Whether you’re a long-established business or just starting out, building a solid PR plan is vital. PR doesn’t just make your formal statements, ensure campaigns and events go smoothly, and clean up messes, your public relations team (whether internal or external) works with all key team members in order to effectively and efficiently communicate your brand message and story and build the credibility and buzz you’ll need to make a real splash moving forward. Knowing how to build a PR plan in 2023 may take a little time and effort, but it’s important to help you reach your goals.
Ready to get started? Here’s what you need to know.
Start with setting goals
You can’t build a PR plan without knowing what you’re hoping to accomplish with it, right? Before you work to determine what kinds of strategies, campaigns, and the like you’ll want to establish end goals and objectives. Whether you’re working to boost brand awareness and get the word out, you’re hoping to drive sales, web traffic, or social engagement, or you have a completely different goal, knowing what you’re trying to accomplish will help you craft strategies that will most effectively help you achieve that specific objective.
Define your audience
In order to understand how best to execute your eventual PR plan, you need to know who you’re going to be talking to. Who is your audience? What are they like, what do they value? Why should they listen to you and why would they want to? Understanding your audience will help you create the right messaging you’ll need in order to reach the people you’re hoping to reach.
Write your main message
What are you trying to say about your brand? Key brand messaging is vital for executing a successful PR plan. Clearly spell out who you are, what your mission is, and what sets you apart from any and everyone else doing the same thing you are and make sure it’s all being done in a way that is easy for your audience to comprehend. If your audience is consumers, then you don’t want to move forward with messaging that’s riddled with expert terminology. Everything needs to come back to who it is that you’re talking to through your PR plans and upcoming campaigns.
Iron out your strategies
Now you’re ready to move forward with the nitty gritty details of your PR plan. What sorts of strategies do you want to try? How can you best reach your audience? These kinds of questions are essential when building out your plan. Consider if you want to focus your efforts on media relations, social media, influencer partnerships, or some other method. Then, determine how you can put those plans into action. Partnering with a company like Press Hook helps you streamline your workflow and take your media relations efforts to the next level. Planning to move forward with influencers? Which ones will allow you to reach the audience you’re trying to reach? Thinking through all facets of your plans will help you more seamlessly execute the plan when it’s time to do so.
Determine your budget
Of course, any PR plan needs a schedule and budget for implementation. Consult an editorial calendar, your internal budget, your goals, and the rest of your planning in order to solidify what the roll out of the plan will look like. Can you work with that leading influencer or does your budget not allow for it? Do you need to speed up your timeline to ensure you’re ready for an upcoming product launch? All of these kinds of details need to be taken into account.
Measure success and make adjustments
Any good plan needs to be monitored for success. After all, you can’t be sure it’s moving the needle if you’re not paying attention to how things are going. Determine how you’re going to measure the success of your PR plan and then work to track those metrics. Does it seem as though you’re falling behind your goal? Then it’s time to make adjustments to your plans to get yourself back on track.
Understanding how to build a PR plan in 2023 requires the ability to be creative, while still staying up to date with changing trends and technologies. But by beginning with solidly set goals and taking things one step at a time, while being prepared to regularly and consistently reevaluate your plans as needed, you’ll set yourself up for long-term success.
Ready to discover how Press Hook can help you build out and refine your PR plan? Book a call with our team to learn more.
