18 Oct 6 Tips To Help You Raise the Bar On Public Relations Strategy
So, you’ve hashed out your PR strategy. The big question is “Now what?” Before you begin, take a deep breath, grab your favourite white board or journal, marker or tablet, and follow these great tips to help guide you on your journey to PR strategy nirvana.
Be Thoroughly Thorough.
One of the easiest ways to take your PR strategy to the next level is by following through on the basics. If you haven’t already done so, review your strategies and fill in any holes your research has identified as missing. Be thorough when defining audience, checking competition, choosing goals, and setting budgets. Reviewing and poking holes in your strategies is the only way to ensure you stay on top of your PR game. The review should answer all of the questions you may have and it will definitely help you determine if the course of action in your strategies is sound, or if it needs to be revised. Regular reviews will make you a bonafide star when it comes to achieving effective PR strategy!
From Little Things, Big Things Grow.
Details can make or break a PR strategy. Paying attention to the little things helps your PR go the distance. For instance, descriptive, catchy titles or headlines will do better than titles that state only the basics. Remember, titles are one of the first things your audience will be attracted to so make it count – so Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers! Not bad, and definitely better than ‘Mr. Piper Grabs Some Peppers’. Extra marks go to creativity and alliteration! Another detail that’s important is being prompt. It’s good practice to respond quickly when communicating by phone or email. It can be the deal breaker when you’re looking for someone to enhance your PR, like a journalist or blogger. Paying attention to details, or the little things, is a simple and easy way to take your PR strategy to the next level.
Relationship Building.
Another way to ramp up your PR strategy is by building on existing relationships or adding new ones. Bloggers and journalists are often an integral component to your PR strategy and nurturing these key relationships helps them represent your business to their audience. It’s no secret that word travels fast, so accurate representation is vital. When you’re building relationships or making new ones, you should ask yourself whether that relationship is relevant. Having a blogger that’s willing to feature your services doesn’t help your business if they write to donut lovers and you are selling shoes, that’s a PR strategy fail! When reaching out to influencers, remember to broaden your reach by choosing bloggers AND journalists vs just one platform. And remember, as per step one, review your PR relationships regularly to ensure you’re building the right ones that align to your PR strategy.
Stay True To You.
With the daily grind of emails and paperwork, it can get a bit tricky to remember the key elements and stories that make your business so special. Through that grind, make sure you stay true to both you and your business. Telling your story and sharing what makes your business unique is a must-do in PR strategy. A great example of this is partnering with your favourite charity or getting your team together to volunteer at a local community event. Sponsorship and volunteer work can provide your business with great word-of-mouth recognition and advertising opportunities for the support. And the best part, it’s an endeavour that you and your employees can feel good about.
Always Tie Up Loose Ends.
Once your PR strategies are rolling and you’ve received exposure, don’t forget to follow up. Whether you were mentioned in a blog post or featured in the newspaper, make sure you finish the job. This means building links from the relationships you’ve created. Write a blog post about your volunteer event or share a newspaper mention on social media; these are great ways to capitalize on the awareness raised by effective PR work. Make sure your follow up is timely, it will help to cement the positive message and exposure in consumer’s minds. Helping to tie in the result is a great way to deliver PR strategy success.
Get PR Smart.
Building a PR strategy can have a lot of “ins and outs” to navigate. Once you’ve worked on your overall strategy, review it for relevancy. Your PR efforts need to make sense for your business. And don’t forget that distribution is key too. If you’ve put the effort towards make a newsworthy release, take the time to evaluate where it’s going to end up. Distribute wisely! Do your research ahead of time to pick a relevant media outlet and make sure that your finished product is going to get the attention it deserves, in the right places!
If you’re having PR doubts, don’t be afraid to hire qualified help! PR takes time and effort so if you need a hand developing a PR strategy, leveling up a PR strategy, or just need an extra hand to get the work done, our PR professionals at Better Mousetrap are ready to assist. Contact us today!
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