Mata Kuliah
Tahun
: O0354 - Public Relations Writing
: 2010
PR PLAN
Pertemuan 25 & 26
"Public Relations is about reputation; the result of what you
do, what you say and what others say about you.”
(Chartered Institute of Public Relations)
Planned PR is the most effective PR.
One of the most basic PR skills is the ability to write a solid
communications plan.
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• Any public relations campaign should start with a plan.
The plan can be dynamic and change as the situation
changes, but if a well-thought-out communications plan
is in place before the campaign is launched, everyone
involved will be better prepared to roll with the punches.
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• Many corporations and established PR agencies have
their own "house style," so to speak, of writing a
communications plan. Some are extremely short and
simple, while others are lengthy and elaborate. The
names may vary, but all communications plans should
have seven basic elements.
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Situational Analysis
Key Messages
Goals and Objectives
Audiences
Tactics
Budget
Evaluation
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Situational Analysis
• This is background information on the situation being
communicated about. The situational analysis can
include information on the company's history and current
culture, the state of the marketplace or industry, the
economic and political situation surrounding the
company at the moment, a crisis or emergency that is
threatening or some other change approaching, a new
product about to be launched, etc.
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• The situational analysis really can't be too detailed. It
should include any research the communications
department staff has access to or has done themselves,
studies and articles from relevant publications, expert
testimony — even anecdotes from the staff’s personal
experience can be included here. The bottom line:
provide a detailed portrait of the problem or opportunity.
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Key Messages
• Two to four points or statements the company would like
to get across to its audiences.
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Goals & Objectives
• Goal (s) are one to three major outcomes the
communications plan is meant to accomplish. Goals should
be written in broad strokes and are usually somewhat
visionary, rather than specific.
• Each goal should then have one or two objectives. These
must be specific and measurable and should include a time
element. Example: If one goal is "To become the top Apple
computer dealer in our 10-county region," then one
objective might be "To increase sales of the PowerMac G4
laptop in 2008 by 10 percent over 2007 sales."
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• Objectives are clearly measurable through quantitative
research, such as studies and financial analyses. In the
example above, it is quite straightforward to find out how
many laptops were sold in 2007, to track progress
toward the 2008 goal, and to measure sales again at the
end of 2008 to see if the objective was met.
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Audiences
• Sometimes called "publics," these are simply the people
(or entities) to whom the key messages must be
communicated in order to reach the goals and
objectives. Audiences are often divided into primary and
secondary categories, especially when the budget is
tight – so that staff can concentrate effort on the most
important audiences first.
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• With that said, give the choice of audiences careful
thought. An audience includes anyone who might be
affected by whatever the company is doing in this plan.
For example, if the company is building a new facility,
people living in the neighborhood will be affected and will
need to receive some communication. An environmental
group might become an audience if the facility is being
built in a wildlife habitat area. Make sure no one is left
out.
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Tactics
• The communicator should come up with at least one
communications tactic for each audience. Tactics are the
specific methods used to communicate. For example, if
the organization’s own employees are an audience,
tactics might include an all-employee e-mail message
and an article in the employee newsletter; for board
members, a letter from the CEO; for the media, a letter
to the editor or a standard press release; and for the
local community, an op-ed piece in the local paper and a
town meeting.
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• Deciding what tactics to use for each audience is
another article in itself. The communicator should use
research, his or her own experience and that of
coworkers, advice from other PR practitioners and
industry best practices to determine how each audience
is most likely to be informed and persuaded.
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Budget
• Obtaining budget approval is one of the primary reasons
why a formal written proposal is prepared. As such, budgets
are often set out in a separate section. Formats vary based,
but ultimately are recast to conform with charts of accounted
used by accountants.
• Consultants and agencies generally seek approval of their
total spending plans, including compensation (fees) and
reimbursement for direct (out-of- pocket) expenses.
• Programs conducted by in-house staffs generally focus only
on out-of-pocket expenses. However, a frequent question is
whether costs are to paid from existing budgets or net new
allocations.
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Evaluation
• Every communications plan must include some form of
evaluation to be done at the end of the campaign, as
defined by the plan document. Even if the campaign’s
budget is tight, the staff can do an informal review and
discuss what went well and what didn’t.
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• If clear, measurable objectives were set when
developing the plan, then some kind of research or
analysis should be possible to determine whether the
objectives were reached. Collect feedback from various
audiences, whether informally through e-mails, calls from
the public or a review of media coverage of the issue, or
formally with a scientific survey done at the beginning of
the campaign and repeated at the end.
• There are dozens of ways to evaluate the success of a
public relations effort, and none of them is necessarily
"right" or "wrong." The only mistake a professional
communicator can really make here is to fail to evaluate
the campaign at all.
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RACE
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RESEARCH
Situation Analysis
Key Messages
ANALYSIS
Goals & Objectives
Audience
COMMUNICATION
Tactics
EVALUATION
Evaluation
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