Denver, CO, Dec. 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Are you looking ahead to 2021, putting together a rock-solid plan for your brand, both building it and protecting it? This is exactly what we’ve been up to for the past few weeks both for M&C Communications and for our clients.
Templatizing your 2021 PR Plan
At M&C Communications, we use a basic structure with all of our PR plans, which includes research.
- Primary: This is research you conduct yourself. This could be in the form of a survey, questionnaire or something more in-depth
- Secondary: This is research you find from an outside source, such as online articles
After research, we perform a SWOT analysis.
- Strengths: What are your internal strengths?
- Weaknesses: What are your internal weaknesses?
- Opportunities: What external opportunities are there for your brand?
- Threats: What external threats could affect your brand?
One of the most important things you can do to build Brand Protection is to develop messaging that creates customer loyalty. We have talked at length about the 4 Cs (clear, compassionate, consistent, conversational)! Use them when establishing your brand’s messaging in 2021.
Establish your objectives. We review these quarterly for our clients. Your objectives should be SMART.
- Specific: Your objectives should be details
- Measurable: Your objective should be able to be measured with metrics
- Attainable: Your objectives should be challenging but within reach through your work
- Realistic: Challenging yourself is good but always work within your means
- Timely: Be deadline-oriented
When working with our objectives, it’s important to utilize the PESO method to ensure you’re optimizing all of the possible ways to attain media coverage.
- Paid: This coverage you pay for like commercials or advertising online
- Earned: This is media coverage you have earned through outreach and media pitching
- Shared: This is content where you’ve collaborated with others
- Owned: This is content you produce for your brand (and where YOU control the message!)
Examples of Brand Protection PR™ using your strengths
At M&C Communications, our niche is Insider Media Relations™. This means we understand the media inside and out! We are all former journalists and maintain close relationships with our former colleagues working in news. We use these professional relationships when working to earn coverage for our clients.
One of the easiest ways you can begin to build relationships with journalists covering your industry is by using Twitter. It is the fastest and easiest way to connect with journalists. Any good journalist lives on Twitter because of how quickly the platform can disseminate breaking news.
Whether you are engaging with their work or chiming in on a casual conversation, your efforts to connect will not go unnoticed. Keep in mind as technology continues to boom, digital and social media will continue to be significant outlets where people get their news fix. Journalists are increasingly critiqued on their social media presence by their managers, so there is an incentive to interact with brands who connect with them online.
So take a morning, decide on your goals, created your measurable objectives, and then map out monthly tactics so by this time next year, you'll look back at your Brand Protection PR™ plan and know that the work was worth every minute you spent.