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Public Relations

Campaign Strategies

A public relations campaign is a series of activities that are planned in advance and relate to a specific goal. There are several models that can be used in the steps of planning a campaign. Strategic planning is a cyclical process usually beginning with research and ending with evaluation, only to circle back to research. It is essential to review and evaluate the success of each previous campaign to plan for future campaigns. “Being able to demonstrate the value of your work gets you hired and promoted” (Kelleher, 2017).

RPIE MODEL

Research-

When research comes at the beginning of the planning process, or during the implementation of a plan, it is known as formative research. This type of research helps you formulate your program and its components: goals, objectives, strategies, and tactics (known as GOST). Formative research can be formal or informal, and in public relations it often comes from data from web analytics.

Research completed at the end of a campaign is called summative research. It is at a stopping point in your campaign when you ask “did it work?” Both summative research and formative research can be quantitative or qualitative. At this point a public relations professional may complete a SWOT analysis. During this, they asses their campaigns strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This analysis factors in both internal and external factors that affect the organization.

The research phase is the point where an organization defines its publics. Publics are defined as groups of people with shared interests. It is best to have a mutually beneficial relationship between an organization and its publics. External publics are outside of the organization and are generally reached via channels of mass media. Internal publics are thought of as employees and members and are almost always reached via internal channels.

Planning-

Public relations planning is thought of as preparation for opportunity. Yale social psychologist William Mcguire developed a hierarchy-of-effects model that outlines key steps in public communication campaigns. Although not every public relations campaign will address all nine of these outcomes, thinking through the list can help planning because it helps you avoid setting goals at one level.

At the bottom of the pyramid is tuning in: when people are just exposed to the message. The next step up is attending: when people acknowledge your message. Next is liking: people must maintain interest on order to process it further. Comprehending: understanding complex ideas or considering a different side of a multidimensional issue. Learning: helping publics acquire relevant skills. Next, the publics must agree: change their attitude about the issue. Remembering: because even with the best intentions, people often forget what is learned and what they agreed to do. Acting: actual behavior change. Proselytizing: when members of publics advocate the goals and objectives to others.

Implementation-

After research and planning, its time to implement programs and manage the communication that goes along with them. There are a spectrum of media options: owned, paid, shared, and earned media. Owned media is content created from experts. Owned channels include newsletters, corporate videos, brochures, direct mail, etc. Paid media is most commonly known as advertising. It is designed to promote the organization as a whole and can include banner ads, targeted email distribution, pay-per-click, native advertising and advertorials. Shared media happens when someone sees an article or story, they clip it, attach a note, and share it. This process has been made easy through the use of social media. Earned media, or publicity, is defined as “information from an outside source that is used by the media because it has news value”.

Evaluation-

Evaluation is the process by which we determine the value of our work. We evaluate to understand our return on investment and demonstrate to our employers and clients the value they receive when they invest in us and our programs. The Barcelona Principles are an example of a framework for effective public relations and communication measurement.

Kelleher, T. (2017). Public relations. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.