How do you balance media in your PR strategy?

1 Define your media categories

When crafting a PR strategy, the first step is to define which media categories you will use. These categories are based on ownership, control, and credibility and include owned media (website, blog, newsletter, social media accounts), earned media (news articles, interviews, reviews, mentions), paid media (advertising, sponsorships, endorsements), and shared media (co-branded content, partnerships, collaborations). Each of these has their own benefits and drawbacks that should be taken into consideration before deciding on your media mix.

2 Set your media objectives

The next step is to set your media objectives for each PR campaign. Your objectives should be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound in order to align with your overall PR goals and target audience. For example, you could increase brand awareness by reaching a certain number of people in certain media outlets within a certain period of time. You could also generate leads by driving visitors to your website from certain media channels within a certain timeframe. Additionally, you could enhance your reputation by securing a certain number of positive media mentions in certain outlets, or build relationships by engaging a certain number of influencers in particular platforms. These objectives will help you decide which media categories and channels are best suited for your PR campaign.

3 Allocate your media budget

The third step is to allocate your media budget for each PR campaign. Your budget should reflect your objectives, categories, and available resources, taking into account cost-effectiveness, return on investment, and opportunity cost. When allocating your media budget, you should consider owned media which is usually the most affordable and flexible option but requires time and effort to produce quality content. You also need to allocate enough budget for earned media which is the most credible and influential option but depends on the interest of media outlets and journalists. Additionally, you should consider paid media which is the most scalable and measurable option but requires the most investment and competition. Lastly, shared media is usually the most collaborative and interactive option but involves the most risk and uncertainty so you should allocate enough budget for identifying reputable partners, co-creating content, and managing your reputation. Ultimately, your media budget will help you balance your media mix and maximize your media impact.

4 Evaluate your media results

Evaluating your media results for each PR campaign is the final step. You need to measure and analyze how well your media strategy achieved your media objectives and what lessons you learned. To do this, you should use reliable and consistent tools to collect quantitative indicators of your media performance, such as reach, impressions, clicks, and conversions. Additionally, you should use valid and diverse sources to gather qualitative outcomes of your media performance, such as awareness, perception, sentiment, and loyalty. Finally, you should use critical and creative thinking to generate actionable insights from your media results. This will help you learn from your media success and failure and adjust your media balance accordingly.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?