Campaigns are a significant part of the public relations profession and should be carried out with meticulous planning and thorough management. Specific step-by-step measures should be taken when planning any PR campaign to ensure it meets the objectives set or, in other words, achieves what needs to be achieved.
Thorough planning processes in PR campaigns demonstrate that whatever results occur are deliberate or, indeed, have be taken into consideration. Here I’ll list the 12 stages of planning a successful PR campaign.
RESEARCH
No matter what kind of PR activity you’re involved in, research will be at the core of it. Depending on what you’re doing, different research methods can be used at various times. For example, if you’re working on a campaign to influence teachers that a school drug testing programme will help eradicate drug abuse among pupils, you might want to find out their current opinion by carrying out a nationwide questionnaire among teachers. Or maybe you’re embarking on an internal communications audit and want to speak more in depth with employees. Initiating a focus group might be a good means to do this.
Research methods are categorised into two groups:
Primary
This is finding out the information you want first hand: Questionnaires, one-to-one interviews, telephone interviews, focus groups, blogs etc.
Secondary
Often called desk research and involves gathering information from already published sources: Books, journals, papers, libraries, Internet etc.
SITUATION ANALYSIS
The research you’ve carried out should clearly define the current situation with regard to the campaign. Depending on what’s involved, this might include an organisation’s current situation in the market, how it’s perceived by customers or staff or how it’s fairing financially. Going back to the drug testing in schools example, it might include the current situation with regard to public opinion on the issue or how it’s been