Public Relations

by Vicky Elpers

In this series, Vicky Elpers will explain the acceptable and expected writing format for PR campaigns, how to use the RAISE method, how to write measurable objectives, define goals, targets, strategies and create and use a Gantt time-chart for optimum management of all those minor yet crucial details.

What exactly goes into a PR campaign? Creative ideas + attention-grabbing headlines do NOT = success for your business. A true campaign must be written and this demands the use of an acceptable format, the establishment of measurable objectives, effective time/goal management and finally proving to your boss that you’ve achieved the desired outcomes.

This overview will define terminology so that you can ‘speak the language’ of communications professionals. One clear point to keep in mind is this: a PR ‘program’ is not the same as a ‘campaign.' A ‘program’ is ongoing with no clear beginning or end. A ‘campaign’ is time-limited and can be planned for one month to two years, but it is designed to measure effect and requires greater precision to plan and execute. To do this most effectively, PR professionals use what has become known as the RAISE method. The RAISE method involves planning at each stage and each stage of the campaign planning is equal in value. (Public Relations Campaign Strategies – Planning for Implementation by Robert Kendall, HarperCollins)

R = Research
A = Adaptation
IS = Implementation Strategy
E = Evaluation

Research is crucial to the overall success of the campaign. It will assist you in clearly defining your target audience as well as determining methods of reaching your desired audience. While we attempt to define research as being ‘pre-campaign’ and ‘post-campaign’, we also conduct mid-campaign research. In fact, it’s easier to simply accept the fact that research is part of the continuum. It is a repeating process and the post-campaign research usually generates the pre-campaign research for the next required campaign. After all, Public Relations is about building socially responsible relationships – this cannot begin and end with one campaign. It is a building process, which requires follow-up maintenance – as all good relationships do.

The Adaptation stage requires you to clearly define your goals and write measurable objectives designed to achieve those goals while considering strategies, target publics and of course, the formidable budget. This will be addressed in a future article in this series.

Implementation Strategy is simply a fancy term for ‘tell me how you’re gonna do it.' So for example, if we met at a company picnic and you said you planned to achieve greater recognition (of your business or logo) in the community, I would recognize your goal and could ‘label’ your goal as a corporate-identity campaign; but what I and your CEO really want to know is ‘how are you going to do it?’ What is your strategy for implementing this campaign to achieve that goal?

Evaluation is fairly straightforward. Put simply, you will evaluate the success (or failure) of the campaign. If objectives were written in a measurable manner, your job just got easier.

The RAISE method could be considered a ‘thought process’ designed to make campaign planning and writing easier. It is also easier to prove the value of the PR department to the CEO at budget time. It is easy to see the benefit of retaining sales staff – just look at the dollars generated by sales. The dilemma faced by PR is to find a way of reflecting your value to the company in dollars – the only thing your CEO will understand when it’s time to crunch those numbers. So if your corporate-identity campaign actually created greater recognition in the community – chances are product sales or demand for services also increased. Where would the sales department be without YOU? Or perhaps your community relations efforts helped stave off a massive lawsuit – then translate the potential costs of the avoided lawsuit into dollars and point that out to your CEO. Public Relations professionals must not only be excellent writers – they must think both strategically and laterally to solve problems, address issues and avoid a crisis. This ‘thinking’ will be clearly defined in the campaign

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© Vicky Elpers, 1st rights