Everything You Need for a Successful PR Campaign

February 8, 2022 - 7 min read

Yuvika Iyer

A PR campaign can have a tremendous impact on your company’s public image and brand reputation, but it needs to be strategically planned and executed effectively.

A good PR campaign does not mean organizing a fundraiser or launching a press release to the media. You’ll need the right PR software or monitoring tools to create effective campaigns.

Here’s how to create and run the best PR campaigns that enhance your brand value, increase sales, and build positive relationships with the public.

What is a PR campaign?

PR or public relations is a strategic process that builds positive relationships between a company or brand and its audience.

A PR campaign is an organized set of activities designed to positively impact a brand’s reputation. It involves engaging and interacting with the target audience to achieve a specific goal.

Every PR campaign has three distinctive characteristics:

Identifying a specific goal
Creating the message to achieve the predetermined goal
Communicating the message to the target audience

Here are a few examples of campaign goals that companies may set:

Raising market awareness for a new product or service
Informing the public about any company news
Enhancing the brand’s market reputation
Attracting a new or larger audience
Repositioning an existing product in a new market or territory

How to plan a PR campaign

Let’s jump in and see how we can create a winning PR campaign that successfully attracts the target audience, builds brand awareness, and enhances company revenues.

Clarify the desired campaign goal

Identifying the end campaign objective is the first step for marketers. They must determine the overall marketing strategy and outline the steps required to achieve the predefined goals.

Consider the methods the team will use to measure the campaign’s success. No company would want to receive a bunch of social media screenshots. Instead, they would prefer having clear metrics that support the business objectives.

Determine the ideal audience

PR campaigns need to target the right audience to reach their goals.

For example, you would not target students in the age group of 20-25 if the campaign goal is to increase brand awareness for project management software. The campaign would aim to reach professionals and entrepreneurs who manage projects or project portfolios.

Getting the audience mix right will help your team create an appropriate public relations strategy and media plan.

Brainstorm the campaign plan

Teams need a plan to achieve their goals. Bring in cross-functional teams to generate fresh perspectives and germinate new ideas. Connect the feedback and suggestions to create a campaign roadmap.

Here are a few questions that can help with brainstorming:

What will be the campaign message?
Who is the intended audience for the PR campaign?
Which platforms will be used for broadcasting the campaign message?
Which content formats will be used for the campaign?

Scan the market

In this step, review the market and benchmark your competitors.

Execute competitive analysis, digital media reviews, and social media assessments to help clarify how your campaign fits into the broader market. Identify market trends and formulate a plan for countering potential negative reactions.

Identify your ideal platforms or channels

Pick the platforms or channels where your target audience hangs out. Companies can host offline press conferences, send press releases, or disseminate information using social media influencers. If your audience is between 20-35 years of age, for instance, you might lean on social media to market your product.

Connecting your PR strategy to the brand’s SEO strategy or digital marketing plan can boost its overall effectiveness.

Get early feedback

Getting early feedback on the campaign enables teams to catch obvious mistakes and avoid creating messages that are irrelevant or inaccurate.

Start the process by asking these questions:

What is important for our target audience?
What are the most important pain points of end-user? Will the campaign help to solve it?
Does the campaign message resonate with the audience?

Present the campaign ideas to experts like social media influencers and journalists. Then, share the message with the client to make sure that it aligns with their company values and brand preferences.

Complete the final checks

Before the official PR campaign launch, get the team to double-check everything. Ensure everything is accurate, from the campaign assets to data to launch dates.

Consider leaving some wiggle room to adjust if an activity doesn’t go to plan. Review competitor news and current market data and keep an eye on holidays to make last-minute changes.

Follow up

Remember to have a plan B in place. The majority of the journalists, influencers, and media staff have a crowded inbox full of pitches. Stand out by regularly following up to illustrate clearly why your campaign is newsworthy.

Best practices for PR campaigns

To help you create a winning PR campaign, we’ve compiled our best tips:

Establish the overall campaign goal, roadmap, budget, and timeline
Identify not just the target audience but also their demographic and psychographic attributes
Ensure the story is creative and illustrate how it adds value to the public
Build a relationship with the journalists who cover your specific industry
Ensure 360-degree coverage by including traditional print media, news outlets, social media, and online news sites
Use data-driven insights to plan, create, and implement the campaign
Allow ample time to tweak or pivot the campaign activities to succeed

Everything You Need for a Successful PR Campaign 2 — Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash

How to monitor the success of a PR campaign

Brands spend a considerable amount of time, energy, and resources on PR campaigns. Measuring its success not only helps in justifying its intent but also supports future business growth.

No two campaigns are the same. Different companies use various metrics to measure their campaign success, such as:

Increase in sales
Social media reach and engagement
Social shares on platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Instagram
Brand mentions in the press
Media impressions
Keyword rankings in search engines
Number and quality of leads generated
Website traffic

PR campaigns that made an impact

Many companies use PR campaigns to grow brand awareness, generate word-of-mouth referrals, and increase their customer base.

But how do you create PR campaigns that leave a memorable impact on your audience? Check out these best PR campaign examples that can serve as an inspiration for yours:

Example 1 – #RebuildTheWorld campaign by LEGO

When the iconic brand LEGO created its #RebuildTheWorld campaign in 2019, they chose the global platform Twitter to build it on.

LEGO highlighted its brand message throughout Twitter to connect with people of all ages, and these were the results:

Gained 92K #RebuildTheWorld tweets
Increased positive market sentiment of Lego by 35%

Example 2 – Ice Bucket Challenge by The ALS Association

The ALS Association is a BBB accredited US non-profit that advocates and seeks to discover treatments for the progressive nervous system disease ALS.

Its Ice Bucket Challenge campaign went hugely viral in 2014 and was one of the most highly successful campaigns of all time. Here are its results:

Raised $115 million to support The ALS Association’s research and development of supportive technologies
Boosted the organization’s annual funding by 187%
Expanded their clinical network by 50%

Types of PR management software

Completing your task becomes easier with the right tools by your side. PR monitoring tools are a must-have for high-performing marketing teams. They enable complete PR life cycle management, from media outreach to tracking campaign success.

Some PR software solutions deliver these capabilities within a unified hub, while others specialize in a specific area, such as media monitoring software. Here are the different types of PR software:

Media and influencer targeting software: Focuses on media and influencer management
Media monitoring software: Tracks media coverage extensively
PR analytics software: Drills down on campaign reporting and analytics
PR CRM software: Serves as a single source of truth for PR assets, customers, and external contacts
Press release distribution software: Disseminates press releases and stores them in an organized database

How to use Wrike as your PR project management software

Making a brand look good isn’t as easy as it sounds. Every brand or company needs public relations, irrespective of its size. It needs to stand out in a crowded marketplace.

Applying project management for PR enables teams to visualize the big picture. Brands can use PR project management software like Wrike to plan and manage campaigns, execute PR outreach, and publish press releases.

Wrike enables teams to assign tasks easily, track progress, measure campaign success, and organize contacts. Get a free two-week Wrike trial to streamline your media database, track campaign ROI, and consistently build successful PR campaigns.

Yuvika Iyer

Yuvika is a freelance writer who specializes in recruitment and resume writing.

#Digital Marketing #Marketing Strategies #Agencies

Marketing 10 min read

Top Tips for Creating a Twitter Marketing Strategy

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A good Twitter marketing strategy involves creating and publishing content that will attract new followers and improve your brand recognition. Why is Twitter good for marketing? Twitter is not as creative as other platforms like Facebook and Instagram. However, it does have an advertising audience of 353 million and is the first in line for customer service as far as social media apps go. Not only is Twitter a must-have social media tool, but it’s also effective for engaging individuals, sharing time-sensitive content, and staying up to date with what’s going on in the world as it relates to your business. How to create a Twitter marketing strategy Despite its fast-paced nature, Twitter still requires a bit of strategic planning and discipline to get the most out of it. Not to mention the fact that it’s important to be prepared for all the unexpected conversations that happen on Twitter. Having a strategy in place will help you respond to any situation that may arise while also building a strong marketing and sales funnel for your brand. Here’s everything you need to know to successfully implement a Twitter marketing strategy. 1. Evaluate your current strategy You should check your existing social media accounts both on and off Twitter to make sure they're in good standing. This will help identify any issues that need addressing now before you launch the next phase. 2. Define clear goals Having clear goals is the first step to achieving success on any social media platform. You should create goals that are specific, measurable, and time-bound. These should align with your company's greater objectives and be realistic about the resources you have to dedicate to the project. You’ll also need to get specific about which metrics you’ll use to measure progress and how often you’ll check in with goals. Remember that there are a ton of different metrics available but not all of them will be applicable to your particular goals. 3. Check out the competition By carefully analyzing the accounts of your competitors, you can learn about their weaknesses and develop a stronger strategy. Look for common themes, tweet frequency, and their most popular tweets to better understand what your audiences are looking for. You can also use this information to improve on what they’re already putting out there in your own content. Pro tip: You can also get digital marketing inspiration from original strategy examples found elsewhere that you can make your own on Twitter. 4. Create a Twitter guide Your company’s customized Twitter guide should include a code of conduct and a clear set of style guidelines anyone can replicate. First, follow a clear responsibilities policy to ensure that everyone is on board with how you’ll deal with the variety of scenarios you may find yourself in on Twitter, which can be a well-known hangout for pot stirrers and ‘trolls’. Even something as simple as accidentally having multiple team members answer the same questions can create a lot of confusion and lead to unproductive discussions. Following actionable guidelines will prevent these common roadblocks from happening in the first place. Next, remember that a good social media style guide is also helpful to keep your team's communications on track. This will prevent branding mistakes and minimize miscommunication. Keep in mind that your brand personality should be consistent across all platforms. It should also communicate your company's values and goals. 5. Create your Twitter profile Having a professional Twitter profile can help strengthen your brand and inform your audience. You also want to make sure that your handle is consistent across all platforms. Here are the steps you’ll need to take in order to get started: Create a handle. Your username is the first thing that people will see when they look at your profile. It should include your company's name and other recognizable details. Add a profile photo. Make sure your imagery keeps to the correct dimensions and is high-resolution. Add a header image. Your profile should also feature a clean and prominent header image. It can help provide insight into your company culture or reflect on current campaigns. Write your bio. A well-written and snappy bio is also important to stand out from the crowd. You can also use a tagline or a creative image to highlight your brand personality. Include a link. Send click-throughs to your homepage or a dedicated landing page for Twitter audiences. Choose a location. One of the most important elements of your profile is your location. This is very important for small businesses as they want their customers to be able to find them offline. Add a birthday. Use the date your company was founded or an important launch date. 6. Start a Twitter content calendar A social media content calendar is a great way to align your content across all your channels and identify potential conflicts. It can also help you plan ahead and capitalize on any opportunities that arise. Another benefit of planning out your calendar is that it will help you determine if you're sharing a balanced mix of content. Although you can schedule some tweets to go out ahead of time, the social aspect of social media will still require you to respond to DMs, mentions, and retweets promptly. 7. Schedule some tweets ahead of time Get ahead of the competition by scheduling your tweets to go out on optimal days and times. Doing so will allow you to maximize the engagement and visibility of every post. Unfortunately, you can't always schedule 100% of your tweets or else the platform may flag you as spam. However, it's possible to save time by pre-scheduling content that's already planned in advance. 8. Create a monitoring plan Once your marketing strategy is in place, it's time to regularly evaluate your progress and set goals against those that you set. Use the same project management platform to evaluate your Twitter data and run reports to keep everything in one accessible place. 9. Use social listening Twitter isn't just about speaking. It's also about listening. Through social listening, you can learn about the opinions of other people about your products and services. It can help you develop a more authentic and loyal customer base. 10. Consider paid ads Paid ads aren’t right for everyone, but they can help your new Twitter marketing strategy gain more traction faster. Twitter Ads are a great way to target specific audiences. They allow you to measure the effectiveness of your campaign and find the right messages for your brand. Even if someone doesn't follow your brand or hashtags, a promoted tweet can still show up in their timeline. You can also interact with them in the same way as organic content. 11. Include link tracking Just like you link track on your sales pages, email newsletters, and other social media, Twitter offers another way to obtain data on customer buying journeys. Track the link in your bio as well as any company website links you tweet out. The metrics provided by link tracking tools allow you to monitor how people navigate to your website and measure the effectiveness of your campaign management. They're also useful for analyzing your bottom line as you improve your conversions and traffic over time. 12. Use all of Twitter’s features This one may take some time, but it’s worth noting that the best way to maximize your Twitter marketing strategy is to use every last tool the platform has to offer. For example, did you know Twitter allows users to host live chats? Use a live chat to discuss a topic, ask customers for their opinions, or collaborate with a brand partner on something you're working on. Twitter marketing tips There are countless tips on the internet about how to do Twitter well. The truth is most of your success depends on trial and error plus consistency over time. Here are some of our curated Twitter marketing tips that we’ve either used or seen work firsthand. They serve as a good jumping-off point for any foundational strategy. Start with one, then mix the rest in over time. Think big-picture. One of the most important factors to consider is how Twitter fits into your overall social media strategy. Assign daily supervision. Busy accounts may require a team member’s attention to monitor them every day or even every hour. Have a backup team member for every single account in case one is out-of-office. Plan one month out. A 30-day content plan will help you grow your Twitter following fast. It will also help you track your social media campaigns and analyze what resonates with your audience. Use lists. Through lists, you can get in touch with the conversations that matter to you most. These feeds are curated by the accounts that are most likely to have influential discussions. Develop your voice. Although you can use images and videos to attract followers, a well-written and compelling voice is very important to have on Twitter. Tweet authentically. Don't send tweets that sound like they're coming from a robot or a script. Instead, communicate clearly and politely. Stand out. Follow a unique and original message whenever you post on social media. Doing so will make your Twitter content more engaging. Use polls. Twitter polls allow users to pose questions with multiple choice answers. Gather valuable feedback and opinions about your customer preferences and favorite products. Add photos and videos. Visual assets can help you convey a message more effectively. They can also be used to reinforce an important point or highlight a chart or infographic. Use hashtags. Hashtags are a great way to boost your visibility and discoverability on Twitter. This feature is essential for new accounts. Add branded content. For example, creating a branded hashtag is a great way to organize and promote content about your business. It can also be used to search for user-generated content related to your products. Track trends. Follow trending topics to get notified about new posts and hop on relevant themes. Think before posting. Although most Twitter users rely on the mobile app, search engine preview snippets of profiles may show recently deleted tweets. So think through each message before you hit publish — otherwise, it may come up on Google days, weeks, or months from now! Engage, engage, engage. It's important to create a two-way channel of communication on Twitter to engage your audience. Creating content that encourages your followers to interact with each other is also important. Get verified. A verified profile helps prevent people from being confused with fake and duplicate accounts. Twitter marketing tools to get you started There are three main marketing tools you’ll need to get started, regardless of your goals or strategy. Data measuring and reporting Asset storage Project management platform Without the help of data measuring and reporting, brands aren’t able to perform well on Twitter. The feedback from key metrics such as retweets helps marketers better understand their audience, grow their following, and reach as many new timelines as possible. Asset storage is another essential Twitter marketing tool. Between branded links, third-party links, photos, videos, GIFs, and more, having one central location where all of your Twitter content assets are stored is both convenient and strategic. Last but not least, the most important Twitter marketing tool you can use is a project management platform. Twitter requires you to create content, respond to public and private messages, track data, and keep up with the latest features. A great project management tool will allow you to do all of that in one accessible place so you can stay on top of all the moving parts while focusing on your chosen strategy. Why use Wrike to build your Twitter marketing campaign Like other social media platforms, finding success on Twitter requires a strategy and an intentional approach. That is why using a marketing project management tool is so important. Wrike's marketing project management software lets you track and communicate with your team across all your campaigns in one place. Not only does it help break down silos and make communication easier, but it also gives you a 360° view of your Twitter and related social media campaigns, allowing you to see all of them in one place. Wrike's software also helps you track communication with your team across all your campaigns in one place, so you’re always on the same page, even with Twitter’s fast-paced conversations. If last-minute tweets or replies need approval, team members can easily see your feedback and loop approvers into ongoing conversations via @mentions, which can help cut down on review cycles. For productivity, Wrike's marketing project management software helps you streamline your processes and achieve your goals. Doing so will increase the visibility and efficiency of any strategy you implement. With all of Twitter’s moving parts, having full transparency into your workflows is essential since bottlenecks are that much harder to resolve. If you run a social media strategy on any other app, you already know that project management for digital marketing is different from other project management disciplines. That is why Wrike developed flexible workflows that make it possible to eliminate the guesswork and get more done in less time. Twitter has many complex moving parts with real-time feedback, so solid data reporting is mission-critical to getting it right. Wrike's marketing project management software features dynamic reports that allow you to visualize and gather business intelligence quickly. Ready to take action on your new Twitter marketing strategy? Get started today by organizing your social media plan into assigned tasks and timelines using Wrike’s two-week free trial.

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Everything You Need for a Successful PR Campaign

What is a PR campaign?