Building a successful communications campaign can be a challenge for even the most seasoned professionals. Many PR pros can easily become overwhelmed by strict deadlines and tight budgets. But the right technology coupled with an informed approach can help craft a surefire strategy without exhausting precious time, effort and money.
Riana Dadlani, lead corporate communications specialist at Meltwater, offered her thoughts on using technology for PR campaigns—in particular, media relations campaigns—at the Feb. 13 Meltwater/PR News webinar "Five Steps to Smarter PR Campaigns." Dadlani shed light on how communicators can gather real-time marketing intelligence, map a campaign to the hottest news and social trends, build targeted media lists, engage the right journalists and measure campaign results.
1. Monitor intelligently.
- How is our company or brand perceived?
- How has the competition positioned themselves?
- Is there a difference between the conversations happening on social media and traditional press?
2. Craft a thoughtful PR strategy.
- Identify your target audience by using targeted search techniques and look into the conversations they are having.
- Create the right message. Messages are going to change with each platform you commit to. For example, use different styles on Twitter than you would on LinkedIn.
3. Plan media relations tactics.
- Integrate media monitoring and your contacts database.
- Spend time analyzing journalists' past articles as well as their preferred ways to receive pitches.
4. Engage meaningfully.
- Wire distribution of press releases provides broad reach. A lot of different things can happen when you spread a broad net.
- Personal emails tailored to specific journalists drive relevance. Tailor your pitch to make it individual and authentic for best results.
5. Measure what matters.
- Did the campaign increase share of voice?
- Did the campaign increase coverage in target publications?
- Did the campaign increase coverage related to core topics?
- Were key messages conveyed?
- Which ones were most successful?
- How many people did the campaign reach?
Listen to and view the webinar "Five Steps to Smarter PR Campaigns."