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Elements of a PR Plan

This post was originally published on my PR blog: NakedPR.

Most small business owners have heard of a business plan and marketing plan, but have no idea how to develop a public relations plan. Here’s a short breakdown of PR plan components, and what they mean:

  • Problem / Opportunity - the problem facing the organization (such as no awareness of a non-profit organization and what they do) or an opportunity to reach the public in a new way
  • Situational Analysis - describe the situation (problem or opportunity) in detail
  • Goal - what is your primary goal? It should be broad, and probably not easy to quantify (i.e. “to raise public awareness of XYZ Organization”)
  • Audience - who are your key publics? who do you want your message to reach?
  • Message - what is the message you want your PR campaign to get across to the public?
  • Objectives - objectives will be more specific than your primary goal, and should be quantifiable and measureable (i.e. Attract 100,000 new donors over the course of 6 months)
  • Strategies - how will you meet your objectives in a general sense? (i.e. Involve a local celebrity who has a tie to your cause.)
  • Tactics - what specific things will you do during your PR campaign to reach your objectives and goals, which will fall within your strategies? (i.e. Host an event, send press releases, hold a speech / lecture, release a radio public service announcement, etc.)
  • Media List - a list of relevant media contacts you’ll use in your campaign
  • Calendar / Timeline / Gantt Plan - Your schedule for the course of your PR campaign
  • Budget - Include an overall budget estimate, as well as a breakdown of where that budget will be spent on your PR efforts
  • Evaluation - how do you plan to evaluate the whether or not your plan will be successful? How will you measure results to ensure you’ve met your objectives?

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