Perhaps you’re just about to launch your innovative new start-up and need a launch campaign or, you’re an established brand that wants more people to know what you do. In any case, you’ll need to implement the right public relations (PR) plan. In this article, we’ll outline several tips for getting started on your PR strategy. 

First, let’s define PR. According to the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), “Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.” It’s often a part of marketing, but not advertising. Running a PR program usually involves developing a relationship with media personnel and communicating with investors or internal stakeholders. In this bustling age of digital media, this process can also involve influencer relations and organic social media.

With these processes in mind, here’s what you need to develop your strategic PR plan.

Set the Vision

First, it’s important to set the vision for your brand. This begins with situation analysis—evaluating how your business currently stands. From there, you can decide where you want your brand to be in 1 year, 5 years, 10 years. Setting a big-picture vision rooted in research and analysis is extremely important in figuring out how PR can get you there. 

Define Your Mission

From then, you need to set your mission—what does your brand aim to do? Who do you serve? What problems does your product/service aim to address or fix for customers? This mission drives all of your communication efforts as it establishes purpose—why you do what you do. Your mission can then be worded into a statement, a concise message that summarizes your mission as a whole.

Establish PR Goals

This important groundwork leads us to the first piece of our PR puzzle—setting PR goals. What do you want to accomplish through PR? Developing high-level, attainable goals is crucial as it gives focus and provides benchmarks to constantly refer back to when implementing PR tactics. Your goals may map to a customer funnel, including stages for awareness, consideration, conversion, and advocacy. For example:

  1. Build brand awareness
  2. Provide information
  3. Create demand
  4. Manage reputation
  5. Foster relationships

Identify Relevant Objectives and Metrics

Derived from your goals are your objectives—measurable steps to achieve in order to fulfill your goals and pursue your mission. Objectives are also great to tie into your overall marketing plan as they engage key performance indicators. 

A tried and true acronym to consider in setting objectives is SMART—Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Timely. 

For example:

  • To achieve the GOAL of raising awareness for my new ramen noodle spot I’m opening in Los Angeles, my OBJECTIVE is to have at least 5 local food reviewers come visit my restaurant by the end of Q2 2021.
  • To achieve the GOAL of becoming a thought leader in sustainable outdoor gear, my OBJECTIVE is to develop a robust social media footprint and following of 100k on LinkedIn by December 2020.

Craft Your PR Strategy and Tactics

With your goals and objectives locked in, now it’s time to figure out how you’re going to achieve them through strategy and tactics. This part can be the most confusing. What’s the difference between a strategy and a tactic? How do they work together?

Think of strategy like the recipe, from gathering ingredients to prepping, cooking and finally enjoying your meal. Tactics are each step it takes to make your dish. 

Putting it all together, a strategy can look like this:

My vision is to become the first brand musicians think of when they want a small, highly portable amp. 

My goal is to increase brand awareness of my startup amp company within the music gear space, sustaining my mission statement to bring high-quality sound to every musician. 

My objectives are to establish relationships with the media and key influencers by April 2021.

My tactics are as follows:

  • Build a product launch campaign where I send out 50 pitches to review this product to music gear blogs/publications by August 2020
  • Table at 1-2 trade shows by April 2021
  • Create weekly, internal blog content that relates to my product

Summary & Tips for Small Companies

The overall strategy ties in every element—your vision, mission, goals and tactics. It’s the driving force and constant plan to refer to back to when implementing your tactics. Be sure to build this strategy informed by extensive research of your industry, trends and current business situation. 

We’ve created a strategy builder template for you to begin. Download the below worksheet here.

For small companies and start-ups, here are some takeaway tips and tactics to do right now.

Identify your customer and how your customer gets their news and information. 

  • Knowing how they get their information is important when pitching your brand/product/service to media outlets or when you have to build out content that caters to your audience.
  • If you are B2B, look to trade magazines, events, or business blogs that you can connect with. 

Create Asset Library and Media Kit

  • You will need a media kit—a document, deck or any other package of information that details your business. Include visuals, your mission statement, your brand history and what you offer. Canva has an excellent DIY Media Kit template that can help you get started.
  • Collect every visual asset and product description you have and save them in organized folders. This will make things much easier when press or influencers come to ask about what you do.

Start Local, Start Niche

  • Once you have your plan mapped out, don’t be afraid to start local and smaller. Pitching to local or niche media is a great way to engage your immediate community. This way, you can build a portfolio of media mentions to refer back to when growing your PR reach.

Find Contacts

  • One task that PR professionals do all the time is refresh and build media lists, organized lists of media contacts to send information to when the time comes.
  • We recommend searching for those media outlets you like to read/watch/listen to as well as those you think your customer does as well. 
  • Be sure to find contacts that report on what your brand does. No reporter wants to read an irrelevant pitch.
  • Pro Tip: You can sometimes find reporter emails if you look at the “MASTHEAD” or “CONTACT” site. But often they won’t be listed. If that’s the case, you can look to Twitter for more contact information and, if the reporter seems open to it, you can DM them from there. Do try your best to find emails as it is the most professional and easy to organize communication.

Be Genuine

  • Throughout this whole process, you have to be sincere. Transparency, honesty and authenticity always win. In communicating with others, be true to your current situation, but don’t be afraid to be ambitious and aim for those PR opportunities that may seem out of reach. Your passion for your brand will draw in interest. Be persistent, share your stories and be genuine.

By building and implementing your strategy through these essential parts of PR, you will see cost-effective results. They may not be immediate, but they are vital in expanding your business. You have the essentials to construct an impactful PR strategy, now is the time to take reign and make it happen. 

Amplify is here to help.

Looking for support on how to develop your PR strategy? Need any assistance with content marketing through these trying times? We are happy to help—reach out to us for a free consultation today.

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