The global public relations (PR) market is expected to reach $114.1 billion by the end of 2024 — a 6.5% increase compared to $106.93 billion the previous year.
Today, PR is the way to help businesses connect with their target audience. That is why having a strong and effective public relations strategy is increasingly important. Through it, you can portray your brand image, enhance credibility, capture the attention of ideal customers, and foster brand loyalty.
This article, backed by experts from leading public relations firms, will cover the question “What is a PR strategy?”, outlining actionable steps for developing a successful PR plan, and sharing five winning PR tactics.
Table of Contents
What Is a Public Relations Strategy?
The public relations strategy definition is simple. It’s a set of steps and actions that help a brand organize and execute its coverage on various media outlets. It determines the best way to communicate with its target audience and aims to improve the overall brand image.
Essentially, a PR strategy spreads the word about a business, its products and services. The goal is to improve brand recognition and reputation, as well as to maintain a positive relationship with its customers.
The development and implementation of a public relations strategy help businesses:
- Generate interest in their products/services
- Organize messaging and storytelling in a way that resonates with their audience
- Influence the public perception of their brand
How To Create a Successful Public Relations Strategy
In today's competitive landscape, where perception is paramount, a well-structured PR strategy can make all the difference. Below, we outline five crucial steps to help you develop a comprehensive PR strategy that aligns with your objectives, resonates with your target audience, and drives meaningful results
- Define Your PR Goals
- Identify Your Target Audience
- Tailor Your Messaging
- Create Content
- Choose Your PR Tools
1. Define Your PR Goals
Knowing the exact result you wish to achieve will determine the steps involved in creating a public relations strategy. Your objectives will also help you define your messaging, so you connect with your audience.
Your PR goals should be results-oriented and SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timely:
- Specific: What do you want to achieve? What is the purpose of your PR? Where will it be done (using which channels)?
- Measurable: How will you know if you’ve reached your goal? Can you track the progress of your PR campaign?
- Achievable: Is your goal feasible? Have you set goals that are realistic, reasonable and within your standards?
- Relevant: Is the goal worthwhile? Is it consistent with your branding? Does it fit with your business plan?
- Timely: When do you want to accomplish your goal?
You may also want to consider some of these PR goals:
- Improving your brand reputation and image
- Boosting your brand awareness
- Increasing the demand for your goods
- Being perceived as a thought leader in your industry
Be wary of the difference between a PR goal and a PR objective. While your PR goal may be vague and broad, the objective should be more specific.
For example, a goal for a high-end, classic menswear brand may be improving its brand reputation as its customer base is decreasing. The objective would be to promote its unique selling proposition via partnerships with fashion influencers to elevate the brand and boost brand awareness.
2. Identify Your Target Audience
A target audience and ideal customer/buyer persona for your public relations strategy can be individuals or groups, other businesses or consumers. This includes:
- Existing customers
- Prospects and leads
- Stakeholders
- Business partners
- Investors
- Government sectors
- Employees and potential recruits
- Media
These audiences react to PR strategies differently. Consider your PR goals and objectives and ask yourself which specific target audience will help you achieve them.
3. Tailor Your Messaging
The purpose of PR messaging is to:
- Educate and inform your audience
- Motivate customers to take the desired action
- Affect the people’s perception of your business
These should not get lost in your public relations strategy. Keep your messages to the point and align them with your target audience’s pain points, aspirations and core values.
When creating your PR messaging, ask yourself these questions:
- What is my brand mission and core value?
- What do I want my audience to know about my business?
- Why should my customers choose my business over competitors (what is my unique value proposition?)
4. Create Content
Your PR strategy should send the right message to the right audience and foster your brand reputation. Hence, content marketing should play a pivotal role due to its versatility and effectiveness.
For example, if you want your brand to be perceived as trustworthy, your audience should recognize you as an expert in your niche. You can then create well-researched, educational content that shares key insights and relevant data. If executed properly, you will be perceived as a thought leader in no time.
5. Choose Your PR Tools
Finally, consider your PR tool options that will help you with the following:
- Monitoring your media mentions
- Finding journalists, influencers and media houses
- Spotting media trends
- Identifying contact details
- Writing and outreaching content
- Distributing press releases
Some of the most popular PR tools include:
- HARO (Help A Reporter Out) Connects journalists and businesses with expert sources, enabling brands to tell their stories.
- BuzzStream researches influencers, finds contact information, and identifies the best sites to request links from.
- Prezly connects brands with influencers via email and social media, has an online media center where you can publish your stories.
- SellHack uses publicly accessible information to determine likely contact details.
- LexisNexis offers a great collection of global news and business insights, media aggregation, monitoring, and analytics solution.
Five PR Tactics and Examples
If you’re wondering how to create a PR strategy, look at some effective public relations strategy examples below. Also, you can use public relations strategy templates to develop an approach that will help your business reach new heights!
Here are the five PR tactics that have proven to work:
- Press Releases
- Traditional Advertising
- Social Media Activity
- Influencer Marketing
- Community and Industry Events
1. Press Releases
To understand the importance of press releases in a PR strategy, we must clarify the difference between paid vs. owned vs. earned media.
Paid media is content you pay to publish through ads or sponsorship, while owned media is created and managed by yourself, like on your website or social media page. Lastly, earned media is created by others about you, such as reviews or social media posts. Paid media costs money, while owned and earned media are free.
A Nielsen study showed that 92% of customers trust earned media content — when others write about your brand, products or services, without paying them to, the audience sees you as credible and trustworthy. That is where press releases jump in.
Press releases effectively promote your brand or product through media channels, such as magazines, news, or blogs. They help increase awareness about your brand, product or event and drive traffic to your website. This tactic is successful when shared with a relevant audience.
For example, In 2020, Tesla announced a record in vehicle production and delivery, with over 180,000 delivered in the previous three months. Its press release was successful because it provoked interest in the company's achievements, highlighted its success and innovation, reassured investors, and showed that the company was still growing and performing well.
2. Traditional Advertising
When sharing your brand story, you might consider TV advertising or even appearing in TV shows to reach a large audience. However, getting coverage in national media is challenging — many brands are competing in this race and only a tiny percentage is succeeding. Focusing on the local news is better until you have enough recognition to reach the national press.
Targeting local media increases your chances of reaching your target audience. Local press has less competition, and you don't need an exceptional story to be newsworthy. If your story is interesting, it can gain the attention you aim for and eventually be picked up by national media.
Coca-Cola is known for its iconic TV commercials featuring catchy jingles and messages. One memorable example is their "Share a Coke" advertising campaign. They replaced their logo on bottles from one side with popular first names, encouraging consumers to share a Coke with friends and family.
3. Social Media Activity
Being actively present on social media platforms your audience uses is essential for every brand that aims to develop a strong public relations strategy. Social media can help increase brand awareness, spread messages, and prevent potential PR crises by responding in real time.
However, creating a social media account and leaving the rest of the work to your followers is not enough. Actually, this approach leads to disaster. To get the most out of this PR tactic, you must share helpful content, actively engage with your followers, and join relevant discussions.
Also, you should use social media listening tools to monitor what people say about the brand, so you can adjust your strategy if needed.
Wendy's has gained a reputation for their witty social media presence. In 2017, they went viral when a user asked how many retweets it would take to get free chicken nuggets. Wendy's replied with a challenge: if the tweet received 18 million retweets, they would give the user free nuggets for a year. The initial tweet has since gathered 84.3k retweets and Wendy's got great free PR!
4. Influencer Marketing
People are likelier to trust recommendations from others rather than direct brand advertising, with influencer marketing being a fast-growing customer acquisition channel. Many companies have seen better results and higher returns on investment by partnering with an influencer. For example, adding influencer marketing to a public relations strategy can bring an ROI of up to $20 for every dollar spent.
By collaborating with influencers, brands can increase their visibility, traffic and conversions. To use the full potential of influencer marketing, hire influencers in your niche who share your brand values and can promote your brand to their followers.
Fashion brand Daniel Wellington is known for partnering with influencers to promote their watches on social media. One example is their collaboration with fashion blogger Kristina Bazan, who posted multiple photos of her wearing Daniel Wellington watches on her Instagram, showing them to her 2.5 million followers.
5. Community and Industry Events
Hosting events is a powerful tactic for your PR strategy that can help promote your brand, connect with industry leaders, and engage with your target audience. However, organizing your event, although significant, is not enough; you must also participate in events organized by other brands in your community.
You can contribute by speaking on topics you are knowledgeable about, asking questions during panel discussions, or setting up an information booth. These actions will increase your visibility and help you build connections.
Apple regularly holds product launch events to promote and showcase its latest technology. The event is eagerly anticipated each year, as they first reveal the company’s new additions, features and improvements.
Public Relations Strategy Takeaways
The main goals of a public relations strategy are to create, maintain, and protect the reputation of a business by presenting its image favorably to specific audiences. Having a robust PR strategy helps with:
- Better exposure
- Crisis management
- Customer trust
- Lead generation
- Attracting talent and investors
The five-step process of creating a public relations strategy consists of:
- Defining your PR goals
- Identifying your target audience(s)
- Tailoring your messaging for each audience
- Creating compelling content
- Using suitable PR tools
PR Strategy FAQs
1. What does a good PR strategy look like?
A good public relations strategy consists of a consistent and strategic effort to build and maintain positive relationships with customers, investors, and the media. It involves clear and transparent communication, a focus on building trust and credibility, and a commitment to addressing concerns and issues quickly and effectively.
A successful PR strategy should also align with the brand's overall goals and values and help enhance its reputation and brand image.
2. How do you set PR objectives?
Your PR goals should be SMART — specific, measurable, actionable, realistic and time-bound. SMART goals will help you measure the success of your efforts and allow you to make adjustments as needed to achieve your desired outcomes.
3. What is the best PR strategy?
Word-of-mouth — your audience talking about your brand or products — is the best PR strategy that increases brand awareness and credibility. To get people talking about your brand, use proven PR tactics like press releases, traditional advertising channels, social media, collaborate with influencers, and attain and attend community and industry events.
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