Lots of do-it-yourself PR plans give basic advice as to identifying stakeholders, using social media, how to pitch reporters, measuring results, and so forth. These are all key tactics when it comes to crafting a sensible public relations strategy. PR campaigns are certainly scalable; your business goal may be to publicize your child’s lemonade stand to the neighborhood, dominate global industry rivals, or somewhere in between (a big divide, no doubt).
Still – no matter the scale or the desired results, your messaging must fundamentally make sense and be relevant to your plan. Getting precise, resonant messaging is not as easy as some may think it is. There’s a reason why we remember certain marketing and publicity taglines. There’s also a reason why any given time politicians rant about particular policy issues, and tend to ignore others. Being a DC PR firm with experience advocating for clients, we’re here to pull back the curtain.
The secret is polling … or research, surveys, or other form of group analysis that considers variations in messaging. The best publicists, before launching a PR campaign, use one of these testing methods to preview different messages before a sample audience. In doing so, they can determine which messages, themes, phrases, or other ideas are likely to move target audiences toward the client’s desired business goals.
Without such precise messaging, what you may assume are the best business slogan or set of talking points can be wildly off base. And, once a PR campaign is launched, it’s hard to go back and take corrective measures if the messaging is weak. Think of the PR campaign as building a house – your foundation, polling, must be strong if the rest of the campaign is to succeed.
So before you get started on your way to captain-of-industry status, be sure to take extra time to develop great messaging for your PR campaign.
