Creating a PR strategy is like creating any marketing campaign plan. You need to understand your goals and your audience to be able to define the messages you want to convey and how you’re going to convey them. It needs to be flexible enough so that you can adapt it to new data, new opportunities and new markets.

When creating your PR strategy, the first thing you want to think about is what you would like to achieve with this campaign. Once you have your objectives, take the time to define your targets. Understand your audience, what do they read? Where do they like to look for information?

Key objectives	Target audience	Key timing	Messages
Increase brand awareness	National and sector-related media, online and in print	Sector-related events and news	Comments and opinion articles, partnership news
Increase demand for your goods	Prospects, existing clients, employees	Product/service launches, data releases	Educate and inform, product comparison articles, research findings/opinions
Increase brand reputation	Partners, stakeholders, government regulators, investors	Trending news, data releases, case studies, testimonials, public mentions	Change people’s perception of your brand, showcase client satisfaction
Increase SEO ranking & website traffic	National and sector-related online media, prospects, social media	Sector-related events, trending news, new research	Educate and inform, give comments and opinions on trending news

The PR Plan

With your PR Matrix in place, plan your PR for each quarter. A simple plan will include what you want to do in your PR campaign and how. We added an example below that you can use as a starting point.

PR Calendar Simple Template

	Activities	Actions	Ad-hoc
Month 1
Month 2
Month 3

Activities

This section has three components, all of which are under your control and can be planned:

• Any activity that the business has in its plan, whether it is a launch of a new product or engagement in a local charity event, is worthy of an external comment. Remember that even if it does not get picked up by journalists, it will sit as updated news in the media room and keep the website live and current to any viewers. Research outputs, top tips and case studies that can be used by journalists in advice pieces are always in demand. 
• External PR should support any advertising that is planned at the same time. If media coverage is achieved it will materially add to the effectiveness of the advertising.
• Any events or news releases planned by others that can be leveraged by your business. This could be for example the release of a government report on a subject that is relevant to your business, a seasonal event such as Valentine’s Day or the London Marathon. Have access to a calendar listing the events, to get the timing right and coincide with the journalists' planning cycles.

Actions

Think about what you need to do to achieve your objectives. Examples are:

• Writing good quality and meaningful press releases. Journalists are wary of businesses sending out press releases too frequently just to advertise their business. Make sure to send genuine news that it is reasonable to expect the general public to have an interest in and the journalist will want to hear about it.
• Update the Press Room and website. It is then available for any visitors to the website, whether prospective customers or journalists, to read. Critically, this keeps the website up-to-date and retains visitors’ interest.
• Schedule a series of social media blogs.

Ad-hocs

Examples are:

• Comment on current news. The world of news never sleeps, and journalists are always looking out for new angles to trending stories. Businesses watching the news in their sector can simply comment on a trending subject.
• Respond to editorial requests. There is no better time to win the attention of a journalist and entice them to write about you, your brand and your product than when they are asking you for comments.