feature, product, or pricing changes
• Distribution shifts
• Stakeholders and leadership changes
• Employee sentiment
• Legal factors
• Political climate
• Economic shifts
• Tech advances

2. Outline your goals.

It can be tempting to jump on tactics you notice during research, but first, decide on goals. Whether you're addressing a local crisis or planning a year of public relations image-building, this step is critical.

Even a short outline of goals can be enough to steer you and your team toward the right tactics.

There are a few things that every PR plan should include. First, decide who your target audience is for each campaign. Next, choose the key messages you want to communicate to that audience.

Finally, don't forget to include the metrics you plan to track. Analytics tracking should be part of campaign set-up, not something you add on after a campaign launches.

Forming a strong foundation for your public relations will better enable your success than one-off efforts. Try to make each goal a SMART goal.

This PR plan template can help you make sure that your strategy covers your key messaging and other goals.

3. Create a timeline for your PR campaigns.

Public relations success relies on the right message at the right time. So, create a clear calendar for both short and long-term initiatives.

Be sure to note public holidays and important industry dates. For example, the end of November is an important time of year for most ecommerce businesses.

4. Select the right public relations tactics.

Once you know when and why, it's time to nail down which tactics will be the best to deliver on your strategy. This comprehensive list breaks down useful public relations tactics. It might also help to look at some PR examples for inspiration.

5. Track your results.

Once you decide on tactics, decide on how you will measure outcomes. Public relations isn't an exact science, and measuring perception can be tricky. Whenever possible, align your PR metrics with business goals. This can help you draw a clear connection between public relations efforts and ROI.

An important note: A public relations manager often guides strategy around earned media. But they can be more effective with a multichannel strategy, connecting the right topic to the right audience.

Brands manage their PR — or communication and reputation — through various media channels. A great public relations strategy usually includes three types of media.

Media: Owned vs. Paid vs. Earned

The types of public relations, which we’ll review shortly, fall into three main categories: owned, paid, and earned media. Each type works towards the same goal of building a positive brand reputation, but they use different strategies to get there.

Your PR strategies should include all three, as they all provide different ways of reaching, engaging, and building trust with your audience.

Owned media

Owned media is any content that your business controls. It’s often the go-to strategy for businesses looking to build a PR campaign .

Image Source

Rightly so, as it’s arguably the most important type of PR-related media that you should be focusing on. This is because you have total control — unlike the other two media tactics.

Owned media includes:

• Social media posts
• Blog content
• Website copy
• Email newsletters

Owned media acts as a "home base" for your PR activity. When people write about your brand or products, they’ll likely reference (i.e. link to) your owned media in their coverage.

It’s not uncommon to pay to promote your content in the marketing world,and it’s no different when it comes to PR.

Paid media refers to paying to make your content visible. It’s standard practice to promote owned media.

Paid media includes:

• Social media advertising
• Influencer marketing
• Pay-per-click (PPC)

Putting some funds toward boosting PR content is becoming increasingly popular. Since the majority of social platforms are reducing organic reach for business accounts, paid media is a fantastic way to make sure your content gets in front of the people you want to see it.

Earned media

Earned media is the tactic used to boost conversation around your brand. It’s essentially word-of-mouth and is arguably the best PR tactic to build your reputation.

Earned media is the hardest type of PR media to obtain. It takes a lot of effort, consistency, and hard work to establish it — that’s why it’s "earned."

Earned media includes:

• Mentions in industry news and reviews
• Praise from customers on social media
• High rankings on search engines

All of these media avenues provide ways to use PR to build brand awareness, generate leads, and convert those leads into paying customers — similar to your marketing. Now, let’s discuss the difference.

Public Relations vs. Marketing

Public relations and marketing are similar in their actions and tactics, but their goals are quite different. The main goal of PR is to boost the reputation of your brand. On the other hand, the main goal of marketing is to drive sales.

Unlike marketing, PR doesn’t always have an impact on sales. It typically indirectly promotes your products or services through activities like press release distribution and speaking at industry events. Alternatively, instead of improving the perception of your business, marketing campaigns focus on driving revenue and boosting profits.

People don’t buy products, they buy brands. For this reason, using PR and marketing in tandem drives the best results: typically, someone connects with your brand as a result of your PR efforts and converts into a customer as a result of your marketing tactics.

For example, 33% of marketers used paid media in 2021 to improve brand awareness.

Now, let’s discuss the types of PR you may use as you promote your organization and build and manage your reputation.

PR Strategies and Tactics

• Business Events
• Community Relations
• Corporate and Social Responsibility
• Crisis Management
• Cyber Threat Intelligence
• Employee Relations
• Influencer Relations
• Media Relations
• Social Media Marketing

1. Business Events

Business events are opportunities to market your products or services and gain exposure for your brand.

Whether hosted or attended by your company, events are also important sales opportunities. Events give you a chance to meet prospective customers and delight current ones face-to-face.

Speaking engagements at events are also helpful for boosting brand awareness and sharing unique thought leadership or data-driven information that can help elevate your brand.

2. Community Relations

Community relations refers to building positive relationships with the local community around your business.

This could include charity work, donations, special discounts, or anything that builds a strong relationship with the community and strengthens customer loyalty.

3. Corporate and Social Responsibility

Corporate and social responsibility is similar to community relations, but it places a greater emphasis on ethical business practices, environmental responsibility, and philanthropy — locally, regionally, and globally. This is a critical area of PR as it directly affects the public perception of your brand.

4. Crisis Management

Crisis management is the practice of acknowledging, managing, and working to reverse negative communication and perception surrounding a business crisis. PR usually handles anything that could jeopardize or ruin your brand’s reputation.

Manage, plan for, and communicate during your corporate crises with this free crisis management communication kit.

Crisis management is an important function of PR and should be handled quickly, consistently, and strategically. With certain PR tools , you can avert crises through monitoring online chatter and quality-checking any marketing or promotional material that may be misunderstood or misconstrued.

5. Cyber Threat Intelligence

Only 41% of US businesses have an active plan for threat intelligence. But cyber security is in the top five global risks in the World Economic Forum 's 2021 Risk Report.

Besides the financial challenges that cyberattacks create, there is also a perception challenge. This can be devastating to a brand's reputation if it’s not handled skillfully.

These issues will call on PR’s crisis management expertise. It's also a good idea to build relationships with tech experts and thought leaders in the industry. This can give you the expertise you need to limit the reputation impact of these increasingly frequent attacks.

6. Employee Relations

Employee relations, also known as internal PR, is the practice of communicating with and cultivating a positive employee perception of your company.

This process may include dedicated employee newsletters or communications, employee perks and benefits, free training and skill-boosting opportunities, employee appreciation events, and working with unions or employee groups.

Employee relations not only keeps your employees motivated, hard-working, and loyal, but it also encourages them to advocate for your business — which can bring in both customers and more high-quality employees.

7. Influencer relations

Influencers play a powerful role in PR and marketing. According to Statista, the influencer market was worth 13.8 billion in 2021, more than double its value in 2019. That includes micro-and nano-influencers, who represent over 60% of Instagram influencers.

In many businesses, the public relations team also manages influencer relationships. Sometimes marketing, social media, and PR teams share these responsibilities. It will take hard work and experience to creatively collaborate with each influencer to make sure your brand gets the results it wants from its authority.

8. Media Relations

Media relations refers to building positive relationships with journalists, publications, and other news outlets.

This process typically includes writing press releases , organizing press releases, and scheduling interviews. Not only does this gain exposure for your business and products but it also encourages the media to market your brand for free.

Download our free Inbound Press Release Kit to access step-by-step templates to build press releases and a promotion plan.

9. Social Media Marketing

Social media can be both an earned and paid PR tactic.

For most companies, social media can be a helpful PR (and marketing) tool —it’s an effective way to amass followers, convert customers, share your content, and resolve crises.

Whether you’re sharing a post with your audience or interacting with a single customer, your social media activity is open to the public. That’s why it’s critical to have a social media strategy that keeps your communications consistent, positive, and accurate.

Now, let’s talk about who’s responsible for these different types of PR: your public relations manager.

What does a public relations manager do?

PR managers are responsible for building, executing, and monitoring your PR strategies and tactics. They typically handle crisis communications, write press releases, and lead a team of other PR professionals who manage your brand’s public presence. You might hire a public relations manager to handle PR for your business, or work with a PR Agency .

Let’s discuss the skills and tasks your public relations manager will know inside out.

PR Manager Skills

Successful public relations managers have a particular set of skills. Besides being flexible and open to change, these are some of the most important skills.

Great Communication

One primary focus of public relations is building your business’s reputation. To do this, public relations managers spend a lot of their time building and sustaining relationships.

Besides speaking about your company at public functions, press conferences, and other events, your public relations team is also connecting with reporters, influencers, and other stakeholders.

For this reason, excellent communication is a key skill for PR managers.

Writing Skills

Public relations managers should also be able to communicate well in written form.

Since PR managers are responsible for writing press releases and company-related news, strong writing skills will help convey the right message to promote your company. This is especially useful for online PR where you’ll need to create blog posts, website content, and press releases to gain coverage.

Like marketing, creativity goes a long way in the public relations world. Great PR managers are creative and know how to create a strategy that stands out from the crowd, which is important because a unique story or perspective will drive PR coverage.

Strong Research Skills

Public relations is a social industry, and people might be talking about your brand without directly mentioning it. Good research skills will help public relations managers find and use these opportunities.

A public relations manager must stay up on trends and digital marketing updates. PR professionals can't operate in a bubble and must stay aware of search and social media changes for their strategies to succeed.

They offer expert knowledge and a fresh perspective to maintain a presence in competitive media outlets.

Public relations managers will also need to do research when planning a PR strategy. Because they might need additional information, statistics, and data points to boost the power of their owned media, strong research skills are essential.

PR Manager Tasks

The day-to-day tasks of your PR manager can vary depending on your industry, active PR campaigns, PR team size , and other factors. However, here’s what they often include:

• Writing press releases to announce company-related news
• Creating fact sheets and media kits about the company to send to media teams for brand-building
• Giving media training to both in-house and external teams
• Attending and speaking at industry events and representing the brand at trade shows, recruiting events, etc.
• Finding and analyzing media coverage and promoting that content through owned and paid media channels

Public relations managers are also responsible for tracking and measuring their PR efforts. The following key performance indicators (KPIs) can help your public relations manager analyze and improve your PR strategies.

PR Measurement: 10 Public Relations KPIs to Track

• Media Coverage and Brand Mentions
• Share of Voice
• Pitch Interactions
• Social Media Engagement
• Social Shares
• Site Traffic
• SEO Metrics
• Conversions

Clear measurable goals are the only way to ensure that your PR strategy is effective. In a business world that is increasingly focused on data-driven outcomes, the right KPIs can make or break your public relations programming.

Most PR metrics gauge perception, so it can be difficult to connect company wins directly to public relations campaigns. For this reason, you should select a range of KPIs that align directly with your business goals.

For example, let’s say your business wants to improve brand awareness. KPIs like increased share of voice and website traffic alongside recent brand mentions can show a more direct connection between PR efforts and business goals.

These KPIs will help you track your PR efforts and determine the effectiveness of your PR strategy.

1. Media Coverage and Brand Mentions

Brand mentions occur when someone mentions your brand. Media coverage tracks the number of earned media stories that went live. These metrics are important because they help you measure awareness of your brand and its stories.

You might see brand mentions in traditional news coverage, on other business or personal blogs, in reviews, or on social media. Some media outlets may tag or hyperlink their sources. Others may not link back to your brand or website, which means you have to go looking for them. Check out the PR tools section for some helpful software tools.

Note:It’s important to read brand mentions and media coverage for context. Remember, you want people to be saying good things about your brand, and it’s not always easy to understand the value of coverage until you read the entire piece.

2. Share of Voice

This is an essential KPI for PR. Share of voice measures competitive brand awareness. This metric helps your business understand the scale of customers in your industry and where your brand fits within it. It also tracks your brand reputation.

3. Pitch Interactions

Pitches are another important metric for PR. It can sometimes take longer than expected for a piece to go live. So, track the number of pitches you send and reply to. You'll also want to track how many email opens and clicks you get from a pitch. These PR metrics can help you create a funnel for earned media mentions.

This can help you better understand which efforts are pulling in the most value, as well as the best ways to scale your strategy.

4. Sentiment

Sentiment, which is a synonym for viewpoint or opinion, measures the attitudes in brand mentions. While brand mentions and backlinks typically improve your brand awareness and SEO, sentiment is what sets apart the positive mentions from the negative ones.

You’ve probably heard the saying, "There’s no such thing as bad publicity." Whether you agree or disagree, it is good practice to be aware of negative press.

Tracking sentiment can help you understand what your audience is saying about your brand and whether or not you need to address any problems or concerns.

5. Social Media Engagement

Social media engagement encompasses a few types of activity: views, impressions, likes, shares, and comments.

This information shows the level of brand awareness and engagement among your audience members. It also tells you when your audience is most active, i.e. when you should be posting and interacting with your followers.

6. Social Shares

Social shares are different from social media engagement. Social shares refer to when your audience shares something from your website or blog on their social media.

This is a critical metric because it tells you that your audience enjoys your content enough to vouch for it on their social channels. It’s a very clear measure of your brand reputation among your audience.

When looking at social shares, pay attention to what types of content people share most frequently. This will give you an idea of what your audience enjoys the most and what kind of content to create more of.

7. Site Traffic

Site traffic is a sign of successful PR efforts. If people are hearing about your brand through earned media and heading to your site, your PR efforts are reaching your audience.

As you run PR campaigns, track your site traffic once press releases and other efforts go live. Use your site analytics to check your visitors’ referral sources (how they made their way to your website) and aim to replicate this in the future.

8. SEO Metrics

There are a few SEO metrics that can also help you with PR measurement.

Domain authority refers to your website’s SEO ranking and how it performs in search results.

It’s ranked from 1 to 100 (with 100 being the highest) and is a valuable measure of how your website compares to your competitors. The higher your domain authority is, the better your website will rank in search results.

Domain authority is made up of three main factors: links to your site (backlinks), links from your site to other well-ranked websites, and the age of your site. While you can’t magically make your website older, you can use PR to attract backlinks and place links in your content.

Moz offers a free tool to check your domain authority, page rank, and other important website measures.

Backlinks help you find brand mentions. With backlinks, sites that’ve mentioned your brand have linked to your website, making it easy for readers to click through and visit your website.

And it’s not just new traffic you’ll benefit from when collecting backlinks — you could see a rise in your SEO rankings, too.

9. Conversions

While the volume of new customers coming directly from your PR activity isn’t easy to measure, it’s definitely worth investigating.

You can discover where your customers came from by either surveying customers after they purchase and asking how they heard of you or by using a tool like Google Analytics to learn about your customers’ conversion paths (a.k.a. their route to purchase).

Note : While this is an exciting metric to track, don’t feel disheartened if you don’t see an influx of conversion-ready site traffic. Remember, the goal of public relations is to raise brand awareness, spread the ideas of your internal thought leaders, and communicate the ideas of your brand. Those new site visitors could always return and make a purchase in the future now that they know about your brand because of your PR.

10. Advertising Value Equivalent (AVE)

AVE equals what it would cost to buy the space for an earned media placement if it was an ad. At one point this was the only KPI for public relations. But many industry professionals feel that this is an outdated KPI and an inaccurate way to measure PR.

Depending on your business, you may still want to track this KPI. In 2021 41% of PR professionals track AVE for planning, and 34% use this metric to justify fees and budgets.

Now, let’s review a handful of PR SaaS tools that can help you implement your PR strategies and track these KPIs.

We’ve rounded up a handful of helpful PR tools to help you execute your public relations campaigns and measure your impact and performance.

Brand24 helps you monitor online mentions about your brand, product, or service, and measure the results of your PR campaigns. Slack integrations and a notifications system will help you react in time to prevent a PR crisis.

2. Agility PR Solutions

Agility PR Solutions is a paid tool that provides powerful yet easy-to-use solutions for your media database, monitoring, and analytics. These solutions help identify and connect with influencers, capture coverage, and measure impact.

3. Anewstip

Anewstip is a media search, monitoring, and relationship management tool. You can use it to search media mentions by keyword or handle, reach out to journalists and influencers all over the world, and create a media database of important PR campaign contacts. It offers both paid and free plan options.

4. CoverageBook

CoverageBook is a paid tool that helps you find and collect any coverage of your PR content. It’s a great tool for PR agencies who are building coverage reports for their clients.

5. Covered Press

Covered Press is a paid tool that streamlines press tracking, reporting, and analytics, combining three important tools into a single, all-in-one PR platform.

It also offers white-label reporting so publicists can brand their own analytics portals and reports for clients.

6. Flaunter

Flaunter is a digital press center and showroom that provides a platform for brands to showcase their digital assets, products and sample collections. With 24/7 access for media, influencers, bloggers and stylists, Flaunter makes it easier for brands to gain exposure, editorial coverage and brand awareness.

By streamlining PR efforts, Flaunter helps brands to grow their audience, attract new customers and ultimately expand their business.

7. Google Alerts

Google Alerts is an easy-to-use, free tool that allows you to set up email alerts for certain keyword mentions. When a name, keyword, or link is mentioned online, Google sends you a digest email alerting you of the mention.

Mention helps you track who’s mentioned your brand in media and on social media. You can also use this tool to publish on your social media and manage crisis communications. It offers both free and paid plan options.

9. Monitor Backlinks

Monitor Backlinks is a free tool that helps you track who’s mentioned your brand in coverage and added a backlink to your site. It’s also valuable for monitoring and disavowing bad backlinks and keeping your website’s SEO and domain authority at their peak.

10. Muck Rack

Muck Rack is a paid tool that allows you to discover and contact members of the media who might want to cover your PR story.

11. PR Fire

PR Fire is a paid tool that helps you distribute your press release to journalists and receive a report of their performance and reach. It’s ideal for in-house teams who’re doing their own PR.

12. SharedCount

SharedCount shows you engagement data for any social media, blog, or website URL. Once you input a URL, the tool will tally its likes, shares, comments, and other engagement measures. It offers both free and paid plan options.

13. TweetDeck

TweetDeck is a free tool (created by Twitter) that monitors Twitter activity. You can set up Twitter streams that track certain keywords, accounts, trends, or other filters.

These are just a few useful PR tools, and if you don’t see what you’re looking for here, there are more great PR tools to consider .

Start Building Your Public Relations Strategy

With all these tactics, tools, and strategy-building tips, are you ready to start your new PR strategy? As you dig in, remember that public relations is an ongoing, iterative strategy — not a one-off task. Like marketing, it can take a while to see results.

But with a solid strategy and a commitment to spreading the word about your company, you’ll soon see more mentions, backlinks, and general buzz. Then you’ll be ready for the next step to grow your business better.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in August 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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Public Relations Strategies: Best Practices, Practical Tips, and Expert Advice

By Joe Weller | February 6, 2018 (updated February 27, 2023)

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In this article, you’ll learn how strategic public relations can help organizations grow and thrive. Leading experts share what it takes to develop and execute an effective public relations plan to ensure your PR plans launch successfully.

Included on this page, you’ll learn how to develop your strategic public relations plan with free downloadable templates, why organizations need sound public relations strategies , and some of the top PR strategies to implement .

What Is a Public Relations Plan?

A strategic public relations plan is “a roadmap to take you from where you are to where you want to be,” says  Mary Meagher , President of The Meagher Group, a Washington, D.C.-based public affairs firm that offers clients a unique blend of political, business, and communications experience. According to Meagher, organizations need public relations strategies for the same reason they need marketing, sales, and product-development strategies — because the desired outcome is too important to leave to chance.

There are many types of public relations plans. Some are short-term and may focus on a single goal, such as getting positive media coverage of the keynote address your CEO delivers at a major industry event. Other PR plans are more comprehensive and designed to help an organization achieve its core business goals. Those short-term plans often become key components of an organization’s broader PR strategy.

According to Keyes, who managed global PR and marketing campaigns at Microsoft before starting her business, organizations need to think of public relations as a long-term strategy. “I think it’s important to have a master plan that you’re working on all the time, and it needs to be agile so you can quickly adapt to new information and opportunities as things change,” she explains.

But Keyes also says she doesn’t believe in PR plans that are so complex, unwieldy, and ultimately daunting that they end up ignored because no one is willing to try implementing them. “I often recommend breaking things down into smaller, more manageable parts, depending on the size of the organization and the budget and resources that are available to manage PR.”

Public relations timelines, even for those master PR plans, can vary. Keyes says larger organizations often have PR plans that cover an entire year. Conversely, a small business may have a plan that is designed to help them move forward during the current quarter. During each of those three months, they try different PR initiatives, sometimes weekly, and then assess their results and develop a new plan for the next quarter.

“I know some businesses that break their public relations plan into daily activities, especially those that are focused on doing PR through social media,” Keyes says. “So they have a mini-editorial calendar where they share information, explore different themes and ideas, and use social media tools to help drive positive public relations Monday through Friday.”

Developing Your Strategic Public Relations Plan

Before you start crafting your strategic PR plan, you need to do your due diligence to reveal past pitfalls and how to overcome them and help anticipate potential roadblocks in the future.

Research lets you see existing opportunities you can leverage and where you may need to create new options. It also enables you to determine who you are trying to influence, what is important to them, and the most effective tactics for reaching them. Get started with research and formulate a plan by performing these tasks:

• Assess Your Current Situation: Determine what needs to change or improve, and identify positive elements you can build on.
• Survey the Landscape: Identify any industry, economic, or societal trends to take into account. For example, if the news is full of consumer concerns about a recent breach of electronic health records , it could affect the kind of PR plan a healthcare organization develops.
• Discover Data: Stats and other information gleaned from research can help you develop and differentiate your message.
• Identify Timelines: This also includes milestones, event schedules, or deadlines you need to consider to develop your plan.
• Be Realistic: Stick to a budget, staff appropriately, and determine achievable goals.

To get started setting a realistic budget, this PR template can help. After all, you won’t be able to achieve your goals if you don’t have the means to finance the tactics necessary.

Download Public Relations Budget Template

Excel | Smartsheet

“Research is the key to really understanding what you’re trying to accomplish,” says Meagher, who served as Communications Director for a U.S. Senator and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the U.S. Department of Labor before founding her company. “The biggest mistake people make in public relations is not taking time to do the research and analysis that is necessary to put together a smart, strategic plan that can be sustained over time.”

Next, we’ll take a deeper look at the six core elements that every strategic PR plan must include:

1. Define Goals and Objectives

Once you’ve done your research and you’re ready to start creating your public relations plan, the first step is to figure out what you want to accomplish. As baseball Hall-of-Famer Yogi Berra observed: “If you don't know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.”

Strategic public relations always begins with clear goals and objectives. Knowing the results you want will guide the other steps of the PR planning process by helping you determine which audiences you need to reach, and which messages and tactics are most likely to help you achieve your goals.

2. Identify Target Audiences

Public relations is about building positive relationships with key audiences that are somehow connected to your business. That may include not only the general public, but also some combination of the following:

• Current and potential customers
• Investors and analysts
• Vendors and suppliers
• Government regulators and policymakers
• Employees and their families
• Trade, consumer, and news media

Think about the audiences you should be targeting for the goals you have in mind. Who do you need to engage and influence to accomplish those goals?

3. Establish the Strategy

Choosing the right PR strategies will depend on a clear understanding of your objectives and target audiences. People often confuse public relations strategies and PR tactics, but there’s a big difference. Strategies are general approaches to achieving objectives. Tactics are the day-to-day activities an organization implements to carry out each strategy.

If a company plans to complete a successful IPO by the end of the year, one of its objectives may be to raise the CEO’s profile among potential investors. Strategies to help the company achieve that objective might include booking the CEO as a featured speaker at industry events attended by target audiences and placing bylined articles in trade publications and widely read blogs to establish the CEO as an industry thought leader.

The tactics that support each of those strategies will be the individual tasks required to secure the speaking engagements, produce and publish the articles, and promote both.

4. Create Key Messages

Design your key messages not only to educate and inform, but also to change people’s perceptions or compel them to take action. These messages should be direct and to the point. Develop key messages for each of your objectives and target audiences. Data can help you shape, support, and differentiate your key messages; however, it may be just as important to find the stories at the heart of your public relations strategy.

“The art of storytelling is very important when it comes to public relations,” Keyes says. “Today, we’re all inundated with information, so we have to find a way to break through all that noise and tell a story that connects and resonates with the people we’re trying to reach.”

5. Develop Tactics

Use your knowledge of your goals, target audiences, and key messages to identify the best tactics for your PR plan. Your PR plan may include various tactics across multiple platforms and channels from traditional media relations (pitching stories to the press), social media, PR events, digital storytelling, and more.

It’s also a good idea to develop multiple tactics for each objective and target audience, because no matter how carefully you research and plan you can’t be certain a particular tactic will work. In addition, make sure your tactics accurately reflect the image you want people to have of your organization.

“It’s very important for PR activities to be in line with an organization’s brand,” Keyes says. “For example, Nordstrom is a high-end retailer, so it probably doesn’t make sense for Nordstrom to be doing joint PR activities with Monster Jam, the world’s largest monster truck tour. While there may be some crossover between Nordstrom customers and monster truck fans, the two organizations have very different brands, different goals, and different visions for their business.”

Technology offers many new ways for organizations to target audiences and deliver messages. It also creates opportunities to turn audiences into advocates.

“Part of a good PR plan is figuring out how to influence other influencers and enlist their support,” Meagher says. “In the skeptical world of today, it’s important to combine direct communication and third-party endorsers who can amplify your message, give it greater validity and, in certain channels, carry more weight than you can when you’re trying to deliver that message directly.

6. Measure Results

How will you know if your PR plan succeeds? Before implementing your plan, establish success metrics or key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure progress and achievements. A template can help you identify and track metrics that can provide insight into how well your PR strategy is working.

Download Digital Marketing Dashboard Template

The Barcelona Declaration of Measurement Principles , initially adopted by the Institute for Public Relations in 2010 and updated five years later, are the first overarching framework for effective public relations and communication measurement. The guidelines they offer are useful, but it’s really up to each organization to determine how to measure success.

“It’s very important for PR campaigns to be measured, just as you would measure any other business strategy or initiative,” Keyes explains. “Today, there are many different ways to measure results, so it’s important to get clear on those first. That’s why having a strategic PR plan is important.”

Keyes says that along with gauging the return on their investment of time, energy, and money, how many people attended their events, or how much attention their messages received, it’s also important for organizations to think about the impact of their PR strategies. “Measuring impact is a little more challenging, but there are tools and techniques you can use to measure the number of people who were impacted by your story, the tone and effect of your PR activities, and if your PR strategies have influenced public perception.”

Now, that you know what it takes to create a strategic PR plan, get started making your own with this template.

Download Strategic PR Plan Template:

Excel    |    Word    |    PDF

What Is Public Relations?

There is no universally accepted definition of public relations — even among PR professionals. The first World Assembly of Public Relations Associations in 1978 defined PR as, “the art and social science of analyzing trends, predicting their consequences, counseling organizational leaders and implementing planned programs of action, which will serve both the organization and the public interest.”

In 2012, the Public Relations Society of America ( PRSA ), a nonprofit trade association for PR professionals with more than 30,000 members, adopted the following definition to replace one it had been using for 30 years: “Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.”

One reason for a lack of consensus is because the practice of public relations is dynamic and constantly evolving, influenced by technical innovations, shifting societal trends, and rapidly changing business needs. Furthermore, as part of that evolution, the clear lines that once separated public relations from other disciplines such as marketing, advertising, and public affairs are beginning to blur.

According to the 2017 Global Communications Report from the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California, almost half of PR professionals and more than 60 percent of marketing executives believe that marketing and PR will become more closely aligned in the next five years. Further, 87 percent of PR professionals believe that in five years the term “public relations” will no longer accurately describe the work they do. Given that, about half believe the practice of public relations should be more broadly de­fined, while the rest think the name should be changed to reflect the transformation currently underway in PR.

“Over the years, the concept of public relations has changed, and now the name is changing as well,” says  Whitney Keyes , a seasoned PR and marketing professional, who runs a Seattle-based global consulting firm that develops communication and marketing strategies to help organizations achieve success. “When I was teaching at Seattle University a few years ago, the school rebranded its Public Relations program. It’s now called Strategic Communications. It’s basically the same thing: How do you strategically engage, communicate and build relationships with target audiences, across many different platforms and channels, to shape public perception of a person or an organization?”

Ultimately, of course, how you define public relations is less important than how it’s used to help an organization succeed.

The History of Public Relations

Public relations is as old as human civilization. One of the earliest physical artifacts of public relations is a 4,000-year-old clay tablet, discovered in Iraq, which was meant to persuade Sumerian farmers to adopt agricultural practices that would help them grow better crops.

Although that ancient clay tablet is the oldest evidence of public relations we’ve actually found , it’s almost certain that PR has its roots somewhere in the misty millennia that predate recorded history. Once people stopped trying to settle every question with force and started trying to achieve their goals through negotiation, consensus building, and shaping public perception, PR was born.

Despite its ancient roots, modern public relations did not emerge as a profession until the start of the 20th century. Edward Bernays and Ivy Lee are among the most famous PR pioneers, and both are sometimes called “the father of modern public relations.”

Bernays, a nephew of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, is credited with coining the term “public relations.” In 1923, he wrote Crystallizing Public Opinion , the first book outlining the practice of public relations, and taught the first-ever college course on PR at New York University. Bernays pioneered the use of psychology, sociology, and other social sciences in designing persuasive public relations campaigns to help his corporate, political, and nonprofit clients achieve their goals.

Lee, a former journalist, developed many of the principles and techniques that PR professionals continue to follow today. He believed in open communication with the media, understood that positive publicity was the result of good corporate performance, and felt that PR professionals have a responsibility to the public as well as their clients. Lee believed that the only way for an organization to win public understanding and support was to tell its story honestly and accurately.

One of Lee’s most famous clients was the Pennsylvania Railroad, which had hired him to improve the company’s public image. One incident, in particular, highlights the validity of Lee’s approach to public relations. When a three-car passenger train owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad derailed while crossing a new bridge across Thoroughfare Creek near Atlantic City in 1906, 53 people drowned. Rather than attempt to cover up or minimize the incident, Lee convinced railroad officials to invite reporters to the accident site, answer their questions, and openly disclose information before rumors started circulating and ended up in print. He also issued what many consider the first press release, detailing all the known facts of the accident. The New York Times was so impressed by Lee’s integrity and the candor of the statement that they chose to print it word-for-word.

Public Relations in the Midst of War  

Public relations really started to come of age as a powerful tool between the two world wars and increasingly after World War II.

One of the earliest examples of modern public relations on a grand scale was during World War I, when President Woodrow Wilson created the Committee on Public Information (CPI) and appointed former journalist George Creel to run it. Many Americans had been dead set against U.S. involvement in the war, considering it a European problem that was none of their business. Once U.S. troops were committed, however, Wilson needed a way to persuade Americans to support the war effort and help “make the world safe for democracy.”

Under Creel’s direction, the CPI used every available means of communication — from newsreels to advertisements in U.S. publications — to help sell war bonds, recruit new soldiers, and promote patriotism. The CPI even trained 75,000 “Four-Minute Men” and sent them to public venues such as movie theaters, concert halls, and county fairs to deliver short speeches designed to generate support for the war effort. The agency also produced patriotic posters that featured some of the most enduring images of the period, including James Montgomery Flagg’s famous portrait of a vigorous Uncle Sam pointing his finger and saying, “I WANT YOU FOR U.S. ARMY”

The CPI was so successful that Wilson continued using a variety of PR tactics to promote his policies after the war ended. President Franklin D. Roosevelt followed a similar strategy during the 1930s when he needed to sell Depression-era Americans on the benefits of his New Deal.

Roosevelt launched a PR campaign that blamed corporations for the country's economic problems. Many companies responded by hiring PR agencies or creating in-house departments to defend themselves and try to regain public support.

Later, as World War II approached and storm clouds began to gather over Europe and the Pacific, the Roosevelt administration created the Office of War Information, which organized one of the largest public relations campaigns in history to muster support for America’s entry into the war.

How PR Became an Essential Business Strategy

During these years, public relations was also gaining a solid foothold in corporate America. Successful PR campaigns like those waged by Arthur W. Page, a pioneer in corporate public relations, captured the attention of business leaders everywhere.

Hired as vice president of public relations at AT&T in 1927, a position he would hold for the next 20 years, Page faced a daunting challenge. AT&T was experiencing public backlash, largely due to its efforts to monopolize telephone communications, and research showed that 90 percent of the company’s media coverage throughout the early 1990s was negative.

After AT&T changed some of its business practices, Page launched a carefully orchestrated PR campaign to highlight those changes, reposition the company as a public utility, and nurture appreciation for its contributions to society. Negative press coverage quickly dropped to 60 percent and continued to improve.

By the mid-1940s, a rapidly growing number of companies were relying heavily on their PR representatives for counsel and guidance — just as they relied on their attorneys, accountants and other professionals with specialized knowledge and skills.

Why Do Organizations Need Public Relations Strategies?

Organizations across many different industries and around the world use strategic public relations to accomplish a variety of overarching goals, including:

• Establishing and maintaining a positive reputation
• Developing customer loyalty
• Strengthening brands and increasing brand awareness
• Supporting and reinforcing marketing campaigns
• Building shareholder and investor confidence
• Creating trust to help them weather difficult times and unexpected crises

Strategic public relations takes many forms. Some of the most common are:

• Business and Consumer Communications: Many organizations develop public relations strategies for business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) communication. The goal may be to strengthen a company’s position in the market, support and lay the groundwork for a new product launch, or other objectives.
• Internal Communications: It’s important to keep employees informed about company policies, initiatives, and marketing strategies. Through transparency and open communication, organizations inspire trust and respect among their employees. If the business ever faces a crisis or becomes the target of unfair criticism, such employees are more likely to be company advocates.
• Corporate Citizenship and Community Outreach: Organizations are increasingly sensitive to their role in the local communities where they do business, and many now have public relations strategies designed to showcase their social responsibility, philanthropy, ethical business practices, and environmental initiatives.
• Crisis Management: When issues arise, the organization involved must be able to quickly assess the situation, provide accurate information, and take the necessary actions to protect both the business and the public interest. Having a crisis plan in place that can be easily modified to address a specific issue is often the difference between weathering the storm and sinking.

Additional Benefits of Public Relations Strategies

Public relations strategies can also be helpful for organizations developing a content strategy and an SEO plan. Strategic public relations help to build a more successful content strategy by ensuring content is closely aligned with brand and business objectives, and by amplifying each piece of content so that it reaches more members of your target audience.

Public relations can also help to advance and support a more successful SEO strategy for organizations by creating great content, placing it in key publications, and generating links to your company website and blogs.

Best PR Strategies for 2018 and Beyond

Two years ago John Hall, CEO of content marketing agency Influence & Co , declared the traditional press release dead and said that the future of PR was in strategies like thought leadership, content amplification, online reputation management, and an increased use of paid content promotion and social ads.

Those are all growing trends, but Keyes doesn’t entirely agree with Hall’s assessment. “The field is definitely changing and there are so many new tools and techniques,” Keyes says. “But what I’m seeing as most effective for many organizations is going back to basics and doing a good job at those core ways of communicating and conducting public relations.”

Because of the dynamic nature of the industry, public relations has evolved to embrace communication tools and trends such as digital storytelling, social listening, and big data. Public relations is now poised to incorporate new technologies such as virtual reality and artificial intelligence. Forward-thinking organizations and PR professionals will continue to stay abreast of new developments and take advantage of new opportunities.

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Strategic Public Relations: Planning, Process, and Execution

• Megan Noorman
• January 19, 2023

Public relations is a tried and true way to grow brand awareness and expand your business’s reach. It is all about encompassing a company’s communication with partners, journalists, philanthropists, and anyone really. 

Digital PR might seem like an add-on—something businesses should tackle when they have extra money or time—but in actuality, it should be a non-negotiable. You need it whether you’re a small business with two employees or an enterprise with employees all over the globe.

Because it’s a key part of building trust in your brand. 

Related Reading: The Future of Public Relations: 14 PR Trends for 2023

What is strategic public relations?

Strategic public relations (PR) is the practice of utilizing media to promote and nurture a positive public perception. It involves identifying key audiences, determining goals and objectives, developing messages and tactics, and evaluating the effectiveness of the communication efforts. The ultimate goal of strategic PR is to build and maintain mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and its various publics, including customers, employees, shareholders, and other stakeholders.

A strategic PR plan will typically include a mix of tactics such as media relations, crisis communication, social media, content marketing, and event planning. The key to success in strategic PR is to align the organization’s communication efforts with its overall business goals and objectives. This requires a deep understanding of the organization’s target audience and the ability to craft messages that resonate with them.

There are three main types of public relations: owned, paid, and earned media. They have different tactics, but the same goal: forming a positive public image and becoming top of mind with consumers. — Shama Hyder (@Shama) January 19, 2021

Why is strategic public relations important in 2023?

Strategic public relations is important in 2023 as it can help organizations navigate the complex and ever-changing landscape of communication and reputation management, and ultimately, achieve their business goals and objectives. This can include things, such as:

• Reputation management: In today’s digital age, organizations are under constant scrutiny by the public, media, and stakeholders. A strategic PR plan can help an organization proactively manage its reputation and mitigate risks from negative publicity.
• Stakeholder engagement: Strategic public relations can help organizations engage with their stakeholders, including customers, employees, shareholders, and the community, to build trust and support.
• Brand building: PR can be used to build brand awareness and credibility and to differentiate an organization from its competitors. It is also beneficial for your employer branding .
• Crisis communication: In today’s fast-paced digital world, organizations must be prepared to respond quickly to unexpected crisis or negative events, and a well-crafted PR plan can help organizations to mitigate the effects of a crisis and minimize the damage to its reputation.
• Influencing public policy: Strategic PR can be used to influence public policy and shape public opinion on important issues that are relevant to the organization and its stakeholders.
• Digital and Social Media: With the rise of digital and social media, PR has evolved to include strategies for managing online reputation and engaging with audiences through these channels. Strategic PR plans will integrate digital and social media into their communication efforts.

How does strategic public relations differ from branding? 

While both PR and branding help grow awareness, strategic public relations is more communication-based.  

Examples of strategic PR include: 

• A guest post on a popular blogger’s site
• A quote from your leadership or staff member in a piece of news coverage
• A guest article in an industry publication
• A feature on your brand in a magazine or newspaper
• Inclusion in a blog post on another site

On the other hand, branding is how a brand presents itself to the world. 

Examples of elements of branding include: 

• Customer experience
• Voice and tone—how a brand communicates via blogs, social media, video, and other forms of marketing
• Color scheme
• Social media profiles and posts

The Three Types of PR: Owned, Paid, and Earned Media 

There are three main types of public relations: owned, paid, and earned media. 

While each category employs different PR tactics , they all are after the same end goal: forming a positive public image and becoming top of mind with consumers. 

Owned media

Owned media is any type of content a company creates and manages. Social media posts, blog posts, and email newsletters are all examples of owned media. 

You can think of owned media as the fountainhead for all your digital PR efforts. Whether your CEO is writing monthly industry-thought articles or your marketing team is trying a new social media campaign, owned media is what allows your brand to grow its digital presence.

While creating content for your company on top of business operations can be time-consuming, statistics show that it is a worthwhile investment. According to HubSpot, Companies that blog regularly gain 68 percent more leads than those that don’t. 

In short, owned media builds trust, drives ROI, and allows you to create a direct relationship with your consumer. Your PR campaign strategy depends on it. 

Paid media involves external and paid promotions. This could include B2B influencer marketing , pay-per-click (PPC), or social media advertising. 

Similarly to owned media, your brand is in complete control. You can decide when, why, and how your brand is advertised in print, online, and by influencers. Paid media also allows you to target the individuals likely to engage with your product.

In 2020, only 30% of marketers used paid advertising to increase brand awareness. Yet, in the same study, 68% of marketers stated that paid advertising is “very important” or “extremely important” to their overall marketing strategy. Now that marketers have access to powerful resources like Facebook Ads Manager and Google Ads, paid media should be considered necessary for any PR campaign strategy. 

Related Reading: The Rise of B2B Influencer Marketing

Earned media

Earned media involves any promotional content your company didn’t create or pay for. 

Mentions in publications, positive customer testimonials, interviews with your leadership, and features are all forms of earned media. Earned media can boost your brand’s credibility and turn a driven start-up into an industry thought leader. Mentions of your company’s name can also improve SEO, allowing more prospects to find your brand.

Developing a strategic PR plan 

Launching successful PR campaigns requires careful planning. Coverage and publicity aren’t handed to businesses; they must be worked for. 

Here are five ways to formulate your strategic public relations plan.

1. Analyze the last six to 12 months in terms of PR

Take a look at the recent PR surrounding your business and competitors. 

What kind of coverage did your company receive, if any? What about your competitors?

Did the media attention have a positive impact on business or a negative one? 

Are there current events or global developments that are relevant to your industry, and that might have an effect on customer sentiment toward your industry and/or brand? 

Additionally, you should research the specific journalists who covered you or your competitors while also considering search rankings. 

2. Define your PR goals

After analyzing your past PR activity and that of your competitors, you should formulate your PR goals.

Consider using the SMART method when making PR goals. Your objectives should be:

• Time-bound 

3. Strategize how to reach your target audience

Consider your ideal customers and target audience when planning your PR strategy. Who do you want to reach?

This is where your buyer personas come in. Using your personas, you can identify the different types of people you want to reach, as well as the channels they’re most likely to use to consumer information. 

An executive, for example, will be more likely to read industry publications and major news outlet publications, as opposed to cruising Reddit or Twitter for information. 

A tech blogger, on the other hand, will probably spend lots of time on social media sites, as well as review sites and digital-only tech publications. 

By figuring out who you’re targeting and where they’re getting their information, you can start devising a list of which publications, journalists, bloggers, influencers, and other media personalities you want to contact. 

4. Consider your macro and micro-environments 

When planning your strategic public relations campaign, it’s important to analyze the surrounding conditions. These can be described as macro and microenvironments.  

Business Dictionary defines the macroenvironment as the “major external and uncontrollable factors that influence an organization’s decision making and affect its performance and strategies.” 

Factors include “economic factors; demographics; legal, political, and social conditions; technological changes; and natural forces.” 

Analyzing your company’s macroenvironment is crucial because it affects how people view your brand. For example, what’s happening in the world, country, or industry that will affect how people perceive you? 

A microenvironment encompasses “factors or elements in an organization’s immediate area of operations that affect its performance and decision-making freedom.” 

Such factors include “competitors, customers, distribution channels, suppliers, and the general public.”

Your microenvironment, moreover, has a direct impact on your company.  B2B PR is intertwined with your environment. Understanding your backdrop is pivotal to creating a campaign that lands well with your audience.

5. Create key messaging

After considering your environment, identifying your target audience, and formulating your PR goals, you are now ready to clarify your messaging. 

Your message is the core of your PR campaign. To get started on crafting your message, ask yourself:

What, specifically, do I want people to know about my organization?

What is my organization’s mission statement?

How can I better meet customer needs than my competitors?

After answering these questions, you can start crafting specific messages for specific outlets.

PR Process and Execution

You’ve identified your target audience and have messaging that will resonate. You’re ready to officially begin the process and execution phase, starting with the press release . 

Your Press Release

78% of journalists want to receive press releases and news announcements from brands. But, like with all PR efforts, you can’t just hit “publish” and expect publicity to follow. 

Find the right journalists and bloggers for your company, ideally with experience writing for your industry. Then, send them (individually—no group emails!) a solid and concise pitch, packing the most punch in your first ten words.

In addition to contacting journalists, you should reach out to TV stations, radio stations, and other media outlets you deem relevant.

Remember, distribution takes time, so follow up judiciously and prepare for potential postponements. Having a flexible attitude and a patient approach at this juncture is a key factor for efficient and effective leadership.

Maintain momentum with link building

After your company’s story starts gaining media attention, leverage the traction you’re receiving. This will go a long way in terms of Google ranking and domain authority. 

You can set up a Google alert to help you keep track of your media mentions. When you’re alerted of mention, you can contact the journalist directly and see if they can add an appropriate link to their article. For instance, you could say:

“Hello, [Journalist’s Name]

I just read your article, [Article Title] and found it highly engaging! Thank you for sharing it. 

You mention [Campaign / Company Name], and I was wondering if you could add a link to ___ so your readers can further explore ____.  

Thank you for your time, and let me know if you have any questions!

[Your name, job position]

It’s worth nothing that so much of PR success relies on this building block approach.

Crafting a plan that utilizes previous exposure is key, in addition to keeping track of where and when your mentions appear—which brings us to social media. 

Leverage social media

In addition to keeping an eye on your media mentions, you should also keep tabs on your B2B social media marketing engagement. 

Social media has bridged the gap between the public and an organization. Companies must realize their public perception is highly influenced by how they come across on social media and what users say about them on the platforms. 

Your social media channels can help you promote positivity and manage negativity. 

Practice social listening to determine what users like and dislike about your PR campaign or brand. 

Ultimately, it is virtually impossible to compete in any way in today’s market without savvy, effective, and forward momentum on all social media platforms.

Post on your company blog

As your PR campaign progresses, chances are you’ll see an uptick in website visits. Take advantage of your web traffic by updating your company blog. 

Think about what content you can post to enhance your strategic PR campaign and user experience. For example, are you getting more questions about your company’s values after a feature on your  CEO? Write a blog post outlining your values and building on that coverage.

Maybe you see more traffic to a specific product mentioned in recent coverage, but you do not see a proportional number of purchases. In that case, you may need to add some customer testimonials or a video demonstration of the product.  

Closing thoughts

When carried out effectively, a strategic public relations campaign can help solidify a positive public perception of your brand. Using these straightforward steps will help you build a marketing structure that is strong and timely.

Want to raise awareness about your company with a strategic PR campaign? Contact us today to get started. 

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Public relations plan template

Your PR campaigns need to be focused, targeted, and organized—no matter who’s planning them. Use a public relations plan template to streamline your PR planning for consistent, effective campaigns.

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Public relations efforts build awareness and trust with your audience. That’s why it’s so important that your PR is consistent and organized, otherwise you come off looking messy at best, and downright chaotic at worst. But how do you manage this level of consistency in a large organization where you have “many cooks in the kitchen”? Answer: by building out a step-by-step guide for your PR planning process—also known as a public relations planning template.

What is a public relations planning template?

A public relations planning template is a saved outline of your PR planning process. This template serves as a step-by-step guide, enabling anyone on your team to create and build a PR plan where nothing falls through the cracks. 

Think of your PR plan template as an action plan for everything you need to do to pull off a successful PR campaign. By building your PR plan out as a template, you’re ensuring every media plan includes key details—like a media embargo plan, the publications and journalists you're reaching out to, and more. 

Why use a public relations plan template?

And the steps in the PR process are often critical. For example, you might want to run all press releases by the legal team, or institute a content embargo that ends at 6 AM. By tracking all of these small—but essential—details in one place, you can ensure they aren't forgotten, regardless of who's running the PR campaign.

That’s why it’s so important to have a rock-solid process. Using a template for your public relations planning will help you coordinate across departments, while ensuring that every critical step is included.If you build out your public relations plan template in a work management platform , you can also connect directly with teams and keep a birds-eye view of what’s happening when. That way, you can track if any pieces are skipped.

What to include in your public relations plan template

Your PR plan template should encapsulate your specific team needs. When you create it, start with these sections below—then customize your template to fit your team.

Resources: Include any information you’ve already gathered on your target audience, market research, and public relations strategy. This does two things: it provides easy access to documents you need throughout your PR campaign, and it shows how this plan ties into larger PR goals and initiatives.

Assignee: Assign relevant sections and tasks to specific team members, so stakeholders know who is responsible for specific action items. This helps stakeholders send questions to the right people, so they can get answers faster.

Media outlets: Include any platforms you’re contacting for outreach. This will likely include traditional publications, but you can also go beyond that. Are you running a social media campaign? Include influencers. Connecting with marketing communications teams at other companies? List them here as well. 

Reporting: The last piece of your PR plan template should show how you’re going to measure success. Be specific—are you looking for rankings, awards, or short-term bumps? Each goal is different, and therefore requires different types of reporting.

How to use a public relations plan template

Your public relations plan template is more than just an outline—it’s a living document that protects your company from making critical mistakes in the public eye. In that sense, your template’s biggest—and most important—use case is that it acts as a step-by-step guide for your company’s PR process.

Depending on your specific situation, these steps may include:

Contacting customers in advance of a release to confirm quotes.

Vetting with the legal or executive team as necessary.

Reaching out to journalists for media placements.

Coordinating a media embargo on any news, so breaking information comes out at the right time.

Using a press release template to craft key messages for new announcements.

Timing your plan release down to the minute if necessary to ensure you’re sharing the right details, with the right people, at the right time.

Funneling follow-up questions to the appropriate executives after large announcements.

Gathering metrics to analyze the overall response to a campaign. 

Whether you’re new to PR or a seasoned professional, your PR plan template will help you produce the best possible public relations campaign, every single time.

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Timeline View . Timeline View is a Gantt-style project view that displays all of your tasks in a horizontal bar chart. Not only can you see each task’s start and end date, but you can also see dependencies between tasks. With Timeline View, you can easily track how the pieces of your plan fit together. Plus, when you can see all of your work in one place, it’s easy to identify and address dependency conflicts before they start, so you can hit all of your goals on schedule. 

Goals . Goals in Asana directly connect to the work you’re doing to hit them, making it easy for team members to see what they’re working towards. More often than not, our goals live separate from the work that goes into achieving them. By connecting your team and company goals to the work that supports them, team members have real-time insight and clarity into how their work directly contributes to your team—and company—success. As a result, team members can make better decisions. If necessary, they can identify the projects that support the company’s strategy and prioritize work that delivers measurable results. 

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What is a PR plan template? .css-i4fobf{-webkit-transition:-webkit-transform 200ms ease-in-out;transition:transform 200ms ease-in-out;-webkit-transform:rotateZ(0);-moz-transform:rotateZ(0);-ms-transform:rotateZ(0);transform:rotateZ(0);}

A public relations planning template is a saved outline of your PR planning process. This can include resources you use during PR campaigns, specific media outlets you always connect with, and details on your target audience. Templatizing your PR plan in project management software makes it easier to kickstart PR campaigns and communicate with your team (and the company overall) about the specific steps you take during the planning stage. 

Why is a PR plan template important?

A PR plan template ensures that every time a new PR plan is created, it’s using the exact same steps. This keeps your PR plan organized and ensures that no one misses a critical step in the PR planning process. Without a template to serve as a guide, you run the risk of team members creating their own PR plan, which may omit critical steps. 

What’s the purpose of a PR plan template?

A PR plan template serves as a reusable document for any team members responsible for creating a new PR plan. The benefit of having one template that everyone shares is that you have more control over how others create PR plans. For example, if someone on the marketing team with little PR experience attempts to create a PR plan, they can use the PR planning template. That way, they have a trusted outline with the exact steps they need to take—as decided by the experts.

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Running a public relations (PR) campaign can come with its fair share of challenges. 

Building media relationships is complex and time-consuming. 

Adapting to the evolving media landscape can be even more challenging. 

So, if you’re feeling lost in the process, don’t give up just yet. A well-crafted PR plan can be a game-changer for your PR efforts.

PR planning allows you to take a strategic approach to your PR efforts in advance. 

It enables you to define your goals, target audience, key messages, and desired outcomes. This ensures that your PR efforts align with your overall objectives.

PR plans require careful consideration and research. 

But investing your time and effort into creating one can make a night and day difference in your PR success. With that in mind, here’s what the article will explore:

• What is a PR Plan?
• The 5 Key Elements of a PR Plan
• How to Write a PR Plan
• Using a PR Plan Template

Don’t have the time, bandwidth, or people to create a PR plan?

Let us help. Book a consultation with us, and we will help you set up an effective PR plan or review what you already have.

What is a PR Plan? When do you need one?

First, let’s look at a few of the basics.

What is a PR plan?

A PR plan is a strategic document that outlines your PR goals, objectives, and strategies. It also guides communication with target audiences, media, stakeholders, and the public. Brands and organizations often use them to shape narratives and maintain a positive image before beginning a PR campaign.

The ultimate goal of a PR plan is to: 

• Build and maintain a positive brand image.
• Enhance credibility.
• Foster strong relationships with key audiences. 
• Stay ahead of potential issues.
• Respond to crises.
• Shape public perception in a positive way.

Here are some examples of of situations where you’d need a solid PR plan:

• Launching a New Product : You announce the release of a new product through a press release, accompanied by a targeted media outreach campaign. You also organize a launch event to generate buzz and invite influential bloggers and journalists to try out the product.
• Crisis Management : You face a crisis situation, such as a product recall. You then respond with a well-crafted press statement and outline the steps you’re taking to rectify the issue. You also engage in proactive media outreach to address concerns, rebuild trust, and showcase corrective actions.
• Rebranding : You undergo a rebranding process to update your image, change your positioning, or target a new audience. You launch a PR campaign to announce the changes and generate media coverage. Then, you engage with your audience through social media and events to build excitement and awareness around the new brand.
• Political Campaign : You’re a political candidate who creates a press release to connect with the public. This press release helps you control the narrative and shape public opinion with your potential constituents.

5 Key Elements of an Effective PR Plan

A well-executed PR plan should reflect a comprehensive and strategic approach to managing the reputation and communication efforts of an organization. 

Once the plan is finished, it should provide a detailed overview of the goals, objectives, target audience, key messages, and tactics that have been implemented. 

Below, you’ll find the five key elements that make up a comprehensive and effective PR plan strategy.

1. Realistic Goals and Objectives

Make sure that your goals and objectives are S.M.A.R.T., which stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-based. 

Also, consider performing a SWOT analysis to assess and evaluate the internal and external factors that might impact a PR campaign or strategy. 

This will help you identify and evaluate the internal strengths and weaknesses of your PR plan, as well as external opportunities and threats it may face. 

A successful PR plan also involves setting concrete and measurable goals. 

For example, instead of saying “increase media coverage,” aim to “secure at least two feature articles in industry publications within six months.” 

Make sure to set goals that you can realistically achieve within your budget, timeline, and available resources. Break down your goals into smaller milestones with realistic deadlines. This will help you track progress and stay motivated throughout the process.

2. An Understanding of Your Target Audience

Understanding your target audience is essential when creating a PR plan because it allows you to tailor your messaging and communication strategies to effectively reach and engage your intended audience.

To understand your target audience , you’ll need to gather data on demographics, psychographics, and consumer behavior patterns. 

Consider employing these 5 methods to identify your target audience’s characteristics, preferences, and needs:

• Surveys or Questionnaires : Ask your target audience about their interests, challenges, and expectations related to your product or service. Use platforms like Google Forms or SurveyMonkey to distribute surveys and analyze the responses.
• Social Media Platforms : Monitor social media platforms for discussions, comments, and trends related to your industry or brand. This will provide valuable insights into what your target audience is talking about, their opinions, and their pain points.
• Buyer Personas : Establish detailed buyer personas that align with your ideal customers. Include factors like demographics, goals, interests, challenges, and purchasing behaviors. 
• Interviews and Focus Groups : Conduct one-on-one interviews or focus groups with your existing audience to understand their motivations for choosing your product or service. Ask open-ended questions to gain deeper insights into their experiences and expectations.
• Web analytics : Use web analytics tools such as Google Analytics to track user behavior on your website. Analyze metrics such as page views, click-through rates, bounce rates, and time spent on your site to understand which content resonates most with your target audience.

3. Message Development

Message development establishes effective communication and strategic messaging. Without it, PR efforts can fail to resonate with the target audience. A carefully crafted message helps to convey your desired image, values, and goals. This ensures consistency and clarity in all communication channels.

When creating a PR plan, your message should meet these criteria: 

• Aligns with your brand identity and resonates with your target audience.
• Addresses your audience’s concerns and offers solutions or benefits.
• Includes storytelling elements, anecdotes, case studies, or real-life examples that illustrate the impact of your message.
• Avoids jargon or complex language that may confuse or alienate your audience. 
• Can adapt to fit a variety of mediums and platforms.

Here are a few examples of PR message development:

• Informational messages that aim to inform the public about something specific, such as a new product launch, a company event, or an important update. They focus on providing accurate and relevant information to create awareness and generate interest.
• Persuasive messages that convince your audience to take a specific action. This can include persuasive language, compelling arguments, and emotional appeal to influence decision-making.
• Crisis communication messages that address issues, mitigate damage, and maintain trust with stakeholders.

4. A Media Relations Strategy

A media relations strategy is critical for a PR plan. It helps to build and maintain a positive image and reputation for the organization. By proactively engaging with the media, you can control the narrative and convey your key messages to the public.

A media relations strategy also helps to establish strong relationships with journalists and media outlets. This can result in increased media coverage and opportunities for positive media exposure.

Here’s how to develop an effective media relations strategy:

• Conduct research to identify media outlets that align with your audience and industry. These can include blogs, podcasts, and social media influencers. Don’t rule out traditional media outlets such as television, radio, and print. 
• Develop relationships with journalists and influencers who cover topics related to your industry. Provide them with valuable insights or story ideas, and establish yourself as a reliable source.
• Create a media kit, including a well-written press release, fact sheets, high-quality images, and any other relevant materials. These materials should be readily available for distribution when reaching out to media outlets.
• Develop a proactive outreach plan that includes regular press releases, media pitches, and story ideas. Be timely, concise, and tailored to each outlet’s preferences, ensuring that your brand stays on their radar.

Pro Tip: You don’t have to be an expert to develop an effective media relations strategy. You could consider hiring experts instead. Hiring a PR agency can provide numerous benefits that will help your media relations thrive. Plus, you get a team of dedicated professionals who already have the relationships, resources, and expertise that you’ll need for success. 

5. Monitoring and Evaluation

Monitoring and evaluation are critical for your PR plan. They help you track your PR campaign’s effectiveness and impact. 

By closely monitoring media coverage, social media mentions, and audience engagement, you can gauge your reach and reception, measure key performance indicators, assess the return on investment, and identify areas for growth and refinement.

Start by identifying specific metrics that align with your objectives. These could include but aren’t limited to the following:

• Media Mentions
• Social Media Engagement
• Website Traffic
• Customer Feedback
• Survey Results

Monitor your social media platforms for engagement such as likes, shares, comments, and mentions, and pay attention to sentiment analysis to assess the overall tone of the conversations.

Also, use web analytics tools to track the traffic driven by your PR initiatives. 

Measure the number of visitors, page views, bounce rate, and conversion rates. Look for any spikes in traffic following PR campaigns or mentions.

How to Write a PR Plan – 10 Key Steps + Examples

Here are the key steps to follow when creating your PR plan:

• Clearly articulate what you want to achieve through your PR efforts.
• Determine who your key stakeholders are. Consider demographics, interests, and media preferences. 
• Assess the current state of your organization’s reputation, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. 
• Develop concise and compelling messages that align with your objectives and resonate with your target audience. These messages should highlight your unique value proposition and key differentiators.
• Select the most effective communication channels and tools to reach your target audience. Be sure to consider both traditional and digital platforms.
• Outline how you will interact with the media to secure positive coverage.
• Plan and schedule your PR activities throughout the year. This includes press releases, blog posts, social media content, and other relevant materials. 
• Identify KPIs that align with your objectives. Regularly measure and analyze these metrics to gauge the effectiveness of your PR efforts.
• Determine the budget, personnel, and tools needed to execute your PR campaign.
• Create a realistic timeline with specific milestones and deadlines.

For example, let’s say you operate a business. Your goal is to build brand awareness and a positive reputation. This is how you would typically write your PR plan:

PR Plan: Building Brand Awareness and Reputation Goal : To increase brand awareness and enhance the reputation of the company within the target market. Target Audience : Existing Customers Potential Customers Industry Influencers Local Community Key Messages : We’re a trusted and reliable provider of [product/service]. Our commitment to quality and customer satisfaction sets us apart from the competition. We offer innovative and effective solutions to meet our customers’ needs. Strategies and Tactics Media Relations : Develop a media list of relevant journalists, bloggers, and influencers. Craft press releases that highlight company news, product launches, and success stories. Pitch stories and secure media coverage. Offer exclusive interviews and expert commentary. Content Marketing : Create informative and engaging content. Share content on our website, our social media platforms, and industry forums. Collaborate with industry influencers and guest bloggers. Offer downloadable resources such as e-books or whitepapers. Social Media Engagement : Establish a social media presence. Share company updates and industry news. Encourage user-generated content. Leverage paid social media advertising. Online Reviews and Testimonials : Encourage satisfied customers to leave positive reviews. Feature customer testimonials on the company website and social media. Respond promptly and professionally to any negative feedback. Evaluation and Measurement : Monitor media coverage, website traffic, social media engagement. Conduct surveys or collect customer feedback. Adjust strategies and tactics based on analytics and feedback. Budget : Allocate appropriate resources. Consider outsourcing PR services.

Establishing Your PR Content Strategy

To position yourself as an authoritative and trustworthy industry leader, you’ll need an effective PR content strategy that aligns with your company’s goals and values. You’ll then need to strategically distribute that content through various channels to reach the intended audience.

A PR content strategy is a carefully crafted part of your PR plan that outlines how you will use content to communicate with your target audience and achieve your public relations goals. 

It involves creating and distributing relevant and valuable content that enhances the reputation and credibility of your organization. 

A successful PR content strategy involves understanding your target audience’s needs, interests, and preferences, and developing content that resonates with them. 

Types of content that you can include in your PR plan are:

• Press Releases
• Social Media Posts
• Case Studies
• Landing Pages

Planning Ahead for Crisis Management

A PR crisis can arise from various situations, such as product recalls, scandals, accidents, or public complaints. The aim of crisis management is to reduce the damage caused and restore public trust and confidence in the organization. 

It involves a series of well-thought-out actions, including prompt and transparent communication, swift decision-making, and taking responsibility for any mistakes or shortcomings. 

This often involves creating a crisis communication PR plan in advance, with designated spokespeople and strategies for different scenarios.

For example, this is what a crisis management response would look like: 

Company XYZ Statement on Recent Crisis Situation [Date] Dear valued customers and stakeholders, We would like to address the recent crisis situation that has impacted our reputation. At Company XYZ, we believe in transparency, accountability, and taking swift action to address any challenges that arise. We want to express our deep regret for any inconvenience or disappointment this crisis may have caused. We understand the importance of delivering exceptional products and services to our loyal customers, and we are committed to rectifying the situation. Our crisis management team has been working tirelessly to mitigate the impact and develop a comprehensive plan to ensure this type of incident does not occur again in the future. We are taking the following steps: Investigation and root cause analysis. Communication and transparency. Corrective measures. Customer support. We are determined to learn from this crisis, further strengthen our operations, and emerge as a better organization. We appreciate your patience, support, and loyalty throughout this challenging time. Thank you for your continued trust and understanding. We remain committed to delivering the highest quality products and services to you. Sincerely, [Your Name] CEO Company XYZ

Need to write a crisis management press release? Not sure how? We’ve got you covered! Check it out: The Perfect Press Release: Your First Aid for Crisis Management

Budgeting and Timelines

Budgeting and timelines play a crucial role in successfully planning and executing PR campaigns. When it comes to budgeting, you need to consider various aspects. 

Ask yourself the following questions:

• Do I need media buying to be a part of my PR plan?
• Do I want to pay for press release distribution or will I use a free service?
• Do I need to host or attend an event as a part of my PR strategy?
• Do I want to invest in influencer marketing?
• Do I have the staff and resources to invest in proper content creation?
• Do I have the tools I need to implement tracking and PR reporting?
• Do I need to hire an agency or PR manager to execute my PR plan?

A well-planned budget ensures that the campaign has the necessary funds to reach the intended audience effectively. 

Additionally, PR campaigns need to adhere to specific timelines to achieve desired outcomes. Timelines provide a roadmap for activities and milestones, allowing for efficient coordination and allocation of resources.

Here is an example of what a PR budget looks like:

Note: The above figures are estimates and can vary depending on your PR plan. If you need an accurate PR budget, you can book a consultation with us today and we will help you.

Collaborating with Stakeholders

PR collaboration with stakeholders involves developing and maintaining relationships with various individuals and groups that have a vested interest in your organization’s success. These can include employees, customers, shareholders, and media outlets, among others. 

The goal of PR collaboration is to build mutually beneficial relationships that enhance your organization’s reputation and credibility. You can achieve this through open communication, active listening, and addressing the needs and concerns of stakeholders.

Pro Tip: Collaborating with stakeholders can be a challenging task. You may encounter conflicting interests, expectations, and priorities. It’s important to identify and prioritize the right stakeholders. You then need to devise feedback loops, workflows, and transparent reporting. 

Using a PR Plan Template – Why It’s a Good Idea

A PR plan template helps you stay organized by outlining all the essential components of a comprehensive PR strategy. It provides you with a clear structure to follow, ensuring that no crucial elements are overlooked.

With a template, you don’t have to start from scratch every time you create a new PR plan. It saves you time and effort by providing a pre-designed framework that you can customize to suit your specific needs. This way, you can focus more on the content and strategy rather than the formatting.

By using a PR plan template, you can maintain consistency across your PR campaigns. It ensures that you address all the necessary aspects consistently, such as target audience identification, key messages, media channels, and evaluation metrics. Consistency in your PR approach helps build a strong brand image and enhances your credibility.

Take the time to thoroughly review the template so you understand its sections, structure, and the information it requires. 

You can also adapt a PR plan template to suit your specific needs. Fill in the sections with relevant information such as your company’s background, target audience, key messages, and desired media outlets. 

Here’s an example of what a PR plan template looks like: 

Key Takeaways for PR Planning

A well-executed PR plan is an invaluable asset for any business or organization. It should facilitate effective communication across various channels, including traditional media, digital platforms, and social media.

Effective PR planning can enhance your reputation and establish a positive image. Additionally, conducting thorough research, understanding your target audience, and allocating a budget for PR activities are all vital components of a successful PR plan.

Lastly, a PR plan template provides a structured framework. It ensures that you leave no stone unturned when executing your PR strategy.

Still not feeling confident about building out a PR plan for yourself? Don’t worry! Simply book a free consultation with us to get expert insight into how to make or improve your PR plan.

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10 Steps to Writing a Successful Public Relations Plan

• Reading time: 3 mins
• PR & Community Relations

Public relations is a great way to build your business’ image. Even if your business is well-established, there is no time like now for a fresh start. Creating a plan for your public relations strategies will keep you on track for leveraging your brand positioning and achieving your goals.

Here are 10 steps to follow to create a successful public relations plan:

1. Determine your public relations goals. These goals can be as few or as many as you need.  Just be sure to be consistent with your business’ overall goals and mission. Examples of these goals include improving your brand’s image or increasing attendance at events held by your business.

2. Know your target audience. Determine which groups you need to communicate with. Who needs to be involved with your business? Whose support do you need? Who will be affected by issues related to your business? Who has something to gain or lose from their relationship with you?

3. Give your audience objectives. Think in terms of the end result you desire, not the process. When communicating with your audience, word objectives in terms of specific results you desire, and what you think is possible. Each objective should cite an audience, outcome, attainment level (%) and time frame. Consider how should your organization, product, issue, or cause be perceived by your audience.

4. Strategies for every objective. In planning, consider how will you approach the challenge of working toward your goals. Strategies here include methods of communication, messages conveyed and other activities related to reaching your goal. These strategies can serve many purposes as you will probably have several strategies for an objective and some strategies may serve several objectives.

5. Tactics for every strategy. Consider how you will use your resources to carry out your strategies and work toward objectives. You will likely have several tactics per strategy.

6. Plan activities. As part of your plan, include specific activities under your tactics that are required to carry out strategies. Activities in this part of the plan include communication methods that you will use.

7. Inform yourself through evaluation. Ask yourself if you are reaching your objectives through careful measurement and observation. Consider public opinions and feedback, since these will give you a different perspective on the effectiveness of your strategies.

8. Materials matter. Determine and obtain what you need to implement tactics outlined in your plan.

9. Create a budget. Be sure that your public relations plan doesn’t break the bank by creating a budget. Be sure to include out-of-pocket costs, staff time, transportation, images, materials, etc.

10. Stay on task with a timetable and task list. Creating a timetable and task list will help you to keep track of who does what and when. You can choose to plan backwards from your project’s deadline or forward from the start date.

With these steps in mind, you can create a public relations plan to help you best meet your goals. As your business grows, you can adapt your plan to satisfy your needs. If you need assistance creating a public relations plan or implementing the tactics in your current plan, we can help!

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7 Steps for Creating A Public Relations Plan

• Public Relations

Strategic planning is an important step sometimes overlooked in the rush of everyday business and getting things done, but taking the time to build one will save time and money long term. Building off of classic business and strategic planning concepts, this list will outline steps that you’re probably familiar with, and should be treated akin to a checklist: a simple reminder of the necessities.

Clearly Define Your Objectives Create Measurable Goals Audience or Message Building Pick Your Communication Platforms Schedule Execute Review

Clearly Define Your Objective

Photo by Fab Lentz on Unsplash

How you design the plan depends heavily on your goal. Do you wish to:

• Generate sales
• Build goodwill in your community
• Establish your expertise
• Introduce a new product or service?

It is important to have a clear and focused objective, and create a strong foundation for your plan.

Create Measurable Goals

Photo by Isaac Smith on Unsplash

Goals are just a way of breaking your objective into measurable chunks, needing to be specific, whereas your goal is broad. Goals should be highly specific and time-bound, while being aligned tightly with the desired results created by your objective. Giving your team a specific goal garners results, while giving them an objective generates questions.

Audience or Message Building

Photo by Melanie Deziel on Unsplash

Defining the target audience of your campaign gives the campaign focus, and a bulls-eye to shoot for. Determining audience is when you should look to craft your key messages and your call-to-action, tailoring it to your audience.

Pick Your Communication Platforms

Which public relations platforms are you pursuing? Some of the communication platforms to consider include:

• Customer success stories
• Press releases
• Public event sponsorship
• Social media

Each platform has specific needs, potential costs, planning stages and various levels of execution, all needing to be examined and (possibly) budgeted for.

Photo by QArea Inc. on Unsplash

Develop a clear schedule of the overall campaign. Scheduling should capitalize on any synergistic opportunities, such as a radio ad mentioning a televised interview, or your social media post linking to a specific page for the campaign on your website. It should build off of and work around your other marketing and sales efforts.

Time to hit the big red button. Your campaign needs a clear starting point, and this is it. You need to be ready to act quickly in case there are unforeseen problems, and you need to gauge initial response in case any of your later plans require adjustment or editing. Remember that at this stage of the game, there’s still time to remedy problems.

Now it becomes important to do some Monday morning quarterbacking. Both during and after your plan, you should review the measurable goals built in step 2, but also try and gain broader insight into what worked and what didn’t during your campaign. It can be helpful for a larger organization to do this at several levels, including the top-down and bottom-up analysis of the public relations strategy plan .

While not a formal step, a good place to ‘end’ your campaign is by capturing the new ideas that were generated. New plans and strategies crop up unexpectedly throughout the process but often need to be shelved for future campaigns. With one successful campaign down, it will be easier to build the new ones down the line.

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• Business Plans Handbook
• Business Plans - Volume 02
• Public Relations Firm Business Plan

Public Relations Firm

BUSINESS PLAN

SHP & ASSOCIATES BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONS

757 N. Main Street Morgan MI 48104

April 1, 1987

This business plan is for a public relations firm offering both traditional and non-traditional public relations services. It features highly developed goals, strategies for networking, a detailed discussion of the competition in the area, and comments from experts in the field.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Comments on the market, the opportunity, definition of the business, objectives, goals and strategies, comments on the business, management and board of advisors, competition, comments on competition, plan for development, potential weaknesses of the business, additional resources, financial information.

SHP and Associates serves the needs of companies for quality business communications. It has the ability to help clients formulate and enunciate their information to important audiences in a controlled and professional manner. Its principals are practiced business professionals and communicators. Its associates are able business analysts, writers, trainers, designers and graphic specialists.

This Business Plan indicates that the principals and those associated with the business have defined the business as well as possible using available information and judgment. Further, that they have thought through the issues and created practical, workable strategies; that they have reasonable, prudent and achievable goals; and that they have a realistic assessment of the probability of success for the business and a sound plan to build it.

This plan is to be a living document that we will revisit regularly, especially in the first year of development.

SHP and Associates (SHP) is a business communications firm. It was formed by two experienced business and public relations executives to work in the areas of corporate, financial, marketing and management communication. It serves the corporate relations needs of emerging and operating technology and industrial businesses in the southeastern Michigan region, particularly Morgan.

The firm has operated on a part-time consulting basis with a few clients since 1984. Its principals are seasoned businessmen who have served in executive marketing, communications and financial management positions for a number of large international concerns.

The firm is similar in concept to other traditional marketing or public relations firms. However, it differs from such firms in several important aspects:

It has sound relationships with executives at many operating businesses in its market area, as well as with senior partners in the region's leading legal and accounting firms and senior executives of financial institutions. These relationships with influences and venture capitalists are important to the business because they can provide SHP with immediate awareness and exposure with a large core of influential peers.

A Board of Advisors composed of industrial, marketing and financial executives of business and financial institutions and universities has been assembled. This Board serves as a consulting and directive body to assist the firm in securing and conducting its basic business.

SHP offers independent professional counsel and expertise that can be used by clients on an "as needed" basis. This means clients can benefit from such expertise when they require it, on a project or continuing basis. Clients need not retain an expensive house staff.

SHP has close working relationships with specialty firms to get the best work for clients. These specialists are in existing and established firms that maintain selected areas of expertise in video, art and design, training, and typography. This permits SHP principals to concentrate on developing clients rather than building staff and facilities.

Its principals, Mr. John Smith and Mr. Mike Johnson, have industrial operating business experience, thereby giving them a very real understanding of the kinds of tough business and marketing issues faced by corporate or divisional operating managers. SHP principals are not mere communications professionals; rather they are experienced and accomplished business executives who bring business acumen to any company's requirement to communicate its product, people, and related messages in a disciplined and planned way to its chosen audiences. Mr. Smith and Mr. Johnson have held the following positions: Director of Communications, Controller, Vice President of Advertising and Public Relations, Vice President of Marketing, Vice President of Sales, and Vice President of Corporate Operations.

SHP is developing complementary marketing relationships with a network of existing communications firms in Boston, New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. These enable SHP to conduct research or implement activities in those areas on a cost-effective basis.

"This area is well into the phase of requiring a sound infrastructure to support all the excellent area entrepreneurial businesses that have moved out of the start-up phase and into the operational phase. Your kind of business, which can help with market positioning and pinpointing these companies communications, is the key to that infrastructure."

Tom Porter Partner, Enterprise Management Inc. Chairman, New Enterprise Forum

The Morgan area "is improving for your kind of business because many companies need help but not necessarily on a regular basis. They don't have resources to staff up, but they do have the needs and resources to expend for major projects."

Dr. John Psarouthakis Founder, Chairman and President J. P. Industries

"I know several banks and companies that need your kind of service and will use you - assuming you do quality work at reasonable cost—on an as-needed basis."

George H. Cress President Citizens Trust Co.

"Communications, especially public relations, is growing in every phase of business. An entire redefinition of business communications is taking place and all kinds of companies are looking at how they can communicate most effectively with their audiences, be they investors, customers, communities or employers."

Robert Strayton President, Advanced Technology Division Hill and Knowlton

SHP's role is to serve the needs of clients in the newest way—by putting senior executives with broad skills and sound judgment to work on every account.

The Morgan area "is much like the Silicon Valley in California was 12-15 years ago. That is, the infrastructure is now developing here to support the growing number of successful technology businesses as well as the solid operating companies that already exist in the area. That infrastructure includes communications, law and accounting firms. It also includes the general growing awareness the commercial businesses are finding the area a good place to be."

Mike Johnson Partner SHP & Associates

The geographic marketplace for SHP is primarily southeastern Michigan, with the highest concentration of effort initially aimed at the Morgan area. It has several substantial existing businesses as well as numerous smaller ones and others spawned by University of Michigan work. Also, the Morgan area is best known to SHP principals; Mr. Smith has worked and resided in the area for most of the past 20 years; Mr. Johnson for the past seven.

Two additional target areas for the business are Toledo and Grand Rapids, both excellent industrial sites. These areas will be explored through complementary relationships with existing communications firms, or with legal or accounting firms or printers.

In the primary target market of southeastern Michigan and northern Ohio, there are approximately 600 businesses that are included in the industrial technology areas. Of these, it is estimated that about 100 now use services in the marketing or financial communication areas; another 50-75 could use such services but do not at this time. These estimates are based on the known number of public companies, client lists of the approximate 30 firms now conducting such business, directories of business from chambers of commerce and Crain's Detroit Business and the Michigan's 100 Leading Securities book of First of Michigan Securities.

In terms of market size, SHP's competitive analysis shows that the approximate 30 firms doing business in this region had a combined total of $ 10 to $ 11 million net fee income in 1986, up from about $6 million in 1981. (Figures based on firms' reports published in Crain's Detroit Business and Jack O'Dwyer's newsletter, the leading PR industry trade publication.)

SHP believes it will build its business in two years. First by gaining accounts from businesses that do not now employ outside communications counsel. Second, over time by gaining accounts from businesses now employing competitive firms.

Further, some five of the 30 firms have been started in the past year, thus indicating decent success at opening this type of business. While this has added to the competition, the five new firms have not been directly in the financial and marketing segment served by SHP.

The type of firms SHP has targeted are:

• Public, with need for financial relations work
• Private and positioning to go public
• Public or private with clear need to communicate with customers and prospects in a controlled, direct manner

Annual revenue in range of $2 to $ 150 million, and particularly in the $25 - $75 million range. Larger firms are also targets although most have in-house staffs to conduct such communications work and are not, therefore, deemed primary targets at the early stage of SHP's business.

This is being created in Phase I through use of the business leaders' network, meetings and presentations with principals of targeted accounts and a mailing to targeted and secondary accounts. It will be broadened in June by official announcement of the business.

In the four county area, which is the initial phase focus of SHP, there are the following businesses: 105 public companies, 100 private, 33 service, 36 manufacturing, 15 bank holding, 14 savings and loans, 31 wholesale and retail, 15 large accounting, 25 large advertising agencies, 15 large law firms, 15 engineering firms, 10 health maintenance organizations, 15 general contractors, 25 large hospitals, 24 divisions or subsidiaries of larger corporations, and 1 major governmental research agency.

The focus of SHP for its three business segments will be:

Marketing Positioning

100 private firms, 105 public firms. Especially those in the $1-5 million revenue range whose markets are unclear and that are run by technically-oriented entrepreneurs.

We are directing our marketing efforts toward them through affiliation with the 1600-member Michigan Technology Council, through venture capitalists who have funded such firms, and through our executive network.

36 manufacturing firms, 1 governmental research agency, 33 service firms. Our marketing efforts are being directed through the executive network, mailing to target accounts, affiliation with Human Resource Development Systems and one key start up reference account.

Communications

105 public companies, 100 private firms, firms which recently went public. We are directing our marketing effort through affiliation with an existing PR firm which does not do corporate/financial work, and the executive network.

SHP and Associates is a partnership of professional business executives with expertise in specific areas of marketing, financial and management communications and special events.

SHP and Associates offers professional expertise in areas often needed by industrial and technology businesses on a project or interim basis.

This practice means clients can use SHP for its expertise on an as-needed basis, clients do not have to retain internal staff and they gain the benefit of having experienced counsel to meet needs as they arise. Such services are also available under ongoing programs.

SHP offers these communications services and products.

Corporate/Financial

• Media relations
• Corporate identity programs
• Annual and quarterly reports
• Private and public offerings
• Annual meetings
• Company positioning
• Speeches and presentations
• Security analyst relations
• Business and trade articles, news releases
• Market research - focus groups and surveys
• Customer newsletters and videos
• Marketing plans and presentations
• Product and market segmentation and positioning
• Sales training/incentive programs
• Product introductions
• Seminars and employee training/motivational programs
• Telemarketing

This section outlines the reasons why SHP and Associates can be built into a successful firm. The section contains the non-changing objectives, 1987 goals and 1987 strategies as to how those goals will be achieved.

The objectives of SHP are:

Be a profitable, recognized, respected and authoritative professional leader in its field and market area, as judged by the amount and quality of business it has.

Provide a range of business communications services that are a positive benefit to clients we serve.

Goals and Strategies for 1987

Be a successful start up, emerging from the year with sufficient business to insure profitable operation in 1988. This net fee income base for 1987 will be $125,000 by year end.

Secure sufficient business to insure that we meet plan. Do this by gaining aminimum of eight accounts by year end.

Establish the firm's reputation and awareness among the entire prospect base, the media, the financial community and in the trade, thus helping to position it in order to be able to secure reasonable growth planned for years two and three. Basis of judgement here to be eight clients by year end.

Successfully complete all work for clients and build awareness and credibility of the firm by marketing these results.

Provide communications products, thus directing the business to the areas for which it desires to become known.

Provide the benefits of the firm's accumulated knowledge and expertise in marketing and communications to counsel and guide where there is apparent client need.

Attract sufficient investment to insure the ability to direct attention to building the business successfully and not diverting attention to fund raising or other ancillary activities.

Work with investors, banks or other appropriate financial institutions. Do not give up any ownership in the business by raising capital via other private investors.

Establish separate corporations which will work together under the joint venture of SHP & Associates.

"98 percent of all businesses that fail do so because of the lack of expertise of management in the business, or management's incompetence."

—The Business Plan Price Waterhouse

"Any consulting business must never try to be all things to all people. You must direct your work and be able to perform better than your competitors in those certain select segments."

—Dr. John Psarouthakis Founder, Chairman and President, J. P. Industries

"Three things are needed for an entrepreneurial business to succeed: the best people, the resources those people need and the environment they need."

—John Barfield Founder, Barfield Companies

"The best things a good businessman has going for him are his integrity and reputation."

—John Daly Vice Chairman, Johnson Controls

The firm began partial operations in 1984 as a consulting business serving different computer and software companies.

It functioned as Michael Johnson Associates and was run on a part-time basis. The firm's primary area of business was the preparation of marketing and communications plans, with some implementation work. Clients of the firm in this period included JM Systems Corporation, Data Logic Systems, Dynagraphic Systems Corporation, and others.

In the summer of 1986, Johnson became associated with John Smith. They produced a 50th anniversary celebration plan for Huge Firm International, a division of Huge Conglomerate Inc., in addition to developing other marketing and public relations activities, projects and programs for industrial and technology companies.

Mr. Smith and Mr. Johnson direct the business. In addition, SHP uses business and technical writers, designers, graphics specialists and other support staff to conduct assignments. Also, the firm has a business relationship with an 11-employee professional design and production firm that has been in business since 1975, and a management and sales training firm, Resource Development Systems. Additional business relationships will be structured in 1987 that are complementary to the nature of SHP's business. That is, with existing established communications and marketing firms that offer services synergistic to SHP's. This will include complementary marketing agreements with existing communications firms in New York, Minneapolis, Chicago and Boston, as well as agreements with an audio-visual firm. Freelance researchers and writers will be employed on an as-needed basis throughout 1987; there are no present plans to employ additional staff.

SHP and Associates is a business partnership with Michael Johnson and John Smith as principals. The goal is to incorporate as separate businesses and form the joint ventures of SHP & Associates. The firm also has Board of Advisors, as follows:

• T. Randall Macintosh, Group Vice President and Director, Inc., $70 million computer software firm.
• George Coswell, President, Big Insurance Co.
• Joseph Gerald, President, Huge Firm International, a Huge Conglomerate Company.
• Dr. Thomas Kennedy, Associate Dean and Professor of Marketing, Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Minnesota.

The above individuals are available for references, also. Additional references and a current client listing are available upon request.

There are some 30 general and specialized public relations and communications firms already in the marketplace in which SHP operates. These include large, established firms with substantial financial, people and customer resources; smaller general and specialty firms that have unique market niches; and individuals who perform freelance work. In general, many of these firms are run by former newspaper or broadcast people ("communicators") whose business experience, understanding and acumen is not high.

It is estimated that these firms have net fee income of approximately $10-11 million annually, and that this number has increased from $5-6 million annually five years ago. These estimates are based on published figures for firms in the attached competitive analysis. Another relevant factor is the number of start ups that have been successful and have thus added to the total market size.

Competition also includes in-house staffs, although this is primarily confined to the larger companies in the area. Also, such larger firms tend to have larger budgets and therefore use outside resources to augment their own capabilities.

Another element of competition is commonly overlooked, but certainly ever-possible. That is… not doing this type of marketing and communications work at all. The reasoning, although believed specious by SHP, is that this type of work is optional to a company, that is does not contribute to the bottom line, to product development, or to sales.

And that may well be… for firms that have a unique and solo market niche, ever satisfied customers, no desire to create awareness or generate business leads, or for other reasons.

But for those majority that do not fit such categories, SHP has several differentiators which set it apart from its competition. Those are listed below.

Business Relationship: a network of known industrial, community and academic leaders.

Industrial Operations Experience: first hand knowledge of business operations due to the principals breadth of experience.

Product Specialization: in financial, marketing and management communications areas.

Board of Advisors: of high level business leaders.

Complementary Marketing Agreements: with sound established firms whose skills, geographic range and goals are complementary.

Following is a summary of area firms with which SHP and Associates competes…

Frederick Marshall, Detroit

A large firm in the midwest with an annual net fee income in the millions. Specialized in financial and marketing PR and has numerous clients covered by its numerous employees. Has very professional brochures and capabilities book and lists many large companies as clients. Has high fees ($4000 monthly retainer is common at low end). Its market is primarily larger companies with substantial promotional budgets.

DP & Associates, Detroit

DPA has 37 employees and $2.5 million net fee income, double that of four years ago. Much lower visibility than Marshall, but has solid client list in Coopers and Lybrand. Owner is a creative and independent person, known for crisis-type guidance to clients as opposed to the strategy planning and counsel of Marshall. DPA is well regarded for special projects, general publicity and brainstorming ideas with clients. Does much community and charity work and has good ties with the Michigan Commerce Department and area ad firms which do not have PR units.

The Hutchinson Group, Ypsilanti

High competition. Smart people, good work and reputation. Five years old and run by Terrie Hutchinson, a well known promotion woman who created a noted and successful Michigan university fund-raiser. She is well connected and does work for the Chamber of Commerce, accounting firms, Ann Arbor News, Private Industry Council and some 15 other clients. Billings in 19 86 said to be $500K; seven employees, all bright. Not much financial, corporate or marketing work, but deemed to be a primary competitor because of established base and abilities. Primary emphasis is publicity programs; well known capability is staging special events.

Butler Communications, Jackson

Run by Jeff Lehman, who was general manager of the Business Alliance before starting Quorum in 1981. Does advertising, writing, design. Very good growth in hospital promotions-St. Peter's HMO etc. Did 1985 TL Industries' annual report design. Has some lO people. Very well tied to the community to get business leads; has capitalized on these relationships to build the business.

Willis Communications, Southfield

Run by Kelly Willis, an ex-Hamilton PR executive. Aims at high tech companies and does all kinds of brochures, annual reports, articles. Irwin Magnetics, La-Z-Boy Chair, Synthetic Vision and Symplex Corporation are or have been significant clients. Probably $100K net fee income in 1986. Willis knows many people and is well liked.

Gabriel Sapetta, Troy

New and aimed at corporate-financial area. One man band with Detroit, Michigan as an account. Has made self known among target audience since he left Hamilton, where he was Director of Press Relations for one year.

None of the firms mentioned are public. Companies of this kind tend to list clients as if they do all the client's work. In fact many, or even most, do project work—not on-going retainer work—except with the larger companies.

There are many, many competitors—mostly small. Numerous one and two man bands, as well as consultants in select areas who could be competition on some projects.

Large New York or Chicago headquartered firms have never had much good results in establishing outposts offices in Detroit, Minneapolis, Cleveland, or other mid western cities.

Their costs and fees are high and they offer the New York mentality of "tell them how to do it" which is not often accepted well by the typical midwestern businessman. Therefore, they are not deemed to be a significant current factor in competition.

Primary competition we are running into are Hutchinson, Willis, and Sapetta.

Two Chicago-based firms currently have clients in SHP market area. Public Relations Board serves Great Lakes Federal Bank and Interface Systems for financial and investor relations. The Investor Relations Company serves Medstat.

SHP's plan is to divide the start up year of 1987 into two phases: April 1 - June 30 and July 1 - December 31. These activities are planned in Phase I.

• Prospect mailing and meetings with top 5-On going
• Key influencers list
• 25 next likely
• Remainder (100)
• Reviews by selected participants
• Type of structure
• Establish of Board of Advisors
• Get reference approvals
• Other design firms
• Other PR firms
• Company offices
• Offices at client sites
• Offices in, or with, other firms
• Conduct work for those clients we gain Ongoing
• Announce the business June 1
• Complete plan for development for Phase II June 15
• Complete Phase III (1988) Plan
• Too few people to complete work on time, in budget on a consistent basis.
• Acceptance of projects that are not within the segment of business SHP desires to build; may be especially true in year 1.
• Cash flow inadequate to meet necessary goals
• Clients may desire to pay less for services the SHP desires to charge
• Lack of awareness of the firm could cause lack of chance at existing opportunities, especially in first several months.
• Could be trying to do too many things
• Not absolutely certain of what the market will buy
• Competition could beat us out
• Freelance writers: Marie Caliski, former Business Week writer; Margaret Dayner, technical writer; Ted Moran, business and technical writer
• Freelance Artists: Mega Group-design and graphics work
• Management sales and training firm: Resource Development Systems
• Accounting firms
• Family members
• Board of Advisors
• Business executives and others in network
• Printing Firms
• University of Michigan Business School
• Public Relations firms in other cities, and in local area
• Venture capital firms

"The central question to any business is: who will buy this service or product?"

John Smith, Partner, SHP & Associates

"The toughest part of a business plan is the sales forecast. You must do your best to understand the environment, outline assumptions, and list controllables and noncontrollables."

Richard David, Partner Jefferson, Franklin, and Washington

The plan of SHP is not to spend unless it is absolutely necessary or an opportunity becomes apparent at an earlier time than was planned, thus requiring expenditures earlier. This policy will apply through Phase la, at the end of which the policy will be refined to account for expenditures necessary in Phase Ib.

It is the anticipation of the principals of the business that numerous assumptions made in the Business Plan will prove to be wrong, while other unknowns will prove to be a benefit. This is, some planned areas of developing revenue will not workout, while others will arise.

Assumptions

• April 1 - June 30
• July 1 - December 31
• Use TI office
• Use TI phone answering and message center
• Use home offices
• Use offices at client sites
• Exception as client engagements are gained individually, or joint projects with work apportioned.
• SHP pays typeset, print costs
• desks, chairs, conference table
• •files, audio-visual equipment, IBM XI computer, phones easel other sources also available - leasing, etc.
• Complementary relationships established

Start up Costs (1 year period)

Second Phase: Year 1 (Ongoing Costs)

SHP & ASSOCIATES, INC. PROFIT & LOSS

SHP & Associates, Inc. "Samples": Analysis/Draws

SHP & Associates, Inc. Income Analysis

Profit & Loss Assumptions

• Partner's draw equal to individual billings and allocations of outside reps/contractor's services (billings less expenses) less 1/2 operations expenses (in first year of operations - partners will equally share responsibility of $20,000 loan line (by individual investor) and will borrow $ 10,000 ($5,000 each) against this line).
• Partner's will file corporation papers under sub-chapter "S" and will assume income tax liabilities (Federal and State), FICA, etc. as individual payers.
• Net Income derived from billings for outside contractors and reps, for in-house media services, printing, etc. less expenses for such services will be divided equally among partners.
• All expenses associated with operations will likewise be born equally by the partners.

SHP & Associates, Inc. Expense Analysis—see following page…

SHP & Associates, Inc. Expense Analysis

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How to Develop a Successful PR Strategy In 2024 (Guide)

• Public Relations
• Jan 22, 2021
• 23 min read

Brand Partnerships at Respona

The way to develop and launch a successful PR strategy has changed.

In this guide, you’re going to learn how strategic PR can help your business grow in 2024.

More specifically, here are some of the questions we’re answering:

• What is a public relations (PR) strategy?
• Why does your company need a PR strategy?
• How do you create a PR strategy (without breaking the bank)?
• What are some of the best PR tools you can use to implement your strategy?

We’ve got a lot to cover, so let’s get started.

What is a PR Strategy?

Why (& when) your company needs a pr strategy, how do you create a pr strategy in 5 simple steps, the 4 best pr tools to use as part of your pr strategy, now over to you.

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A PR strategy is aimed at improving your brand’s image.

It is the collection of all actions taken in order to get publicity and coverage of your brand on relevant media outlets, industry publications, podcasts, as well as blog and social media posts, and reach both your short-term and long-term PR goals.

In a sense, it is quite similar to a marketing strategy since it is all about spreading a message about your brand, but without the business goals that necessarily involve sales.

In most situations, a public relations strategy is used to spread the word about your business, services, or products to improve their recognition and maintain positive relationships with your audience and stakeholders.

But it has another use: crisis management.

Mending a situation in which your brand’s image has suffered an impact.

An example of such a crisis would be a data leak, or an employee doing something illegal or shady.

There are three types of media channels , useful for managing public relations: owned , paid , and earned .

Type #1: Owned Media

Of course, the first place to talk about yourself would be your own resource.

Your blog, landing pages, YouTube channel, LinkedIn and other social media groups are where you should focus on first.

This is the easiest channel to manage since you have total control over it.

It is also the most important because, well, in order to be viewed as a trustworthy brand, you have to present yourself accordingly.

Also, 99% of your brand’s mentions will link to one of your owned media pieces, so it might be your only chance to impress them.

That’s why every single of your owned media posts should be top-notch.

Type #2: Paid Media

This includes everything you paid for to get exposure. PPC , paid advertisements, sponsored posts, influencers, etc.

And even though people generally don’t like advertisements, this is the most sure-fire way to get them to notice you.  

Type #3: Earned Media

Earned media coverage is the hardest to get, but it is also probably the one that matters the most.

Thought leaders’ and bloggers’ reviews , mentions , contests , shares , word of mouth recommendations , and even high Google rankings  are all considered earned media. As PR expert, Dan Fries of BlueTree states, “High-quality PR mentions build customer trust and improve brand reputation.

A healthy PR strategy makes use of all three types of media channels.

If you only focus on owned media, you will struggle to gain any traction whatsoever. Investing all of your resources into paid media will drive people to your site, but they will be unlikely to stay and browse your content/products because it’s underdeveloped.

Without strong content of your own it will also be extremely difficult to rank high in Google or to get other bloggers to link to you simply because there’s nothing link-worthy.

So, all three channels synergize and work together to get you closer to your ultimate goal: get exposure.

There is no set condition when you can look at your business and say “Now, it is time to develop a PR strategy.

In fact, every brand needs a public and media relations strategy developed as soon as possible .

Without any kind of promotion, you can not expect people to start talking about you.

You might have the best product in the whole wide world, and still be unknown to the masses.

It is impossible to oversell the importance of a PR strategy.

But the argument that you will fail to gain any kind of attention without public relations is awfully vague.

So, let’s dissect some concrete goals that a PR strategy will help you achieve. Starting with the most obvious one:

Reason #1: It helps improve brand awareness

I already mentioned it, but first and foremost, public relations serve as a tool for boosting your brand’s awareness.

The more people know about you, the better it is for you.

That, of course, applies to good PR.

But, as some celebrities say, any PR is good PR, so even if some kind of controversy sparks around your company, you can take advantage of the increased publicity and turn the tables around completely.

Reason #2: Crisis management

Speaking of bad publicity, a solid PR campaign is what will help you recover your image should something bad happen to it.

Public relations are essential to managing a crisis since without you addressing the issue, the last thing your audience will remember about you is the negative event that caused it.

And that can mean the end to your brand. In a sense, it is the life vest that will keep your business afloat even if the current may feel overwhelming.

Reason #3: It helps you build trust

One of a PR strategy’s goals is to help you establish a solid brand identity  and use messaging that reflects your company’s value.

Once people start associating you with your product/service (just like when people say “Let me Google something” instead of “let me use a search engine to look for something”), that is a good indicator of amazing branding.

A good PR strategy will also help establish stronger bonds with your existing customers (as well as attract new ones), which is perfect for reducing churn.

Reason #4: It helps you generate leads

And even though the purpose of PR isn’t focused on generating revenue (that’s the job of marketing), a good public relations strategy definitely helps generate more leads .

Since you’ll be getting your product in front of more people, naturally, more people will be interested in buying it, or at least trying it out.

Reason #5: It helps attract investors

Whenever investors see a business that has all the potential to conquer the market, they see an opportunity.

And an opportunity is exactly what you want to look like to them.

They will, in turn, help you develop your brand even further, increasing your credibility and entrenching your position on the market.

Reason #6: It helps attract employees

If you position yourself as a powerful, trustworthy brand, in addition to customers and investors, your PR strategy will also serve to attract new talent to your office.

And, as your business grows, so do its requirements, and at some point you will need to expand your team.

A good PR strategy practically takes care of that need automatically, saving you the trouble of running a separate hiring campaign.

They will come to you by themselves!

So, a PR strategy helps your business grow in all possible ways, from generating more leads to attracting investors and even employees.

Without a good strategy you will practically be running your business in the dark, and without promoting it in some way, all of your efforts will be practically wasted.

So, now we have established the importance of a public relations strategy for your business.

Now, let’s take a look at an example of great PR.

Example of great PR: Apple

Being one of the largest, most successful companies to have ever existed, Apple has completely mastered the art of public relations and gained absolute thought leadership.

In fact, they let their customers do it for them.

After all, people are much more likely to purchase a product that their friends have recommended to them rather than one they saw in a pompous ad.

But how do they do it?

Well, of course, their reputation plays a considerable role, but there is a little PR trick they use every time they release a new product.

Apple is also the master of trailers and teasers.

Even if you’re more of an Android person, their iPhone 12 trailer probably still hyped you up.

Besides, of course, the obvious production value of the whole thing, Apple included some pretty exciting details about the smartphone, including the fact that it uses the fastest mobile chip in the world, films in 4K, and is considerably more drop-resistant.

But, they didn’t actually mention when the iPhone was going to come out, and how much it was going to cost, leaving the audience talking about how cool it’s going to be and how much they hope it’s not going to take too long until release.

Luckily for the excited fans, iPhone 12 released only 10 days after this trailer.

What they didn’t realize, though, was that by telling their friends and family about it, they were essentially part of Apple’s PR efforts.

This is how Apple handles PR for new releases—tease the audience with exciting little videos that don’t reveal too much (just the key messages), let them build up the hype, and only after that delve into a full-blown marketing campaign.

But, of course, a trailer was far from the only PR move Apple did preparing for the launch of iPhone 12.

The same day as the trailer I mentioned above, they also published a full-on press release on their own Newsroom, which attracted the attention of countless other media outlets, reviewers, and influencers.

Just with these two tactics, the company managed to utilize every type of media:

Owned, paid, and earned.

• Owned: The publication of the trailer and press release on their own YouTube channel and blog
• Paid: Paid advertisements, and showcasing this trailer on TV, Netflix, etc.
• Earned: Smaller news outlets covering iPhone 12’s specifications on their own blogs, influencers and bloggers talking about it in their videos and social media, and even your friend chewing your ear off about how much they’re excited for it.

Simply brilliant.

But, unfortunately, maintaining effective public relations for a smaller company (especially when it comes to startup PR ) is a matter of many more PR activities than just videos and press release distribution .

The good news is, though, that it’s very much possible, and I will tell you exactly how to do it.

Actually, there are two ways to create a PR strategy.

The first would be hiring a PR agency to do it for you.

Sure, it is much easier and a lot more convenient, but it has some considerable downsides.

The first one, of course, is that hiring an agency is quite expensive, especially if your budget is tight.

The not-so-obvious disadvantage of having a PR firm develop a strategy for you is the fact that you won’t be learning anything from it.

And there’s nothing more valuable for your business than first-hand knowledge and experience, which you can only gain by handling PR yourself.

So, the process we’re going to present makes sense only if you choose to do PR in-house.

So, let’s take a look at the 5-step process of building a PR strategy with our own public relations tool , Respona.

Step #1: Identify your target audience

If you’re familiar with PR or marketing, you already know that the first step to any kind of campaign would be to define your target audience, and find prospects.

Respona makes it very easy to do.

It has a built-in search engine, which allows you to easily find other resources, blogs, news articles, influencers, and even podcasts  (that you can come on as a guest) with the right audience demographics for your purposes.

Respona has specialized campaign templates for each of these purposes:

Let’s start with a news outreach campaign.

To use it, you’ll only need to fill out a few necessary fields (and some optional).

In the first field, enter some keywords that are relevant to your business.

These will be used to find related news articles.

In the second field, enter a brief description of why you’re reaching out to your prospect, such as the summary of your study’s results.

The date range field is optional. If you keep it at default, Respona will automatically find the freshest news articles.

In the fourth one, you can select the location of your results to narrow down the results to only your country.

The language field is quite self-explanatory.

Last but not least, you may also enter specific news websites like Forbes.com in the sixth field to narrow down the results even further:

Click “Use this template” to enter the campaign editor and move on to the next steps, which are preparing your email sequence, finding opportunities and contacts associated with them, and, of course, personalizing pitches.

We’ll walk through them later – for now, let’s talk about some other strategies for your PR campaign.

Step #1.1: Search for “Best x” blogs and podcasts

I’ve shown you how to look for news articles. But “Top x” blog posts and podcasts are amazing opportunities to gain exposure as well.

To find listicles, simply pick the “ Listicle ” campaign template and fill out 5 simple fields:

• Your product name
• Keywords that are relevant to your company and what you do
• Your most prominent competitors
• What sets you apart from your competitors
• Incentives for your prospects to collaborate

Respona will automatically apply the most common combinations of “top x”, “best x”, etc. article names to find relevant listicles for you to get featured on.

But more on that later.

Finding podcasts is equally as simple. Pick “ Podcast Outreach ” from the campaign template list and fill out its three fields:

• General topics of podcasts you’d like to become a guest on
• 1-2 sentences about your career accomplishments
• The exact topics you’re interested in talking about

Step #1.2: Extract backlinks to competitors and reach out to those sites

For this tactic, you will need to use another campaign template – Skyscraper technique.

Respona is integrated with Moz by default, which is where the backlink data will be pulled from.

Alternatively, if you already have an account with Ahrefs or Semrush, you may connect it to Respona and use that as a source instead.

Simply enter the URL of the content you’d like to promote, your target keywords, links to your competitors, as well as a brief description of your aricle along with an incentive for your prospect to collaborate.

Respona will automatically pull the backlinks pointing to your competitors and add them straight to your outreach campaign.

Click “Use this template” when all fields are filled out.

Which brings us to the next step.

Step #2: Prepare your email pitch

Now, it is time to craft your email pitch.

Respona has pre-built email templates for each of the campaign types but we will be creating a new sequence specifically for PR outreach.

To make the most out of your template, try to make it as re-usable as you possibly can.

And even though there are no be-all-end-all tactics for writing an email that gets opened 100% of the time, there are definitely a few things that can improve your chances.

• Be clear as to who you are and what you want to achieve with the email;
• Keep your subject line as short and descriptive as possible;
• Avoid spam words (here, now, affordable, buy, etc.);
• Include a relevant call-to-action.

As you can see, I’ve used quite a few variables in it (the weird code highlighed in grey).

Variables adjust to each opportunity in the campaign, so you can spend less time on the personalization stage.

So, for example, the {website_name} variable will insert the name of your prospects’ websites for each individual pitch.

The most interesting variable here is the icebreaker.

It’s an AI variable that will automatically pull your prospects’ article summaries into the content for quick but meaningful personalizations.

You can provide additional instructions for the AI in the following steps.

Here’s the full template for you to grab and use during your own campaigns:

Subject: Subject

Hey {first_name},

I was reading your article on {website_name} regarding link building.

I liked how you said that {Something from the article}.

It’s true that building links on your own can become quite tedious.

This is why we’ve developed an online tool that helps automate a huge chunk of the process and allows link builders to achieve much more, in a much shorter time.

Would you like to take a look?

Let me know and we can provide you with any information you might need.

{email_signature}

Respona also rates your pitch and approximates your chances of getting a response. It does so by checking your subject length, word count, number of questions, and, of course, scans it for spam words.

Don’t get discouraged if you don’t get too many responses right away.

In fact, Respona can send out automatic follow-ups if your prospects don’t reply, so let’s set it up.

To add a follow-up message, press “ Create New Step ”.

Let’s set our follow-up for 5 business days after the initial email.

You can add as many follow-ups as you want, but I advise sticking to one or two.

Stay mindful of their time, and if your prospect hasn’t responded to three of your emails, chances are, they are not interested anyway.

Once you’ve set up your initial email and follow-ups, you can move on to the next step.

Step #3: Find opportunities and their contact information

Respona has a built-in search engine and an email finder , so you no longer need to use manual prospecting or other tools like Hunter.

It’s pretty straightforward, and the process is highly automated, running multiple queries and pulling relevant opportunities into your campaign, in real-time.

Let’s walk through the process.

Depending on the campaign template you used, the search strings will look a little different, but they will all be pre-built for you depending on your inputs on the campaign template screen.

This is what it looks like for news outreach.

No need to do much here besides click “Continue” and set some additional SEO filters to narrow down your opportunities.

Next, there are a few advanced functions.

The first one is the email finder, which is also already locked and loaded to find journalist contacts, skip catch all-domains, as well as generic emails, ensuring that all contact information you find is used by PR reps.

Next, let’s feed our AI personalizations some guidelines to use short sentences, avoid commas, and stick to a 5-th grade reading level to not overwhelm our prospects with essays.

Finally, let’s also turn our search into a recurring one – enabling Respona to re-run it every couple of weeks so that we always have fresh opportunities in our campaign.

When ready, click “Run automation”.

Results will start appearing on your screen as they are found.

You don’t need to wait for the whole search to be completed to start personalizing pitches to save a little bit of time.

Which segways into the next step.

Step #4: Personalize your pitches and launch the campaign

Now, it’s time to personalize your pitch for every single opportunity.

All variables used will be automatically populated at this step – including AI icebreakers.

However, we encourage you to also give your emails a more personal touch to increase your chances of success even further.

On the right side of the screen, you will also find short excerpts from your prospect’s content so that it’s even easier to find something to mention.

When you’ve personalized every single pitch, you can launch your campaign.

Step #5: Measure the results and tweak your strategy according to them

This is just an example of how to run a PR strategy, and, of course, there are countless other ways of going about it.

But, the entirety of it can be done within a single tool, Respona, which makes it extremely simple and cost-efficient.

Of course, public relations is a long process, and to make the most out of it, you need to keep track of your KPIs (key performance indicators), and adjust your strategy depending on what works for you and what doesn’t.

For this example campaign, some useful metrics would be:

• Reply rate;
• Number of online mentions and earned media.

Conveniently, these are easily measurable inside of Respona. You will find them if you go to the “ Stats ” tab of any campaign that you’ve already launched.

Depending on your PR tactics, the KPIs you should monitor will be different.

They could be podcast appearances, link placements, articles posted, webinars hosted, or any other PR activity that aligns with your goals.

Respona only measures outreach-based metrics, so you might have to resort to using Google Analytics.

If you want to learn more on how to measure the performance of your PR plan , we have a whole guide dedicated to that as well.

As a little bonus, we have also prepared 4 of the best PR tools  useful for both marketers and public relations specialists.

These cover all of the main processes that PR involves, from prospecting and outreach to brand mentions and communication with journalists.

Tool #1: Respona

I already described how to use Respona for running a PR campaign, but it can be used for automating all kinds of outreach, be it marketing, public relations, sales, or even for press release distribution.

Encompassing all of the necessary functionality to do everything from prospecting to sending out automatic follow-ups without having to use any other outreach or email finding tool, it will be of great help to everybody dealing with outreach.

Tool #2: Ahrefs Alerts

I also already spoke about Ahrefs, but I didn’t mention its Alerts functionality.

Ahrefs Alerts is great for tracking mentions of your keyword, and, more specifically, your own brand.

You can set the frequency at which it crawls the web for mentions, and have daily, weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly alerts delivered directly to your inbox.

These reports are extremely helpful for prospecting, and by checking them from time to time, you will reveal some amazing PR opportunities.

Tool #3: SparkToro

And while SparkToro can primarily be used for content marketing or influencer marketing, the tool can undeniably be useful for public relations purposes as well.

It is one of the best and most functional tools for market research and audience intelligence, and it also provides the most accurate and relevant data.

With it, you can conduct searches to identify audiences based on their online activities, and easily create lists of media contacts to connect and reach out to.

Built by Rand Fishkin, the founder of Moz, it needs no introduction as it is simply a tool with no alternatives.

So, there you have it.

You now have the foundation for developing a successful PR strategy for your business.

We hope that the five steps outlined above will help you launch PR campaigns  that will get you the attention you need.

If you’re ready to start with your digital PR strategy , don’t forget to take a look at Respona.

Our public relations tool  is used by many startup companies trying to get PR coverage and raise awareness for their brand.

Just ask for access to a demo and we’ll be glad to show you what Respona can do for you.

Managing brand partnerships at Respona, Vlad Orlov is a passionate writer and link builder. Having started writing articles at the age of 13, their once past-time hobby developed into a central piece of their professional life.

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The Importance Of A Public Relations Plan For Your Business

Public relations (PR) is an important component to any business marketing plan.  Typically, a marketing plan has three parts: marketing, advertising and PR.  All three parts need to have a strategy that complements the other.

The purpose of having a public relations plan is it helps you outline the key objectives for your organization and how you want your brand to be positioned in the market.  Public relations helps you manage the public perception of your organization.  When you have a plan, the brand gets clear on its business goals and develops the main stories that will be told about the brand.

Examples of PR and media exposure are getting featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, or other top-tier large publication.  Guesting on podcasts and TV appearances are great media exposure as well.  These are just a few examples, as there is a wide array of media coverage opportunities.  Whether it is local coverage, national, international, or all coverage, a PR spot will always be a good thing.

Until it’s not, then should that happen, especially in today’s cancel culture climate, you will need your PR agent to do damage control and preserve your reputation.

It is essential for a brand to be in good standing with public opinion.

A public relations plan has several goals in mind.  Here are a few of them.

Define your target audience.   You need to understand who it is you want to reach.  Know your product and the problem that is solves for people, then know those people and where to find them.  For example, if you are selling hair accessories made for women, it would not make sense to target men.  Knowing who your audience is will help you get their attention easily.

Determine your key stories.   When you create the key stories for your brand that your audience will relate to, you can better capture their attention.  You can create stories that evoke an emotional response from people who will feel more drawn to your brand.  Having a few key stories will result in a clear message.

Choose the outlets that you want to reach.   You need to know where your audience is at, and you must align your media goals around where they are.  There will be very little value to land a TV appearance on a morning show if your people are not watching.  This is why it’s essential to know your customer and know where they are at.  If you are a consulting firm and your clients are on LinkedIn, creating a platform on Instagram will yield few results.

Measure the success of your campaign.   If you put tons of effort into a PR campaign, you need to measure the results as well.  Based on your PR goals, you will use the following to measure your results: social media reach, social media engagement, media impressions, website traffic, and keyword rankings.

Now that you understand what goes into a PR strategy let’s review some of the benefits of PR.

There are a few ways PR can help your business:

• It is cost-effective PR is cheaper than purchasing ad space and pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns.  If you engage with a PR agent you will need to pay for their services for setting you up with media exposure, but reputable media outlets will not charge for the actual exposure secured.
• Better than advertising PR is a word-of-mouth basis where advertising you can pay to get the word out.  Consumers are smart and aware, and they know when they are being sold to.
• Boosts brand visibility When your brand gets into the media spotlight, it elevates its visibility and authority and lives on the internet forever.  The segments and pieces will always be accessible and can be used and reused to remind consumers that you are the brand expert.
• Creates a relationship with your customers The stories told about the brand and how those stories invoke an emotional response from your audience build a relationship with your customer because the content is relatable.
• Increases sales conversions The recipe to a successful sale is the know, like and trust factor, and when a customer has felt those three ingredients, they are more likely to purchase from you.  PR helps position your brand as the expert, makes it visible, and your client will get to like you through relationship building.

The bottom line is PR is a strategy that will yield a higher return on investment through the reach that media outlets have and should be used to help businesses build their brand, visibility and authority.  It is a cost-effective strategy that helps places you on top of the minds of your clients and customers.

Written by Melissa Houston .

Melissa Houston

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Original text

Whether you are starting a new business or want to update the public’s perception of your brand, a public relations (PR) plan can help you determine your objectives and guide your activities. This template provides a starting place for developing a PR plan for any industry.

Tip: Your PR plan should be considered a living document. As external circumstances or internal goals change, be sure to update your plan accordingly.

Copyright © 2024 SCORE Association, SCORE.org

Funded, in part, through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. All opinions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA.

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10 Principles for Creating an Effective Public Relations Plan Principles are less about what to do than they are about how to do it. Adopt these precepts and prosper.

By Craig Cincotta Edited by Dan Bova Aug 9, 2016

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Throughout my career I've written, read and edited countless public relations plans, and I am quite certain each one contained the essential planning elements -- objectives, strategies, tactics and metrics.

Over the years I have come to include another element for every plan, principles. Principles are important because they give you a filter for making decisions and protect the behaviors you need to embrace to ensure your plan is effective. When you start to drift from your principles, it's time to take stock of the current situation and think about what needs to change to keep you on track.

Where do you start? Here are 10 public relations principles every PR practitioner should consider as they go through the process of assembling an effective plan.

1. Know your audience.

Establish a foundation that's grounded in insights. Do your research and ensure that whatever products or services you support, actually fulfill a customer need. Will your customers be satisfied with what they're being offered? If not, voice those concerns internally. Many times PR practitioners can provide an ear closest to the customer, given their access to what press and analysts are hearing from end users. Use that knowledge to support the development of offerings that will truly delight the marketplace.

Related: The Better You Know Your Customer, the Better You Can Position Your Brand

2. Be a patient storyteller.

Many times brands and businesses get anxious and want to tell their story "right now." Whether it's the perception of momentum competitors may have or the need to "be a part of the discussion," you can do more harm than good if you go out with a plan that's half-baked. Take your time and don't succumb to the pressure of "doing something." Tell the right story, at the right time, to the right people.

3. Focus on outcomes over activities.

Navigate by a North Star. What are the headlines, perceptions, and actions you want to see delivered through your plan? What do you want readers to see/hear/feel/do? Try and align to a long term plan and work towards creating a set of desired outcomes and key moments in time that create waves over ripples. The alternative, doing a bunch of activities that are not aligned to a broader strategy, isn't the best use of your resources (nor is it the way to build a durable team).

Related: How to Set the Right Goals for Your Business

4. Know the difference between stories and news.

There is a difference between stories and news. Stories have a cascading effect and maintain the necessary elements for driving reader engagement. Great stories are shared. News announcements are fleeting, and at their worst, inconsistent over time. Press do their homework and it's very easy for them to dismiss "another press release" as noise, versus something of substance that they need to take an interest in, following and sharing with their readers.

5. Go beyond the echo chamber.

Focus your attention outside of the walls of your business. If you spend too much of your time "drinking the Kool-Aid," you're going to miss an opportunity to understand broader market sentiment. Don't dismiss what competitors do. Take an interest in learning and reading about others. What do they do well? Where can you differentiate? By knowing as much as you can about the broader environment, the more well-rounded and precise your plan will be.

6. Be humble.

Focus on your products, partners and customers. Worry about what you are doing that makes you great. Be proud, but don't be boastful. Utilize partners and customers to tell your story. In fact, all of the messaging you create should be supported by a third party advocate who is willing to engage proactively with press on your behalf.

Related: Humility: The Missing Ingredient to Your Success

7. Under promise and over deliver.

This is pretty straight-forward, but if you stick to the basic benefits and resist the urge to speak in far flung generalizations, you won't run the risk of getting out over your skis. It's okay to talk about vision and how you see the world, but be very clear on what you intend to deliver and when. If you stick to this commitment the more likely you never bend to say something that isn't accurate.

8. Have a call to action.

Think about the actions you want people to take so you can maintain a relationship. This can come in the form of a pointer that brings the reader back to your website. Once you have someone's attention, how will you keep them engaged? This is crucial.

9. Public relations is not an island.

PR is far more than a vehicle that creates awareness at the end of a product cycle. Great PR teams are woven into the fabric of the business from day one. The team should be integrated into the long-term plans of the company to ensure product and PR plans stay aligned. Spend a good amount of time with others (e.g. engineering and design). Some of the best stories will come from those closest to the product.

10. Require the requirements.

Every plan must meet a set of requirements (data, partners, launch dates etc.). If the requirements aren't met, that becomes your ultimate "go/no go" filter. PR practitioners often find themselves in a position where they are the ones to decide how, when and where a news announcement takes place. Your requirements become your rules of engagement, giving you the confidence you need to know your plan is sound.

Chief of Staff and Vice President of Communications

Craig Cincotta is the Chief of Staff and Vice President of Communications for  Porch.com , a home services network, where he is responsible for managing strategic operations for the company as well as executive communications, brand messaging and public relations.

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4 functions pr agencies can help with beyond media relations.

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Heather Kelly is the CEO of Next PR, an award-winning, full-service public relations firm with offices across the U.S.

For most of my career, public relations has been synonymous with media relations. Even less than a decade ago, we spent most of our time pitching reporters and going after national media placements. The only variety was mixing in some trade and local press outreach, though even that was tangential to the main goal: landing mainstream and top-tier coverage.

Modern PR has evolved exponentially. The media landscape exploded, giving us an incredible breadth of new outlets including social media and podcasts. At the same time, the PR function itself has become more integrated with businesses, helping drive strategy and deliver measurable value. Now, pitching media is just one of many parts of a well-rounded PR strategy. And PR firms are offering a broader range of tailored services to help clients tell their stories, grow their share of voice, build their brand and drive sales.

As marketing budgets shrink , this diverse approach has become even more important. Any PR team you partner with should be well-rounded, and they should be an extension of your in-house marketing team. They should serve as a force multiplier, taking on tasks that have traditionally fallen under the marketing umbrella, like securing speaking engagements, submitting for awards and coordinating your trade show presence.

If you’ve pigeonholed your PR team into just going after media placements, you could be leaving a lot of opportunities on the table. Here are four other functions PR agencies can help with.

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Today’s nyt mini crossword clues and answers for thursday, august 29th, what you’ll realize in the first year of retirement, executive social media management.

Social media has become a powerful way to engage audiences, but people don’t want to see a nameless, faceless brand—they want to engage with the people behind it. For busy executives, I know maintaining a cadence of posting and meaningful audience interaction can be overwhelming, if not impossible.

A PR agency can boost your C-suite’s social media presence by highlighting their personal brands and expanding their networks. The team can craft a messaging strategy that aligns with your brand and business goals, providing detailed reporting on post-performance and engagement. Executives, don’t worry, you still have control of your accounts. Tapping a team to keep up the posting cadence helps you maintain top-of-mind awareness and increase engagement.

Crisis Management

Not having a crisis plan in 2024 can be a fatal mistake for brands—there’s simply too much on the line . Between company scandals , layoffs gone wrong and fallouts from ad campaigns , the evidence of potential disaster is everywhere. While no brand or person is immune from mistakes, how you handle them can make all the difference in public reaction. People are much more forgiving if your response is timely, transparent and sincere.

An experienced PR team can assist in developing a tailored crisis plan, as well as help you train, practice and implement it. That includes monitoring online sentiment and chatter to ensure timely responses.

Glassdoor Management

Public opinion is heavily influenced by the perception of your company’s values and its internal culture. How you treat people on your team says a lot about your moral compass and priorities as a company—and that can significantly influence buyers’ decisions. Not to mention, it impacts your ability to hire and retain talent.

Perception of your company’s internal culture is part of reputation management, a classic PR function. An agency partner can work with your human resources team to monitor your Glassdoor profile and respond promptly and appropriately before a negative review ruins your reputation or starts trending on social media. Just like with executive social media management, your PR team can also take on some of the workload to keep HR from becoming overwhelmed.

Influencer Relations

It used to be that snagging an editor’s attention was the only way to get coverage. Today, this is no longer the case. The explosion in online content creators has given brands so many more potential targets across multiple channels. A PR agency can help you identify the right influencers (or analysts for B2B companies) to best impact your company goals, as well as manage outreach, negotiate contracts and coordinate campaigns.

Especially with a potential TikTok ban looming , you need to leverage a team with the expertise to structure deals and navigate around these changes.

Creating An Integrated Program With Your Agency

Remember, your agency is your partner. You should feel empowered to work with them to implement a perfectly tailored integrated PR program for your brand.

Some organizations may not have the budget or desire to commit to a full PR plan—or simply, they just aren’t ready. An agile agency can tailor a program to fit any budget or objective. This might include limited engagements for product launches, a survey project, a market research initiative, a crisis consultation or a media training session.

Here are my top two tips for working with a PR agency on an integrated PR program:

• Communicate your business goals. Whether you want to grow your CEO as a thought leader in your industry or drive sales leads, it’s critical to discuss your goals with your agency partner from the get-go to assess what services are right for you. And if those goals change over time? Share that, too.

• Discuss what’s working and what isn’t. If you aren’t seeing the ROI you want, voice that with your agency partner. I always say feedback is a gift. Regular input helps your team fine-tune their strategy to better support your business objectives.

When all the pieces of a diverse PR strategy work together in a coordinated program, then the magic really happens. Just like you wouldn’t spend all of your money for groceries on dessert, you never want to put your entire budget into media relations alone.

Having an agency partner who understands your goals, is willing to tailor services to meet your needs and has the broad capabilities to deliver an integrated approach is a secret weapon for success in a fast-changing media landscape.

Forbes Agency Council is an invitation-only community for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. Do I qualify?

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Mission & Vision

Baker Public Relations is a reputable results-driven, full-service communications firm representing quality local and national brands while fostering creativity, employee fulfillment and development in the workplace. 

Recognized as a steadily growing market leader in driving innovative campaigns for partners we respect. 

Communication

It’s at the heart of what we do, both internal and external. With our team, there’s always clarity, no guessing games. We ensure a seamless client experience out of the gate.

Baker Public Relations is only as good as its people. We’ve created a rewarding environment where our people thrive. We hire and retain top talent who are respectful, driven and passionate, take pride in what they do and are a joy to work with.

High quality, relentless pursuit of results, high performance standards, and always adding value. That’s what our clients can expect from us and that’s what we deliver.

How Can We Help?

Let's talk about you.

Success can’t be achieved without passion. We only work with clients we’re excited to collaborate with and represent. It’s what drives us to create the very best outcomes.

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Our relationships are invaluable that’s why we invest the time. We rely on our relationships for client success, professional development and agency growth. Our team is in it for the long haul.

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Last updated: August 28, 2024

Best PR Firms in St. Petersburg

Our recommended top 8, we did the research for you.

Our goal is to connect people with the best local professionals. We scored St. Petersburg PR Firms on more than 25 variables across five categories, and analyzed the results to give you a hand-picked list of the best.

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8 Top Picks

Learn about our selection process .

Trevelino/Keller self.__wrap_n=self.__wrap_n||(self.CSS&&CSS.supports("text-wrap","balance")?1:2);self.__wrap_b=(e,r,t)=>{let i=(t=t||document.querySelector(`[data-br="${e}"]`)).parentElement,c=e=>t.style.maxWidth=e+"px";t.style.maxWidth="";let a=i.clientWidth,s=i.clientHeight,o=a/2-.25,d=a+.5,l;if(a){for(c(o),o=Math.max(t.scrollWidth,o);o+1 {self.__wrap_b(0,+t.dataset.brr,t)})).observe(i)};self.__wrap_n!=1&&self.__wrap_b(":Ri2q8rrpnnnlff6lta:",1)

Expertise.com rating, review sources, why choose this provider.

Trevelino/Keller is a PR and marketing company that caters to businesses in St. Petersburg. It acts as a primary agency overseeing the overall strategy and provides supplemental support for clients working with multiple agencies. This boutique agency integrates strategy, creativity, and efficiency to craft marketing strategies tailored for technology, healthcare, and financial services companies. Trevelino/Keller has been in the industry for more than two decades. It uses modern software technologies to assist companies in building, launching, and expanding their brands.

• Website Design & Development
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Expertise.com Concierge Service self.__wrap_n=self.__wrap_n||(self.CSS&&CSS.supports("text-wrap","balance")?1:2);self.__wrap_b=(e,r,t)=>{let i=(t=t||document.querySelector(`[data-br="${e}"]`)).parentElement,c=e=>t.style.maxWidth=e+"px";t.style.maxWidth="";let a=i.clientWidth,s=i.clientHeight,o=a/2-.25,d=a+.5,l;if(a){for(c(o),o=Math.max(t.scrollWidth,o);o+1 {self.__wrap_b(0,+t.dataset.brr,t)})).observe(i)};self.__wrap_n!=1&&self.__wrap_b(":Ri4q8rrpnnnlff6lta:",1)

Need help contacting a PR Firm in St. Petersburg? Call our Concierge team at 848-Book-Pro (848-266-5776 from 6 am - 4 pm PT | Mon - Fri). They are standing by to help you get the service you need.

Doubletake Marketing and PR self.__wrap_n=self.__wrap_n||(self.CSS&&CSS.supports("text-wrap","balance")?1:2);self.__wrap_b=(e,r,t)=>{let i=(t=t||document.querySelector(`[data-br="${e}"]`)).parentElement,c=e=>t.style.maxWidth=e+"px";t.style.maxWidth="";let a=i.clientWidth,s=i.clientHeight,o=a/2-.25,d=a+.5,l;if(a){for(c(o),o=Math.max(t.scrollWidth,o);o+1 {self.__wrap_b(0,+t.dataset.brr,t)})).observe(i)};self.__wrap_n!=1&&self.__wrap_b(":Ri6q8rrpnnnlff6lta:",1)

Doubletake Marketing and PR is a PR agency near St. Petersburg that has been serving local and global clients for over 20 years. The firm specializes in handling public relations for private corporations and non-profits in the industrial, medical, manufacturing, and entertainment industries. It drafts press releases to help clients gain traditional media coverage in online and print outlets. The company also identifies and secures speaking opportunities and media appearances for clients to relay major business developments and company news to the public. Additionally, Doubletake Marketing and PR hosts influencer events to ensure clients garner media exposure for key celebrations and milestones.

Clearview Communications + PR self.__wrap_n=self.__wrap_n||(self.CSS&&CSS.supports("text-wrap","balance")?1:2);self.__wrap_b=(e,r,t)=>{let i=(t=t||document.querySelector(`[data-br="${e}"]`)).parentElement,c=e=>t.style.maxWidth=e+"px";t.style.maxWidth="";let a=i.clientWidth,s=i.clientHeight,o=a/2-.25,d=a+.5,l;if(a){for(c(o),o=Math.max(t.scrollWidth,o);o+1 {self.__wrap_b(0,+t.dataset.brr,t)})).observe(i)};self.__wrap_n!=1&&self.__wrap_b(":Ri8q8rrpnnnlff6lta:",1)

Clearview Communications + PR is a PR firm near St. Petersburg. The firm is staffed by former journalists and editors who are able to produce high-quality promotional content and quickly distribute it to their database of over one million worldwide journalists. The company develops PR campaigns with strategic messaging optimized for all platforms. It tracks and analyzes campaign performance and provides clients with detailed reports and status updates. In addition to traditional media outlets, Clearview Communications + PR secures exposure for clients through social media cross-posting and advanced SEO tactics. The company also facilitates radio and television appearances for business leaders.

Tucker/Hall self.__wrap_n=self.__wrap_n||(self.CSS&&CSS.supports("text-wrap","balance")?1:2);self.__wrap_b=(e,r,t)=>{let i=(t=t||document.querySelector(`[data-br="${e}"]`)).parentElement,c=e=>t.style.maxWidth=e+"px";t.style.maxWidth="";let a=i.clientWidth,s=i.clientHeight,o=a/2-.25,d=a+.5,l;if(a){for(c(o),o=Math.max(t.scrollWidth,o);o+1 {self.__wrap_b(0,+t.dataset.brr,t)})).observe(i)};self.__wrap_n!=1&&self.__wrap_b(":Riaq8rrpnnnlff6lta:",1)

Founded in 1990, Tucker/Hall is a PR firm in St. Petersburg specializing in serving clients in the financial, travel, health, and aviation industries. The firm develops digitally-focused public relations campaigns with an emphasis on proactive corporate communication. In crisis events, the company helps clients communicate key details about the situation to the public while creating a formal response plan. It also conducts stress tests and planning drills to ensure that clients are prepared to handle a public relations crisis. For public issues, Tucker/Hall runs a risk and public sentiment analysis to assist companies with promoting messaging beneficial to their business and stakeholders.

Marketing Matters self.__wrap_n=self.__wrap_n||(self.CSS&&CSS.supports("text-wrap","balance")?1:2);self.__wrap_b=(e,r,t)=>{let i=(t=t||document.querySelector(`[data-br="${e}"]`)).parentElement,c=e=>t.style.maxWidth=e+"px";t.style.maxWidth="";let a=i.clientWidth,s=i.clientHeight,o=a/2-.25,d=a+.5,l;if(a){for(c(o),o=Math.max(t.scrollWidth,o);o+1 {self.__wrap_b(0,+t.dataset.brr,t)})).observe(i)};self.__wrap_n!=1&&self.__wrap_b(":Ricq8rrpnnnlff6lta:",1)

Marketing Matters is a PR company near St. Petersburg that has been serving clients in the technology industry for over 22 years. The firm consults with clients and develops custom PR campaigns to support their business needs. As part of its earned media services, the company establishes relations with media and press outlets to ensure clients' news releases and other promotional content receive proper coverage and exposure. For live PR efforts, its PR agents design and support trade show booths and assist clients with event planning and logistics. Marketing Matters also writes case studies for clients to cost-effectively and easily promote major developments on a range of platforms.

AboveWater Public Relations & Marketing self.__wrap_n=self.__wrap_n||(self.CSS&&CSS.supports("text-wrap","balance")?1:2);self.__wrap_b=(e,r,t)=>{let i=(t=t||document.querySelector(`[data-br="${e}"]`)).parentElement,c=e=>t.style.maxWidth=e+"px";t.style.maxWidth="";let a=i.clientWidth,s=i.clientHeight,o=a/2-.25,d=a+.5,l;if(a){for(c(o),o=Math.max(t.scrollWidth,o);o+1 {self.__wrap_b(0,+t.dataset.brr,t)})).observe(i)};self.__wrap_n!=1&&self.__wrap_b(":Rieq8rrpnnnlff6lta:",1)

AboveWater Public Relations & Marketing is a PR firm in St. Petersburg that handles media relations, promotional needs, and other tasks related to public relations and brand reputation. It networks with media platforms such as news stations and blogs to secure coverage for clients and spread awareness of their brands. However, this firm also establishes community partnerships to reach the public directly or through organizations and nonprofit entities when appropriate. AboveWater Public Relations & Marketing is adept at employee communications too and can organize internal communications for the protection of all involved parties and to increase the efficiency of information exchanges within businesses.

Judge Public Relations self.__wrap_n=self.__wrap_n||(self.CSS&&CSS.supports("text-wrap","balance")?1:2);self.__wrap_b=(e,r,t)=>{let i=(t=t||document.querySelector(`[data-br="${e}"]`)).parentElement,c=e=>t.style.maxWidth=e+"px";t.style.maxWidth="";let a=i.clientWidth,s=i.clientHeight,o=a/2-.25,d=a+.5,l;if(a){for(c(o),o=Math.max(t.scrollWidth,o);o+1 {self.__wrap_b(0,+t.dataset.brr,t)})).observe(i)};self.__wrap_n!=1&&self.__wrap_b(":Rigq8rrpnnnlff6lta:",1)

Judge Public Relations is a veteran-owned PR firm serving clients in the St. Petersburg area. The firm develops strategic and creative plans for securing media coverage for clients by establishing and maintaining relations with key media entities. Its agents create and distribute press releases written in Associated Press style with relevant SEO links for publication by major news outlets. For organizations, the company identifies events and other opportunities for them to establish solid community relations and reach their target geographical audiences. Judge Public Relations also helps clients handle crises by developing proactive response plans and ensuring its PR specialists are accessible 24/7.

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What is public relations?

Public relations is a strategic communications discipline that has been used by government agencies, privately held companies, and nonprofit organizations since the early 20th century. Unlike marketing or advertising, PR involves managing and distributing unpaid content to inform and influence members of the public as well as employees, stakeholders, and current or prospective customers. Public relations includes a variety of specializations depending on whether communications are needed for crisis management, internal operations, social media platforms, or online publication. This profession also includes media relations, which involves interacting with journalists and mainstream media brands.

What is a PR firm?

PR firms design and implement communications strategies to influence the public and enhance a client's image or reputation. There are more than 12,000 such firms in the United States, although there are significant differences in the services they offer and the types of clients they serve. Here are a few of the most common disciplines:

• Crisis management
• Investor relations
• Media relations
• Corporate communications
• Reputation management
• Social media
• Speech writing
• Event planning

What does a PR firm do?

Public relations specialists are responsible for developing and distributing all types of internal and external communications, including press releases, annual reports, online content, and social media posts. PR firms work with clients to set a target or goal. Then, they reverse engineer a strategy to accomplish the desired results. These professionals craft corporate messages, manage online content, interact with social media influencers, plan marketing events, and work with media outlets to promote unpaid content. Depending on the industry and the firm's specialization, their experience may span the digital and print spaces.

What is public relations in marketing?

Marketing and public relations are complementary disciplines. In the traditional corporate hierarchy, these professionals work hand in hand to develop and refine promotional campaigns, track performance metrics, and maximize the results of these activities. For example, publicists can work with journalists and media outlets to distribute marketing materials developed by the brand's creative team. In most cases, coordinated PR and marketing activities are designed to enhance each other's strengths.

Do I need to give my PR company a 1099?

Probably. In most cases, U.S.-based businesses must prepare Form 1099-MISC for independent contractors, freelancers, and PR consultants who earn more than $600 per year. This document is required for income reporting and wage deductions. Businesses should consult a bookkeeper or certified public accountant for personalized tax advice, as 1099 requirements vary depending on the vendor's filing status.

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The Importance of Public Relations Writing in Media Strategies

It was hard to miss the 2023 Summer of Barbie . Through combined marketing and public relations (PR) efforts, the team succeeded in building anticipation for the movie. Some of the campaigns that the team worked on include over one hundred brand partnerships with companies like Airbnb, Xbox, and Pinkberry; nearly 500,000 articles written and over six million social media interactions in six months; and exclusive preview screenings for loyal fans. In its opening weekend, Barbie brought in $165 million in North America and $337 million worldwide.

A top-notch public relations strategy has the power to increase sales and brand awareness in a major way. Whether a company chooses to handle public relations internally or outsource to a PR agency, it’s essential to nail the approach. In this article, we discuss public relations writing best practices and a variety of ways that PR can support an organization .

Best Practices for Public Relations Writing and Planning

In order to have an effective public relations strategy, you need the ability to execute a well-developed plan and efficient communication skills.

Perfect Your Public Relations Writing

Content creation is a crucial element of public relations since it enables organizations to shape how information about them is presented to the public. Ideally, your content will also influence how your organization is perceived by your audience.

10 Tips for Developing Engaging PR Writing

• Decide on your intended outcomes. Whether it’s a social media post or a press release, when you pinpoint the goal of your writing you can tailor your communication with that aim in mind.
• Establish clear objectives and benchmarks. To determine the success of your campaign, specify your metrics so your team knows what to monitor.
• Identify your target. Consider demographics, psychographics, behaviors, needs, and the location of the audience you want to reach so you can craft a compelling message that appeals to your specific segment.
• Specify your platforms. The tone and style of different types of PR writing vary, so plan which platform(s) you will utilize for your campaign before you begin composing.
• Establish parameters for visuals. If you plan to have photos accompanying your writing, outline what you have in mind.
• Build a content calendar. Note dates for drafts and when a final product must be complete.
• Allocate responsibilities. Decide who on your team is responsible for what components of the campaign.
• Gather information. This includes both internally (gaining thorough knowledge of the product you’re writing about) and externally (researching press contacts) sourced information.
• Offer valuable statistics and details. Give substance to your writing with analysis and data that will engage your audience and boost credibility.
• Keep it concise. Quickly attract interest and retain your audience’s attention by being brief. Originally cited in the book Effective Public Relations, the first book in the PR field, “concise” is one of the seven Cs to follow when crafting compelling messages. The other six are:
• Clear: Explicitly express yourself.
• Concrete: Provide distinct details.
• Correct: Edit your message.
• Coherent: Make it well-organized and flow smoothly.
• Complete: Incorporate all necessary information.
• Courteous: Be respectful and polite.

Strategic Planning

A solid public relations strategy helps businesses make an impact on public perception. Consider these five steps to form your PR strategy:

• Gather information Analyze your organization’s historical performance in areas like media coverage, influencer campaigns, and social media metrics. You may also consider using social listening tools to consider what’s proving effective for competitors. Finally, make sure you understand any variables that may have influenced your brand, such as legal considerations, political landscape, and product modifications.
• Define your objectives You should always have an achievable goal for any given promotion. In your plan, list your target audience, essential points to share, and key performance indicators (KPIs).
• Decide on a schedule Develop a calendar of campaigns to plan for well-timed communication.
• Determine your approach Select which PR strategies —such as presenting at conferences, using corporate and social responsibility angles, and engaging in industrial relations—will yield the best results based on your goals and timeline.
• Assess campaign performance Measure your results to see what worked and what didn’t to help inform your future strategies.

Benefits of Powerful Public Relations

There are countless ways that public relations can positively impact a company. Below, we cover four key areas where PR is regularly influencing outcomes.

Building Brand Reputation

Public relations is an effective tool in cultivating and managing brand reputation . Companies have the opportunity to influence customer sentiment through an effective brand reputation management strategy.

If you haven’t yet established your brand identity , this is the place to start. It includes the development of logos, colors, and typography; brand voice; and brand values, mission, and positioning.

Next, you’ll need to establish a digital footprint . Build your website in a way that aligns with your brand identity. Depending on your product, creating an app may also be worthwhile.

After you have laid the groundwork, you can begin maintaining brand reputation.

• Request reviews and engage with feedback : Platforms like Google My Business, Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Facebook are good places to create profiles so you can start getting reviews, which significantly influence public opinion. Respond promptly to all reviews while you’re building your customer base or following—even the bad ones.
• Be receptive to opinions : Utilize Google Alerts and social listening tools to actively monitor your brand reputation. Pay attention to what people have to say, and tweak your strategy or capitalize on major moments accordingly.
• Make enhancements to customer experience : To avoid negative reviews and keep customers content, strive to provide flawless customer service in all avenues.
• Cultivate an excellent workplace environment : Be a place where people want to work. You’ll attract and retain top talent while maintaining a positive internal brand reputation.
• Develop brand identity standards : Have a detailed brand guide at the ready for employees to reference helps keep your messaging consistent and nurtures your internal brand presence.
• Have a PR team : Make sure you have a dedicated public relations team to manage your reputation.

With a well-formed brand plan , you will have a blueprint to quickly respond to challenges, steadily expand your workforce, and build a loyal customer base.

Crisis Management

Despite being an issue that organizations regularly face, only 49% of US companies have an official crisis communications plan. Companies need to be prepared to take control of the narrative before a given problem becomes unmanageable.

One such example was when OpenAI fired their CEO , Sam Altman, an esteemed member of the tech community, without clear communication—neither internally nor to the public. The decision received intense backlash, including the OpenAI president and co-founder stepping down in objection. In addition, Microsoft announced that they would provide Altman and any other OpenAI employee with employment, which 770 workers said they’d accept unless board members resigned. To smooth things over, Altman was ultimately rehired.

Monitoring brand sentiment gives you insight into when a PR crisis may be on the horizon, so you can formulate a plan to handle it. Brand monitoring includes observing mentions on social media, online forums and communities, print, and broadcast.

If your organization is met with a PR crisis, you can follow this course of action :

• Get the facts : Find out the five Ws (who, what, where, when, and why) to fully understand the situation.
• Be open with your team : Trying to conceal crises can get companies into trouble. Be transparent about the circumstances and implications of the problem, and share your plan for addressing the issue.
• Develop appropriate crisis communication : The goal is to develop a clear message that rebuilds trust in your brand. If an apology is necessary, make sure it’s genuine.
• Respond promptly : Whenever possible, the public should hear about your organization’s crisis from you, not someone else.
• Remedy the issue : Whether by providing compensation or another benefit to those affected, be sure to take accountability when making amends.
• Reply on social media : Keep track of what people are saying on social media platforms, and respond where appropriate. Users will get a better understanding of the problem and see that you care.
• Glean insights and learning opportunities : Evaluate how you responded to the crisis and how you can make improvements in handling future events.

Media Relations

Establishing relationships with media contacts is a vital measure to make sure your company’s newsworthy stories are picked up. Here are eight tips for making those connections and communicating effectively in social situations .

• Customize your proposal : Do your research to make sure your pitch matches the journalist’s or publication’s specialty.
• Position yourself as a thought leader : Demonstrate your trustworthiness and industry authority so journalists view you as a preferred source.
• Develop captivating content : An interesting story will distinguish you and increase your chances of getting media coverage.
• Engage on social media : Connect with journalists on social media by sharing stories, commenting, and learning more about them as professionals.
• Be punctual in correspondence : Responding quickly will show you are dependable, cooperative, and understand when journalists are working on tight deadlines.
• Provide unique content : Giving journalists stories that you aren’t sharing elsewhere demonstrates your loyalty and motivates them to invest.
• Hold press events : In-person events help you nurture relationships with journalists.
• Show thanks for coverage : Thank journalists for their time and coverage to cultivate the relationship and maintain open channels of communication.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

The combined effect of search engine optimization and public relations can be significant. Search engine optimization (SEO) efforts involve making improvements to your website content and architecture so search engines can discover your site. Another component is building backlinks—links on other websites that direct to yours. When there are reputable websites that have links to your website, your organization’s search engine rankings improve, helping you rise in search results and enabling more users to easily find your site.

Public relations professionals can help grow the number of backlinks for a company in a variety of ways, such as:

• Developing meaningful content that others want to talk about
• Collaborating with top influencers
• Getting media coverage

Other ways that PR can boost SEO include:

• Enhancing brand reputation by positioning your organization as an authority
• Increasing brand awareness through campaigns, leading to more searches
• Producing fresh, top content that search engines will index, helping you rank higher
• Improving local SEO with events that grab media attention

Through the combination of a successful strategy and well-constructed communications, public relations has the ability to help you strategically influence public perception and meet organizational goals through a variety of methods.

Position Yourself as a PR Expert With a Master’s in Communications and Digital Media

The Pace University online MA in Communications and Digital Media prepares students to become communications leaders in the field through practical exercises and a culminating internship or thesis. The master’s in communications and digital media offers an optional Social Media and Public Relations concentration, which covers topics such as organizational communications and social responsibility; corporate communications; and media relations.

The Social Media and Public Relations concentration and the program as a whole emphasize vital writing skills—including a dedicated course for media relations and PR writing. MCA 620 Media Relations prepares students to develop messages, write for the media, build strategic media plans, conduct research, and write projects. The course provides students with the opportunity to build a strategic media plan for a local client, so they can learn first-hand how to develop PR messages, generate media coverage, and utilize new media strategies.

If you don’t have a bachelor’s degree yet, consider the Pace University BS in Professional Communication Studies . And, learn more about what kinds of PR and media careers you can embark on with a bachelor’s in communications .

About the Online MA in Communications and Digital Media at Pace University

The Pace University online Master of Arts in Communications and Digital Media prepares professionals for careers in the industry by helping them build excellent communications skills through engaging projects. The program includes coursework in editing, videography, production, public relations, advertising, and media writing. Choose an optional concentration in Digital Filmmaking and Media Production or Social Media and Public Relations, or create your own path by selecting courses from both areas. You’ll also have the choice to complete either an internship or thesis.

Learn more about the MA in Communications and Digital Media, or get started on your application today.

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To learn more about online Master of Arts in Communications and Digital Media program, fill out the fields in this form to download a free brochure . If you have any questions at any time, please contact an admission advisor at (866) 853-4658 .

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GPSolo eReport

GPSolo eReport August 2024

Coach’s Counsel: Turning Public Relations into Dollars

Eleanor kay southers.

Aug 27, 2024

• Do you have a top-notch public relations strategy as part of your marketing plan? If not, you are missing an important source of clients and revenue.
• Work at designing a mission statement that tells people what you do, then identify the people you want to connect with.
• The biggest disadvantage of public relations efforts is that they take a considerable amount of time to produce revenue. It is a “Johnny Appleseed” approach.

Do you have a top-notch public relations strategy as part of your marketing plan? If not, you are missing a big piece of income possibilities. Having coached attorneys for the past 15 years, I have found that few know the advantages or even the true purpose of public relations.

What Is Public Relations?

Let’s first look at exactly what public relations is and what it is not. It includes the word “public”—that means people, not robots. And it includes “relations,” which means contact with people.

Google Oxford Dictionary defines it as “The professional maintenance of a favorable public image by a company or other organization or a famous person.” Wikipedia expands the definition: “Public relation is the practice of managing and dissemination information from an individual or an organization . . . to the public in order to influence their perception.” As I will show you, lawyers, as owners of a solo or small firm or even as employees, can develop and use public relations to increase revenue.

To begin, you must work at designing a statement that tells people what you do. You would be surprised how many attorneys just assume that if they name a legal category, the public will know what they are doing every day. Most lay people have an image of a lawyer who often goes to court. Even after almost 40 years of being a lawyer, I couldn’t tell you what merger and acquisitions attorneys do on a day-to-day basis, let alone what kind of clients they might be looking for. I have a vague notion that they put people out of work, but I’m probably wrong. The public is also exposed to social media, television, and movies that portray certain kinds of attorneys who don’t resemble the real thing. It has been my experience that there is very little time to have three or four affairs going on at work. (Time for bathroom breaks is even nonexistent.)

Work On Creating a Clear Picture of Who You Are and What You Do

The best way to formulate a solid, relatable statement is to create both a personal and a business mission statement. This should be short and honest. For example, in my book Be a Better Lawyer: A Short Guide to a Long Career (2014), I give these two examples:

• Personal mission statement: To be an honest, effective attorney knowledgeable about the issues of my clients and dedicated to assisting them in their family law problems.
• Business mission statement: To be a small, highly efficient firm offering services to family law clients through personalized, individual attention while maintaining the highest ethics.

As you can see from these simple but carefully worded statements, much of your marketing plan can be developed. Think website, stationery, business cards, advertising, and on and on. This is especially true of public relations. Any written or oral communication can be based on these principles.

Who Do You Want to Connect With?

Next, you have to identify the public that you want to connect with. This means those people whom you will take the time and effort to educate as to what you do and all your good qualities. Then, you must devise a plan to keep yourself on their radar. Remember, this is a venue where the audience is going to find out that your image is one of competency, honesty, and value. Most of all, that same audience is going to remember what you do when they or a friend’s need arises.

How do you do that? Looking at a list of possible connection choices can be helpful: present and old clients, networking events, bar associations committees, articles in law journals and local newspapers, LinkedIn, speaking engagements, and so forth. Also considered local groups such as the Rotary Club or clubs focused on particular activities. How about coaching Little League and working as a volunteer for numerous good causes in your community?

Now you have your list of places to show off your well-earned superiority as a professional. That being said, be careful not to compare yourself as superior to other individuals. This is not a time to boast but a time to allow the public to get to know you. No bragging, just nice words about your work, slipping in as much as you can the language of your mission statement.

The same cautions apply to writing. Positive conversations and stories are better than discussions about what’s wrong with the world. This doesn’t mean that you hold back on your views, especially in your writings, but make sure that your audience has a clear picture of your values and how helpful you can be.

How Do You Keep Yourself on the Public’s Radar?

Now comes the question of how to keep yourself on the public’s radar. We also call this touching. It involves making sure that the public remembers you when they need you. This is where the increased revenue comes into play. You need to set up a system that operates to keep everyone in touch. Your system can include:

• Presentation packages for new clients. This contains an extra business card for a friend and all kinds of goodies to use if they want to contact you. Include explanations about what you do and what the client can expect.
• Classy promotional gifts. When I was practicing PI Law, I gave away compasses that attached to the dashboard of a car. New cars usually have that built in, but that gift was a winner.
• Monthly e-newsletters. Make sure you record the email address of everyone you “touch.” That way, you can send them a monthly newsletter with interesting news—not just hype.
• Birthday cards for clients. Don’t send them to lawyers; they are too cynical.
• Holiday email cards. Send these instead of a newsletter in January.
• Lunch or coffee dates. Carefully choose two or three people for these dates—maybe even ones who could refer to each other.
• Business cards. Never depart an event without leaving your card or having exchanged numbers on your phones.

Once the system is in place, your staff can handle a lot of it.

How Is Public Relations Different from Marketing?

The reason to set up this as a system is not to ask the audience directly to refer work to you but to let the public know you as someone who has the capabilities to understand the needs of the community and who would be willing to respond if asked.

Marketing involves spending a significant amount of money to be effective. Public relations involves spending a significant amount of time both in contact and free assistance. In other words, as an example, you would devote time to answering simple inquiries over the phone without a request for payment.

What Are the Disadvantages of Public Relations?

As you might have guessed by now, the biggest disadvantage is that public relations efforts take a considerable amount of time to produce revenue. It is a “Johnny Appleseed” approach. For those of you unfamiliar with Johnny, he was a 19th-century American missionary and iterant agriculturalist who was obsessed with planting apple seeds in several Eastern and Midwestern states. Of course, they did not produce apples right away, but his orchards became folklore. Communities today even have special Johnny Appleseed events. His name became synonymous with “planting and tending” patiently until fruit grows and can be harvested. The rewards went on for many years without much more attention than a little fertilizer. So can yours!

Requiring that time be properly managed can also be a disadvantage. Clever planning can help overcome this. Volunteer coaching can mean more time with your kids. Getting your staff involved with your system and its uniqueness can be a bonding experience that allows staff to become more involved with the business aspect of the firm.

Updating and reprioritizing your time management plan is a good action to be taken anytime. Your best buddy is your master calendar (containing all your appointments, appearances, and deadlines), followed by your personal calendar.

You can also employ a public relations firm at several thousand dollars a year. They will set you up with a plan that you need to participate in. They can get your picture in the journals and local papers—but so can you! Sometimes, public relations firms are hired to help a client overcome some bad event or image that will taint the firm or the person. If you already have your system in place, you have a whole army of people who can be contacted to counter any false or fake gossip. One of the main places my clients have found this useful is when a bad review comes out on Yelp or other social media sites. Discreet calls to two or three contacts can create reviews that refute the original false information and do so without breaking any privacy rules.

Magic Time: When a Potential Client Shows Up

Bill, with whom you coach a soccer team that includes your son and his grandson, makes an appointment. He is obviously upset as he shares the situation of his daughter, who is in an abusive marriage. He ends his story by asking if you can help. He also wants to find out what you do exactly.

The traditional answer is “family law, including divorce, custody issues, support, and related problems.”

The enlightened answer is, “I treat each client on an individual basis, listening carefully to his or her situation. I go through the process step-by-step, explaining the pros and cons as I emphasize what I think is the ethical and best way to handle the situation. I explain the area of law involved as simply as I can. I ask if the client has questions. It sounds as though I could help your daughter, although I would very much like to meet with her and discuss what can and cannot be done before either of us makes a commitment.”

I hope I have convinced you to think about upgrading your marketing plan to include public relations. It will be an interesting journey, and you might discover new and exciting avenues that your career can take.

Professional Legal Coaching

After many years of practicing in a firm and in a large Solo practice, I now offer Professional Legal Coaching.  As a trusted, experienced attorney whose only agenda is to help those in the legal profession define and...

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Business Defamation and Public Relations Response

Business defamation can have a devastating impact on a company's reputation and bottom line. Identifying defamatory statements online is pivotal, and implementing a system to track online mentions, respond promptly to negative reviews, and address false information is indispensable. Understanding legal countermeasures, such as filing lawsuits and sending cease and desist letters, is imperative. Crafting a crisis communication plan, responding to online criticism effectively, and rebuilding reputation and trust through transparency and accountability are also pivotal steps. By taking proactive measures, businesses can mitigate reputational damage and restore public trust, and understanding the nuances of each step can lead to a stronger, more resilient brand.

Table of Contents

Identifying Defamatory Statements Online

Online reviews, social media posts, and blogs can be breeding grounds for defamatory statements that can potentially damage a business's reputation and bottom line. These online platforms provide an avenue for individuals to express their opinions, but they can also be exploited by online trolls and cyberbullies who intentionally spread false and harmful information. It is vital for businesses to remain vigilant and monitor online activity to identify defamatory statements that can cause harm to their reputation.

Identifying defamatory statements online requires a thorough understanding of what constitutes defamation. Businesses should be aware of false statements that are communicated to others, causing harm to their reputation or financial loss. Cyberbullying tactics, such as posting fake reviews or spreading false rumors, can be particularly damaging. Businesses should establish a system to track online mentions, respond promptly to negative reviews, and address any false or misleading information. By being proactive, businesses can mitigate the impact of defamatory statements and protect their online reputation.

Understanding Legal Remedies Available

When a business becomes a victim of defamation, it is vital to understand the legal solutions available to rectify the situation and restore its reputation. Defamation can have severe consequences, including financial losses, damage to reputation, and erosion of customer trust. Fortunately, businesses have legal recourse to seek justice and compensation.

The legal solutions available to businesses include:

• Filing a lawsuit : Businesses can file a lawsuit against the individual or entity responsible for the defamatory statement, seeking damages and compensation for harm caused.
• Sending a cease and desist letter : A formal letter can be sent to the perpetrator, demanding they stop publishing the defamatory statement and retract any previous publications.
• Seeking an injunction : A court order can be obtained to stop the perpetrator from further publishing the defamatory statement.
• Pursuing criminal charges : In cases of severe defamation, criminal charges can be filed against the perpetrator.
• Notifying online platforms : Businesses can notify online platforms, such as social media or review websites, to remove the defamatory content, which is often possible under their terms of service.

It is vital to note that statute limitations apply to defamation cases, and businesses must act promptly to seek legal solution.

Crafting a Crisis Communication Plan

A well-crafted crisis communication plan is essential for businesses to effectively respond to defamation, as it enables them to swiftly address the situation, mitigate reputational damage, and restore public trust. This plan should identify potential crisis triggers, such as negative reviews, social media backlash, or legal allegations, and establish clear communication protocols for responding to these triggers.

Responding to Online Criticism Effectively

Reputation is a fragile asset that can be severely impacted by unaddressed online criticism, making timely and effective responses crucial for mitigating reputational damage. Adopting a crisis mindset allows businesses to respond swiftly and thoughtfully, minimizing the risk of escalation. When addressing online criticism, it's imperative to maintain good online etiquette, ensuring responses are respectful, empathetic, and professional.

To respond to online criticism effectively, consider the following key strategies:

• Monitor online reviews and social media platforms regularly to stay informed about customer feedback and concerns.
• Respond promptly to criticisms, acknowledging the issue and offering a solution or apology when necessary.
• Keep responses concise, clear, and respectful, avoiding confrontational language or tone.
• Empathize with customers, demonstrating understanding and concern for their experiences.
• Document all responses and interactions, maintaining a record of efforts to resolve issues and improve customer satisfaction.

Rebuilding Reputation and Trust

In the aftermath of online criticism, businesses must proactively work to rebuild trust with their customers and stakeholders by implementing strategies that demonstrate a genuine commitment to improvement and accountability. This requires a multifaceted approach that addresses the root causes of the criticism, while also showcasing a brand's ability to learn from its mistakes and grow.

Effective trust rebuilding involves transparency, open communication, and a willingness to listen to feedback. By acknowledging past mistakes and outlining concrete steps towards improvement, businesses can begin to restore faith with their audience. This can be achieved through public statements, social media engagement, and customer outreach programs. A well-executed brand revival strategy can help to reposition a company as a responsible and accountable entity, ultimately leading to the restoration of trust and reputation.

Ultimately, trust rebuilding is an ongoing process that requires sustained effort and commitment. By prioritizing transparency, accountability, and customer-centricity, businesses can create a strong foundation for long-term reputation recovery and brand revival.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can anonymous online critics be held legally accountable for defamation?.

Courts can pierce online anonymity through digital forensics, revealing critics' identities, but legal accountability for defamation depends on jurisdiction, proof of malicious intent, and balancing free speech with reputational harm.

How Does Business Defamation Differ From Personal Defamation Claims?

In defamation claims, business liability differs from personal claims as it involves reputation damage to a corporate entity, whereas personal defamation affects an individual's character and reputation, with distinct legal standards and damages applying to each.

Are Employee Social Media Posts Considered Company Representations?

Employee social media posts can be considered company representations if they appear to reflect the corporate voice, implicating company liability, but the line between personal opinion and professional representation is often blurry, testing the limits of employee autonomy.

Can a Company Sue a Former Employee for Defamation Online?

A company can potentially sue a former employee for online defamation if the employee's statements harm the employer's reputation through false online reviews or malicious posts, provided the company can prove damages and meet the legal burden of proof.

Do Defamation Laws Vary Significantly Between Countries or Regions?

Defamation laws indeed vary substantially between countries or regions, influenced by cultural nuances and jurisdictional complexities, resulting in distinct legal frameworks, solutions, and proof requirements that companies must navigate when addressing online defamation claims globally.

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Government of Canada lists federal lands for housing in Montréal and across the country

From: Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions

News release

On August 25, 2024, the Government of Canada announced a new tool for builders called the Canada Public Land Bank, the first step under the new Public Lands for Homes Plan. The Canada Public Land Bank features 56 federal properties that have been identified as being able to support housing, including five new properties now intended for leasing and ready for builders to submit their plans.

Efforts also under way for call for proposals for housing in multiple cities

Montréal, Quebec, August 28, 2024 – Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions (CED)

Canada is facing a housing crisis that is impacting lives and communities across the country. We need to build more homes, faster, to get Canadians into homes that meet their needs, at prices they can afford.

On August 25, 2024, the Government of Canada announced a new tool for builders called the Canada Public Land Bank , the first step under the new Public Lands for Homes Plan. The Canada Public Land Bank features 56 federal properties that have been identified as being able to support housing, including five new properties now intended for leasing and ready for builders to submit their plans. This new list will grow regularly in the coming months, along with further details on listed properties.

Today, the Honourable Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Minister of Tourism and Minister responsible for CED, accompanied by Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Member of Parliament for Saint‑Laurent, highlighted the redevelopment of the John Grierson Building in Montréal, one of the five federal properties now ready to be converted into housing. The property, located at 125 Houde Street, where the former head office of the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) was located, will be converted into residential apartments. A total of 110 units will be built, partly by modifying the existing building and partly by adding on to it.

Under the Public Lands for Homes Plan, we will partner with the housing sector and communities to build homes on every site suitable for housing across the federal portfolio. Wherever possible, we will do it with a novel long-term lease, not a one-time sale, to ensure every site has affordable housing and public land stays public.

To provide feedback on the land bank and its properties, the Government of Canada also launched a call for housing solutions for communities: a secure online platform . Input provided will inform the development of these properties, including engaging the broader interest of Indigenous Peoples and organizations, community organizations, builders, and other partners and housing providers.

Canada Lands Company is an essential actor in the development of federal lands. As per Budget 2024, the government will evolve and adapt the mandate of Canada Lands Company to allow the organization to deliver housing solutions more quickly under the new Public Lands for Homes Plan.

Canada Lands Company, in partnership with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, has launched a call for proposals from housing providers to access some of the Canada Public Land Bank properties available in Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa and Montréal on a long-term leasing basis at a discounted value. The detailed proposal information can be accessed through links directly in the property listings in the land bank.

Additionally, the Government of Canada is accelerating its real property disposal process to match the speed of builders and the urgency of getting affordable homes built for Canada. Public Services and Procurement Canada will adopt service standards to deliver these properties to interested partners for the purposes of housing. New measures will continue to be announced under the Public Lands for Homes Plan in the coming months.

“Available, accessible and affordable housing options are scarce, and too many people do not have a safe place to call home. We need to do things differently and work in partnership to build more homes, faster. We are leading a Team Canada effort to unlock public lands for housing at a pace and scale not seen in generations, thus leveraging these properties to build strong communities and more affordable housing for the benefit of all Canadians.”

The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Public Services and Procurement

“We need to build more homes in Canada, and one of the largest costs in building is land. By building on public lands, we can make it easier to build, and by leasing those same properties, we can make sure the homes built stay affordable for the long term.”

The Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities

“Public lands should be used for the public interest. Thanks to our Public Lands for Homes Plan, hundreds of Montréalers, including in Ville Saint-Laurent, will have access to affordable housing, faster. Our government is committed to creating more affordable housing in Montréal and across the country.”

The Honourable Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Minister of Tourism and Minister responsible for CED

“I am thrilled that the NFB building in Saint-Laurent is among the 56 properties across Canada that will be used to build affordable housing. For years, I have worked with various stakeholders in the Saint-Laurent community to advocate for and ensure the realization of a project of this nature, as it is very much needed. I am confident that with the support of our government and the various stakeholders involved, affordable homes will be built quickly on this land and the homes will be available to the most vulnerable.”

Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Member of Parliament for Saint-Laurent

Quick facts

• In 2024, the Government of Canada launched Solving the Housing Crisis: Canada’s Housing Plan, which lays out an ambitious whole-of-government approach to addressing the housing crisis by building more homes, making it easier to rent or own a home, and helping Canadians who cannot afford a home.
• A key component of Canada’s Housing Plan is the Public Lands for Homes Plan. This plan includes partnering with all levels of government, homebuilders and housing providers to build homes, faster, on surplus and underused public lands across the country.
• The Public Lands for Homes Plan supports the government’s goal of unlocking 250,000 new homes by 2031.
• Budget 2024 also provided $500 million, on a cash basis, to launch the new Public Lands Acquisition Fund, which will buy land from other orders of government to allow the federal government to acquire more land to be used for housing to help build middle-class homes. Work on the fund is already under way, and more details will be released in the coming weeks.
• a total of 305 hectares of land
• the size of approximately 2,000 hockey rinks or almost 400 Canadian Football League football fields

Associated links

• Budget 2024
• Solving the Housing Crisis: Canada’s Housing Plan   
• Public lands for homes
• Portfolio optimization: Disposal list

Information

Media Relations Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions [email protected]

Marie-Justine Torres Press Secretary Office of the Minister of Tourism and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions Cell: 613-327-5918 [email protected]

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