Keeping your DIY PR campaign organized can be difficult. Never fear! we've created a simple way to keep track of what you're up to every month and plan ahead. Instead of feeling overwhelmed, just stick to your campaign plan, divide it into concrete projects and tasks, and you'll feel better instantly!
Remember the key to PR success is: Plan Your Work, Work Your Plan!
The format below is one month of your 6-month campaign plan, just repeat the concept for each month, modify as needed to suit your own brand's needs and goals.
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MONTH Short Lead Story: Enter the story/stories or pitch concept (s) you will be sharing with the media. Always remember that this concept will be sent to media that work off a short lead timeline, i.e. they plan their stories to appear within the timeframe ranging from one hours, to one day to about a month. This includes television, radio, online outlets (blogs and websites) and weekly and bi-monthly magazines.
Long Lead Story: This space is where you will enter the story/stories or pitch concept (s) you will be reaching out to the media with for inclusion in long lead media outlets, which are typically monthly magazines. These types of media operate on a schedule where your story will appear months in the future, so they must be pitched months in advance. Keep this in mind when planning what these stories will be.
Press Releases/Media Alerts: If you have any press releases or media alerts that need to be prepared and/or sent out, include them here.
Social Media: Include any planned or current social media initiatives here.
Other: Include any other initiatives that are part of your PR campaign here, if any. Below are some examples. Co-branding Strategy: If you are working on a co-branding strategy with another company, include notes here. Celebrity Strategy: If you are working with, or trying to work with, any celebrities include the details here. Sales Strategy: If you have a new sales strategy that will need PR support or that could lend itself to a newsworthy story, include it here. This area can also be useful if you are trying to increase awareness about your product, brand or service in a specific geographic area in tandem with a sales push in that region. Copywriting: Include any copy that needs to be written here so you have it done before you need it - PR does not work well if it's done last minute!
Administrative Work: This could include recording media impressions, uploading press hits to your website, checking on upcoming editorial calendar deadlines, updating contact lists, etc.
Other Tasks:
This could include creating PR campaign collateral such as line sheets, look books, headshots, etc. |
