Six steps to choosing the right PR for you
By Fiona Pennington

Any effective public relations campaign can only be achieved by the repetition of core credible messages and it has been our experience that the level of repetition required is always underestimated. But before taking on PR, think about these steps to choosing the right PR for you

Step 1: Work out your objectives and expectations
The objectives you choose will define the scope and the level of PR activity. Like beacons on a dark night, the objectives guide all other activities.

Step 2: Determine key stakeholders or ‘publics’
It is important to define your key stakeholders or publics that the PR function is designed to influence. This is your target market and the people you want to tell your story to.

Step 3: Consider positioning, media readiness and future goals
Positioning is used to evaluate where you want to stand in relation to others in your industry and the perception of where you stand. What defines you from your competitors? Why is your story more important? The key messages you choose will be based on your current or projected position and must be consistently repeated. In order to have a strong profile, you will also need to consider how media ready you are. Who is your spokesperson? What happens in a crisis? When a journalist thinks of your industry, are you top of mind? If not, what needs to change to be the market leader?

Step 4: Examine your commitment to the process
The nature of good PR requires a long term commitment so that credible core messages can be repeated long enough for the cumulative effect to translate into business (and dollars) for you. We consider 12 months to be an ideal term for such a campaign to prove its worth.

Step 6: Know your budget
This can only be based on a detailed discussion of your PR expectations and business goals.

At DRPR we offer a team approach to meeting your PR goals and to providing more than just "churning our press releases". We consider ourselves to be big enough to be professional, but small enough to care. As a result we have a track record of fostering strong relationships with our clients where ideas can flow freely and we can offer independent and unbiased advice on a range of issues related to PR, media, communications and business in general.

April 2005

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