If you, like many people, equate public relations with getting news coverage, then you just don’t understand PR. True PR is about helping to create positive, mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics (internal and external). Media relations are just one of many ways of reach this objective. If you’re limiting your PR efforts to media relations, then you’re not getting the full benefit of PR.
Effective PR starts with a strategy and a plan. There are PR “experts” out there delivering four or five bullet points of advice and calling it a PR plan.
A PR plan should include:
- an assessment of the external environment
- a view of the industry
- background and history about the organization
- analysis of the product/service/issue
- a look at promotions, including past successes and failures, competitors’ activities, and ad/PR/marketing strategies, themes and campaigns
- a look at market share
- a review of the competition
- available resources, including current attitudes and opinions that are beneficial
- a SWOT analysis
- a thorough breakdown of public profiles
- specific, measurable, time-bound objectives to support the accomplishment of a goal
- a selection of communication channels and tactics for reaching each public
Staged events, workplace communication, social media networks, tv, radio, video, billboards, blogs, landing pages, and mobile communication are some of the other many PR channels that are available. Solely relying upon media relations, or leaning on it too heavily, probably won’t achieve the best results possible as far as desired stakeholder responses.
So make sure the PR advice you’re getting has examined all of the options – and don’t confuse PR as simply news coverage.
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