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Setting PR/Marketing Goals & Objective

Jennifer Moss, State President of FPRA, Executive Director of the Ear Research Foundation, and Communications Director for the Silverstein Institute, certainly was well qualified to lead a discussion in public relations and marketing objectives. Jennifer’s plan relates to any business or profession. 

There are several ways you could go about laying a plan for the next hundred and twenty days or even the next five years. Perhaps the most important step is to decide at what point your objective and expected outcome should be discussed in your strategy. Most would place this at the very beginning. After all, how can you craft a plan if you do not know where you are going 

Jennifer encourages you to decide on the objective at the end of your proposal. Here is “The Art of PR Planning,” by Jennifer Moss. Answer these questions in the exact order given, to implement your goals.

What is the purpose of your plan? Are you changing goals? Meeting a new challenge? Gaining control of a problem? Facilitating a change in values? Delivering a promise?

What is the core problem? Write a succinct statement of the problem, before you start your plan. Why are you writing this specific plan? “Address the disease, not the symptoms.” Narrow your problem to be manageable.

 

What is the executive summary? This includes many items. Here are a few.

• Communication process.
• Vision, Purpose, Mission, Brand, Commodity, Service, Values.
• SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, Threats.)
• Problem statement.
• Evaluation process.

Now, it is time to dig in and develop your plan!

 

Program:
Give your plan a name.

Situation Analysis:
Research specifics directly related to your program. This includes industry trends, competition, customer’s needs, and the problem statement.

Goals:
You already have the why. Now, decide who you want to be, making sure it aligns with your company’s mission statement. Your goals should be measurable, so you have the ability to study the results…not the process.

Customer Key Message:
Narrow down your target audience and write a message that is meaningful, memorable, understandable, believable, and appropriate. This is also a great place for your elevator pitch.

Strategy:
The operational concept and game plan. Decide how you will approach the challenges, your action or communication alternatives, philosophy, and your creative approaches and ideas. What are your competitors not doing?

Tactics/Actions:
What? Where? How? You will need to implement tools, using resources to carry out your strategy. What vehicles or channels will be used for communication?

Timeline:
The when and by who. Identify who is responsible for the plan to succeed and the completion date.

Budget:
This includes all costs of staff, research, communication, equipment, printing, and administrative expenses.

 

Now, you can decide your expected outcome!

 

Objective:
Specify the results. (More specific than goals.) Decide on the possible achievements, strategies versus the program. You’ll need a list of desired awareness, attitude, or action. What do you want your customers to do? Each objective should mention an outcome, attainment level, (percentages) and time frame.

Evaluation:
How will you measure and evaluate the plan’s results against the previously set desired outcomes? Use the same technique as your research, comparing apples to apples. Basically, you are answering these questions: How many customers do you have? How many do you want? (Remember, you need realistic goals and objectives.)

Measuring the Impact of Your Plan:
Simply put, did your customers show up? Evaluate your output, performance, completion of planned goals/objectives. Did you do what you said you were going to do? Did you increase awareness? What effect did the plan have on your customer’s behavior? What actions were taken by your audience/customer’s?

Finally, compare your Strategies, Tactics/Actions, and Objectives/Expected Outcome. This is the quickest and most accurate way to know if your plan was a success.

 

Blog Topic Covered by Ron Knight - www.authorronknight.com

 

Elevator Pitch

At the FPRA workshop, Erin McLeod led three classes on creating your elevator pitch. Erin is the Chief Operating Officer for Senior Friendship Centers, Inc., serving six counties in Southwest Florida. She holds a degree in public relations and public speaking from the University of Florida, with intensive coursework in nonprofit management.

Erin’s philosophy on today’s elevator pitch covers three main areas:

• Efficient
• Confident
• Conversational

 

Efficient
Keep your elevator pitch under thirty-five words or less. Introduce yourself and explain why you approached the individual. Include their name while doing so.

Example: “Hello Mr. Jones. I am Ron Knight, author of several thriller novels. I understand that you are a literary agent for Weisman Associates.”

 

Confident
What are the top three things you want remembered in the short conversation? (About you or the business.)

Example:

1. My name, Ron Knight, is my brand and I want it to be remembered.
2. I am a novelist that has written thrillers for all ages.
3. My style of writing is quick, explosive paragraphs and chapters.

 

Conversational
Ask a short, thoughtful question that shows you know something about them or their company that can be answered in a few words. What is the one most important goal you want to accomplish with your elevator pitch?

 “I understand that you represent authors in the thriller genre. Are you currently accepting queries?”

Close with a brief recognition of their name and thank them for the time.

 “I appreciate you taking a few moments with me, Mr. Jones.”

 Be efficient and smooth with your words, show confidence with a brief statement, and make sure they understand that you are interested by using their name at least twice.

 The key to any great elevator pitch is to practice. Attend networking meetings where you are forced to introduce yourself to the group and explain who you are in thirty seconds. You will also have a social time, where you can introduce yourself to several others, face-to-face. 

Be ready with more than one elevator pitch. Customize each pitch, depending on whom you are speaking with. 

That thirty-second introduction can launch your career to the next level.

Ron Knight

www.authorronknight.com

Erin McLeod, COO, Senior Friendship Centers, Inc.

Email: emleod@friendshipcnters.org

Writing Effective Press Releases – Michael Eng, The Observer Group

Do you ever feel like your press releases never generate any interest in your company? Or, ever wonder why the local media isn't jumping at the bit when you send them the latest news?

You may not be writing your press releases with the media in mind. After sitting down with Pamela Eubanks, News Editor at the East County Observer, at the CWCFPRA May Special Event, a few lightbulbs lit up. 

A press release may mean many things... but to us PR folk, it is the meat of the "information" that we usually share with reporters, editors, and media writers in our coverage area, in hopes of getting our company in the news. They are meant to give ideas, break news, recap events, and be a source of information for the writers.

Here are some ways to increase the effectiveness of your press releases,
while keeping the media in mind:

GET TO KNOW YOUR NEWS OUTLETS
When writing press releases, it is best to be specific to what type of media you're writing for. Get to know the sections they look to fill. Is the news you have more fit for a business brief? Or, will it make for a great 'behind-the-scenes' feature? What about a weekly paper that likes to write profiles and have a "human interest" angle? You'll want to think about your company and its programming differently depending on what time of media outlet you are sending your news to. 

WHAT'S THE NEWS?
Your local media wants to share your news. So, what is it? Say your business is having a special event. Well, what's so special about it? Is it the 10th annual event? Or is it the first? Who will be there? What's it for? Find that unique angle - and go for it. As a PR professional, it's your job to investigate and research (even dig, if you have to!) to find that one "catch" that'll make the news outlets latch onto your pitch.

THE 5 W's
I know it sounds archaic, but you must (and I mean, must!) include the basic Who, What, When, Where and most importantly, Why. What if the reporter doesn't have time to follow up with you? You want to make sure all the nuts & bolts are there - and always leave your contact information so that they can follow up with you for an interview or for more information.

PROOFREAD
Sounds simple, right? I'm not talking about grammar and spelling - that should be a no brainer. But, Ms. Eubanks said many press releases she receives sends incorrect information, or worse, incomplete information. Make sure that there are no missing pieces, or it's left on your shoulders if information is printed without a date or time. 

READY TO SEND?
In the olden days, press releases were mailed out or faxed. Nowadays, it's as simple as an email. But - get to know your reporters because some have different preferences as far as attachments and file types go. If it's a Word document, Ms. Eubanks suggested pasting the release into the body of the email. There are so many different versions of Word, that you run a high risk of the reporter not being able to open your file. My suggestion? Send as a .pdf. 

INCLUDE A PHOTO!
What's the fun of reading a story without art? Your story pitch is much more likely to happen if you have a photo. Always include some sort of art that's active and interesting. And, don't forget a cutline! Write about what's going on in the photo, and Ms. Eubank said you have a much higher chance of it getting printed.

WRITE A KILLER SUBJECT LINE
The subject line of your email is the most important. Ms. Eubank said she receives about 100 press releases a day - and you've got to make your news stand out. She also said that she has to sift through a lot of releases that don't seem pertinent to her coverage area or her readers' interests. Put the NEWS in your subject line and you're much more likely to catch a reporter's attention.

FOLLOW-UP... BUT ONLY IF NECESSARY
I know, I know: your company just had a grand opening. I know you think it's awesome. I know you think the newspaper should write about it. But, 3 follow-up phone calls after you sent the initial press release is just not necessary. Ms. Eubank said it's okay to call and follow up to make sure that everything went through, but if you don't hear back... the reporter probably isn't interested. And that's okay! Try, and try again next time.

 

How to Increase Your Advertising Performance Chris Bernard – dock29

Increase you Advertising Performance with Christopher Bernard

When it comes to advertising, there’s a strong temptation to use as many outlets as possible. You want to have all of your bases covered and reach your target audience in as many forms of media as they use. This strategy is far from budget-friendly and usually ineffective. Christopher Bernard, chief strategist at Dock29 Marketing offered his advice on how to increase your advertising performance through strategy development. 

The first question you need to ask is what makes your client different from your client’s competitors? This question to ask is just as much what are you doing that they aren’t as what are you NOT doing that they are. The best way to do this is to create a chart that profiles your top 5 competitors. Some of the categories that you should look into include their annual sales, services, tag lines, quality, pricing, special offers, target markets, marketing techniques and online presence. Knowing your competition will help you create a campaign that breaks through the clutter and makes you message heard in your industry.

Once you’re familiar with your client’s industry and competition, you need to research the customer. What problems do they have? How do they word these problems? A great way to do this is to place an inexpensive ad on Google Adwords. You can track dozens of keywords in your industry and receive data about which words are being used the most. A word of advice for choosing your keywords: think about selecting non-technical terms. If your customers are unfamiliar with your brand, they are less likely to use industry jargon. Once you know what your customer wants and how they ask for it, you can create a campaign tailored to their needs.

            Now that you know what you want to say, make sure that you keep the look and feel consistent. It’s important that your customers can easily recognize your brand, especially over multiple forms of media. Also, explicitly map out your advertising budget and calendar. That way there should be no unexpected costs that pop up and cause you to go over budget during your ad campaign.

            Finally throughout the duration of your campaign, be sure to track your messages success. Whether you’re tracking profit margins or website hits evaluation is the best way to tell whether your campaign is working and prevent you from spending too much money if it isn’t. Christopher Bernard left with the phrase advertising is an expense until proven otherwise. You’re overall goal in research and strategic planning is to know exactly what you’re getting for your investment and prove that advertising is a valuable expense in your business plan. 

 

Christopher Bernard also suggests filling out a client profile to establish the who, what, where, when and why in planning your strategy.

This, along with his powerpoint presentation can be found at http://dock29marketing.com/connect-with-us/resources

 

Optimizing Images for Print, Web & E-commerce - Cody Maple

The world of Adobe Creative Suite can be intimidating for the PR professional looking to dabble in graphic design. The fastest way to acclimate yourself is to dive right in and learn from your soon to be plentiful mistakes. Cody Maple, Advanced Designer at the Ringling College of Art and Design, offered a few guidelines for beginners at the last FPRA/LWRBA event.

 

Choosing an image or Size does matter 

Sometimes finding the right image for your project can be the hardest part. Even after you find the perfect image it might not be the right size or quality. There are two different types of print images: Raster and Vector.

Raster images are composed of pixels of color that make an image when all placed together. Web images require at least 72 Ppi or pixels per inch and print pictures require 150-300 Ppi. Pictures can be changed to increase or decrease the Ppi level, but at the cost of the size of the photo. When you increase the Ppi, you’re condensing the pixels together, which causes the picture to become smaller. This is why pictures become blurry when you stretch them out; you’re decreasing the pixels per inch.

Stretching out an image can be a problem when you want the same company logo used on a business card to be printed on a billboard. Raster images aren’t made to stretch out that far. However, vector images can be stretched because they are made with curves rather than pixels. These images are made to be resized and will look the same no matter what you print them on.

Most cameras take Raster photos, so it’s best to take pictures under the highest raw setting. You can always make your pictures smaller, but you can’t make them bigger. If you’re taking your picture from the internet, you can filter results by size in Google Images to start with a large canvas. As a good rule of thumb, if your picture looks good zoomed in by at lease 150% then it will look good in print. Always save a copy of the original picture. This way you can use the picture again or -- in the worst case scenario – start your project over.

 

Finding the right colors or It looked so much prettier on the screen!

There are commonly used color schemes in Adobe CS: RGB and CMYK. RGB, which stands for red, green and blue is always used for web projects. CMYK -- or cyan, magenta, yellow and black -- is used for print projects.

Your colors may look different on screen than on the printed sheet. This is because all computer screens show colors differently and your particular screen could be affected by level of brightness and even the lighting in the room that it’s in. For serious graphic designers, Cody recommends a color swatchboard. You find a color that you want to use on the printed swatchboard and then enter the CMYK code into Adobe. This way no matter how the color looks on screen it will print in the color that you want. 

 

Saving under the right file format or bad time for a power outage 

When it comes to saving your Adobe CS project there are many different file formats to choose from. Each one is appropriate for different projects. Here are a few main ones that you’ll probably use the most often.

•  JPG or JPEG files are easy, flexible and load easily on websites. The only flaw is that they lose data after each compression. This means that over time your image might look different the more times you edit it.
• TIFFs save their data no matter how many times you edit them and are preferred by printers.
• PSD -- which is short for Photoshop Document – and PNGs are two other formats that you can save your file under. They’re recognized throughout Adobe Creative Suite and most websites, but it’s best to stick with JPGs and TIFFs when possible.    

 

Time to print or break out the bubbly, you did it!

Phew, you’ve made it this far, now it’s time to print. Always ask for a proof from your printer. It’s better to find a mistake or change a color last minute on one copy than to find a mistake after you’ve printed 4,000 copies.

The major costs to the printers are setting up presses and ink wells. This means that the cost of printing 5,000 copies will only cost a little more than 4,000. If your not sure how many copies you’ll need, it’s cost effective to print more now than to reprint later. 

These guidelines should help you choose the right image for your project, resize it to your needs, set your color so it still looks good in print and save your file to print easily or be opened later. Once the world of Adobe Creative Suite is open to you, the sky is the limit for what you can design!