How can research improve your PR strategy?

1 Identify your goals

Before you launch any PR campaign, you need to have clear and measurable goals. What are you trying to achieve? Who are you trying to reach? How will you know if you succeed? Research can help you answer these questions by providing data and insights on your target market, your current reputation, your desired outcomes, and your key performance indicators. By setting SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) goals based on research, you can align your PR strategy with your business objectives and track your progress.

2 Know your audience

Your PR strategy should be tailored to your audience, not to yourself. You need to know who they are, what they care about, what they need, and how they consume information. Research can help you segment your audience by demographics, psychographics, behaviors, and preferences. You can use surveys, interviews, focus groups, social media analytics, and web analytics to collect and analyze data on your audience. By knowing your audience, you can craft messages that resonate with them, choose the best channels to reach them, and create value for them.

3 Monitor your competitors

Your PR strategy should not exist in a vacuum. You need to be aware of what your competitors are doing, how they are perceived, and how they are different from you. Research can help you benchmark your competitors by comparing their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. You can use tools like media monitoring, social listening, content analysis, and SWOT analysis to gather and evaluate data on your competitors. By monitoring your competitors, you can identify gaps in the market, differentiate yourself from them, and anticipate their moves.

4 Test your messages

Your PR strategy should be based on evidence, not on assumptions. You need to test your messages before you send them out to make sure they are clear, relevant, and persuasive. Research can help you test your messages by getting feedback from your audience, your media contacts, your influencers, and your internal stakeholders. You can use methods like A/B testing, pre-testing, pilot testing, and peer review to refine and improve your messages. By testing your messages, you can avoid mistakes, optimize your impact, and increase your credibility.

5 Measure your results

Your PR strategy should be evaluated regularly to see if it is working or not. You need to measure your results against your goals and see what worked well and what did not. Research can help you measure your results by collecting and analyzing data on your outputs, outtakes, outcomes, and impacts. You can use tools like media coverage, social media engagement, website traffic, leads, sales, and reputation to quantify and qualify your results. By measuring your results, you can demonstrate your value, justify your budget, and learn from your experience.

6 Adjust your strategy

Your PR strategy should be flexible and adaptable to changing circumstances. You need to adjust your strategy based on your results and feedback, and on new opportunities and challenges. Research can help you adjust your strategy by providing new information and insights on your environment, your audience, your competitors, and your performance. You can use methods like post-testing, evaluation, review, and audit to assess and improve your strategy. By adjusting your strategy, you can stay relevant, competitive, and effective.