How to Develop a Public Relations Plan

A pubic relations plan consists of many different forms of publicity working together to better your business. Developing a PR plan and constantly reviewing and updating it will help you put all the necessary tools together to accomplish your goals.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Research, assess and plan. Look at the past year's PR campaign, if there was any. Find out what the public knows and how it views your business and see how your competitors publicize. Build a database of editors and reporters, their target audiences, press release deadlines, how often they publish and complete contact information.
2. Define your objectives and goals. Create a list, concentrating on what your business hopes to accomplish, including establishing expertise, building goodwill and brand image, introducing a new product or service and increasing sales. Develop a deadline or benchmarks for results and consider your budget.
3. Determine your business's target audience. This will narrow your list of publications and markets, ensuring the most publicity for your budget.
4. Create a schedule and plan for your PR campaign. Create a list, concentrating on press releases, articles, customer success stories, letters to the editor, press conferences, interviews, media tours, seminars, speaking events and event sponsorships.
5. Carry out your plan. Review results and modify the campaign as needed. Be available for interviews to establish yourself as an expert in the field of your business.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure press releases are newsworthy.
• Send out press releases 4 to 6 months before major product releases and contact the media throughout the time-line of regular news releases.