Who should you target in your PR strategy?

1 Why target groups matter

Target groups are the people or organizations that you want to reach, influence, or engage with your PR activities. They can be internal or external, and they can have different levels of interest, awareness, and power over your brand, reputation, or issue. Targeting the right groups can help you achieve your PR goals, such as increasing awareness, building trust, generating leads, or changing behavior. Targeting the wrong groups can waste your time, money, and effort, or even damage your image or credibility.

2 How to identify target groups

Before you can identify your target groups, you must first define your PR objectives and key messages. What are your goals, and what do you want to communicate? To research and analyze your potential target groups, you can use sources such as existing customers, clients, partners, or supporters; competitors and their audiences; industry and market trends; media and social media coverage; surveys, interviews, or focus groups; and stakeholder mapping or analysis tools.

3 How to segment target groups

Once you have a list of potential target groups, it's important to segment them into smaller and more specific categories based on their characteristics, needs, preferences, or behaviors. Demographics such as age, gender, income, or location can be used for segmentation, as well as psychographics such as attitudes, values, or lifestyle. Additionally, behavior and relationship factors such as purchase history, media consumption, loyalty, advocacy or influence can be taken into account. Segmenting your target groups can help you customize PR messages and channels to suit their interests and expectations, thus increasing your chances of reaching and persuading them.

4 How to prioritize target groups

When prioritizing your target groups, you should consider criteria such as size, impact, alignment, accessibility, and cost. This will help you allocate PR resources and activities more effectively and efficiently, and focus on the ones that matter most in relation to your objectives. For example, the size of a group could indicate how much influence they have over your brand or reputation. Alignment with your values or mission can help you decide if it’s worth engaging with them. Accessibility is also important as it can determine how easy or difficult it is to reach or communicate with them. Lastly, cost is a factor to consider when assessing how much time, money, or effort is necessary to connect with them.

5 How to measure target groups

The last step in your PR strategy is to measure the results and outcomes of your PR activities on your target groups. You can use various metrics and indicators such as awareness, reputation, engagement, conversion, and loyalty to evaluate your PR performance and impact. By tracking progress and success, identifying strengths and weaknesses, and adjusting your PR strategy accordingly, measuring your target groups can help you optimize your PR efforts.

6 How to improve target groups

The final step in your PR strategy is to improve your target groups based on the feedback and insights you get from measuring them. You can use a variety of strategies and tactics to enhance your PR relationship and results, such as segmenting them further or differently based on new data or trends, creating more personalized messages or channels for them, offering more value or benefits through your PR activities, inviting them to participate or collaborate with your initiatives, and recognizing or rewarding their support or loyalty. By taking these steps, you can maintain or increase your PR effectiveness and efficiency, while building long-term trust and rapport with your target groups.

7 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?