Strategic PR Planning and Goal Setting

I found this blog post to be interesting because it relates to what I am learning in my Public Relations Publications class. It is very important to plan, no matter what industry in which one may work.

Strategic PR Planning and Goal Setting

Setting goals in public relations is a lot like setting financial goals. It involves planning and long-term thinking. Many people like to take their PR planning one day at a time, but this strategy can make your company lose out on countless opportunities. For instance, did you know that many magazines plan their content six months in advance? If you want a magazine to publish your top ten list of holiday stress relievers, then you will have to have the news release sent to the editor by June!

Not all magazines have six-month lead times, but editors do like to plan ahead. Why not be the first to offer them a great idea to fill their back-to-school section, holiday edition or spring fashion issue? Scrambling at the last minute can also add stress and additional expense to your public relations efforts. Save time and money by planning ahead!

To help you plan ahead, you need to ask yourself three strategic questions:

Who are my target audiences?
What is my message?
How do we reach our audiences?

Who are your target audiences? It is important to be able to articulate exactly who you want to communicate with. Targeting the general public at large is an ineffective, expensive way to get your message across to key publics. Stop for a moment and consider what publics you want to connect with.

Ask yourself these questions:
Who are the primary users/purchasers of my product/service?
What are the demographics and spending patterns of these customers?
Where do they shop, what do they read, what shows do they watch on television?
Who are the secondary users/purchasers of my product/service?
Who do I want to be my primary or secondary customers?
What target markets already exist that we have not communicated with?
What are some untapped target markets with potential customers that we should communicate with?

Answering these questions and conducting research to find out who your publics are will help you set specific goals for how to reach these publics.

Adapted from: Stephanie A. Salter