9 Tips for Successful PR Campaign in 2023

Achieving a successful PR campaign can be challenging, even for the most experienced brands. The online space changes fast, and getting your audience's attention has never been so difficult. This article reviews nine tested and trusted tips for a successful PR campaign.

What is a PR Campaign? 

A PR campaign is a series of perfectly planned and well-executed activities organized to give a brand or company publicity to reach the right audiences. A PR campaign is primarily designed to boost a brand’s or an organization’s reputation online and offline. 

Tips for an Effective PR campaign

Achieving a successful PR campaign goes beyond just writing and distributing a press release through media platforms. It requires thoughtfully planned and well-executed PR strategies. Here are nine tips to make your PR campaign successful: 

1. Be SMART In Defining Campaign Goals and Objectives

Telling you to set a goal is not necessarily helpful. However, how SMART is your goal? Is it Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound? Once you have chosen a big goal, you need to narrow it down to be as specific as possible. For example, “we want to drive massive traffic” is not smart enough. How many weekly or monthly visitors would you like to add after your campaign? What CTR and sales conversions do you want to achieve?  Some examples of successful real-life campaigns in 2022 include LEGO's MRI PR Campaign, AirbnB.org for Ukraine Campaign, and Coinbase Super Bowl QR Code. 

2. Segment your Target Audience 

Simply knowing your target audience is insufficient; you must break them into different customer segments. This can be based on demographics, psychographics, and buyer’s personas. For instance, if you have innovative products with each appealing to different age groups, you might want your campaign to focus on Gen Z if they have the largest share of your target market rather than targeting everyone at a time. 

3. Identify your Ideal PR Campaign Company

Hundreds of PR companies are available to choose from, but not all fit your campaign objectives. You need to review the company's processes, check its portfolio, and vet their team to ensure it can deliver a successful PR campaign. PR Companies with a long history of delivering quality with happy customer testimonials to back it up are your best bet. For instance, we have over 12 years of executing successful PR campaigns with over 100 happy brands. 

4. Determine your PR Campaign Budget and Allocate Resources

How much does a digital PR cost in 2023? Well, the budget varies depending on your preferred type of campaign—outreach versus full service, your audience size, and the scope of service. A digital PR campaign with a monthly retainer can range between $5000 to $50,000. 

5. Craft Strong and Tailored Messages

The success of your campaign largely depends on the uniqueness of your message and the angle through which you execute it. Most successful PR campaigns are those with creative angles and unique storytelling. You must put yourself in the shoes of your target audience. Why should they spend their busy time reading about your brand-new product launch? Why should they care? Does your message resonate with them? Can your story grab their attention? If your answer is no, you might have to rethink.  

6. Use the Most Effective PR Tactics

PR tactics are specific methods and techniques to support your PR campaign's messages and goals. You have many options available to you, but the ones we have tested and proven to be highly effective are media relations, content marketing, social media campaigns, and events. Also, don’t rely on a single campaign tactic to generate the best result. All these work in synergy to attract your audience's attention and build a brand reputation. 

7. Set Measurable Goals and KPIs to Track Campaigns Success

You can’t have a successful PR campaign if you don’t have key performance indicators (KPIs) to track your goals. However, you must focus on KPIs that align with your goals and are quantifiable. For instance, if your goal is to boost your brand’s visibility, you might want to track the number of website visits, page views, bounces, and retention rate, and social media mentions. 

8. Evaluate your PR Campaign

After generating the KPI report; you must evaluate your PR campaign to identify what worked and what you can improve. According to Buffer, 82% of PR professionals are clueless about evaluating their PR campaigns' ROI. You need to assign a monetary value to each tactic deployed and use data to evaluate its performance. 

9. Adjust and Relaunch Based On Feedback and Available Data

You must be flexible when it comes to achieving a successful PR campaign. There are instances when you might need to redefine your goal and change your PR tactics or strategies based on the feedback you receive. Things change pretty fast in the digital world, so you must keep monitoring your campaigns (it’s not just a one-time effort!) to see if you need to modify your strategies. Also, document your learning and use the new knowledge to craft better campaigns going forward.

Hire a PR Campaign Expert

It’s much easier to run a successful PR campaign with the input of PR professionals with experienced teams and proven portfolios. At RPR Firm, we eliminate guesswork from public relations through result-driven campaign development strategies and tactics.

Our team boasts professional relationships with leading media, influencers, and marketing professionals. With over 11 years of helping brands boost their reputation and maximizing revenue through PR, rest assured you are in safe hands with us. Schedule a free consultation, and let's help build your brand reputation today! 

by R Public Relations Firm

Role of New Technologies in PR in 2023

Public relations (PR) is an incredibly fast-transforming industry heavily influenced by new technologies and trends. Over the last several years, we’ve seen the industry change drastically thanks to the emergence of increased social media opportunities, new artificial intelligence (AI) technology, and improved communication platforms.

In 2023, we expect to see even more changes in the PR technological space. Read on to learn more about the technologies in PR that we think will make the biggest impact in the coming year.

1. Affiliate Links & Online Shopping

Online shopping provides a wide range of growth options for businesses large, and small—and the sector is only getting bigger. PR teams would be wise to hop on new online shopping platforms, like Shopify, as soon as possible.

Shopify is just one example of how the new “click-through-to-purchase” features allow users to shop at the click of literally one button, making it easier than ever to capture new customers. Amazon storefronts are another great way to take advantage of more advanced online shopping technology. PR teams should spend time curating their pages on each online shopping app and make sure it is easy to use, features high-quality images, is highly descriptive, and is optimized for whatever product marketing campaigns are currently running.

Affiliate marketing will also continue to grow in 2023. Brands and influencers can refer audiences to products or services by sharing links on blogs, social media platforms, podcasts, or on their websites. Then, the brand or influencer receives a small commission when a sale is made using their affiliate link. This is a highly scalable technology that can be used to bring in passive income for all types of brands and creators in the coming year.

2. Technology for Creators

It’s time to rethink the “influencer.” Ultra-popular creators like Alix Earle are taking over the social media landscape with their relatable content and personas. PR teams can expect astronomical collaboration prices and more authentic branded content from the highest tier of influencers. Of course, this type of polished, professional content is dependent on cutting-edge social media and video editing technology. Expect to see more video editing and photo editing apps, improved photography and videography technology, and more sophisticated content creation in the coming year.

3. Enhanced Customization

Targeting technology continues to become more and more sophisticated, and this trend will likely continue in 2023. Audiences expect high levels of customization from all sorts of digital marketing and PR, from the social media posts that are suggested to them to the ads they view. Public relations campaigns are no exception to this rule.

PR professionals can use new and improved media targeting technologies to build stronger, more authentic connections with publications and writers. This will be a more effective strategy than mass pitching, and it will also lead to better coverage for clients; quality over quantity is key in the PR landscape. PR teams should also expect to employ AI and other new technologies to do better media and pitching research on the front end of campaigns.

4. Artificial Intelligence

You might be sick of hearing about AI, and who could blame you? AI seems to be everywhere these days, and it doesn’t look like it’s going away any time soon. PR professionals would be smart to adopt this technology for as many clients as they can, as soon as possible.

AI technologies in PR have become fairly commonplace, but industry professionals can expect to see them expand more in 2023. For example, automated emails using triggers from actions taken on a website already help with nurturing customers down the marketing funnel. Chatbots are also an oft-used form of AI that makes PR teams’ lives easier. 

But professionals can expect to see these same technologies in PR applied to other areas of the industry, like in feet-on-the-street campaigns and at in-person events and trade shows. Pay close attention to Fortune 500 corporations who will likely be on the cutting edge of investing more AI technology into their PR campaigns this year.

What is the best way to stay on top of new technologies in PR?

Our team recommends reading newsletters like Raisin Bread from Marketerhire, Sprout Social’s newsletter, or Marketing Brew to stay on top of trends and new technologies in the larger PR and marketing landscape. You can also follow trend and tech accounts on social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok. Later does a great job of showcasing trends in social media and digital marketing. You can also read blogs like Really Good Emails. These, of course, are just a few places you can get your PR and marketing technology news—find the platforms you like the most and stick with them!

If you are too busy to keep up with the trends yourself, consider hiring a PR firm. PR teams specialize in keeping up with new technologies and trends, and your team will be able to make recommendations to you about which technologies to adopt and which to hold off on for the time being. Contact our team today to chat all things PR and explore what a partnership might look like for you!

by R Public Relations Firm

Is a Public Relations Specialist Different From a Journalist?

Is a public relations (PR) specialist different from a journalist? The short answer is yes! Although there are many similarities between the two professions, they have distinct functions in both the marketing sphere as well as in their relationships with brands and the community.

Keep reading for our full breakdown of the differences between the two career paths—and why you might choose one over the other.

1. Amount of Responsibilities

At publications, journalists on staff typically focus on one main role. Editors will work with journalists to improve the strength of their writing, while journalists will focus on writing compelling stories for their beat. There is very little overlap between the two. The newsroom functions smoothly because each person within it has a defined job function that complements the others’ work perfectly.

Meanwhile, in the world of public relations, Public relation specialist will often wear multiple hats for each of their clients. They might write, edit, host in-person events, manage social media communities, and send marketing emails—sometimes all within the same day! There’s less of an opportunity to focus on one task or become an expert in any area, but the fast pace and daily variations for PR pros can be thrilling.

2. Different Audiences

When journalists write stories, they are always addressing the general public. Even journalists who cover niche beats, like car racing or local politics, write to address general audiences.

In PR writing, however, specialists write to address specific audiences that care about the brand’s messages. This can mean people who’ve selected to “follow” a brand on social media, employees, company stakeholders, or email subscribers. No matter who they are, at some point they opted into hearing from the brand, and they have invested in the brand’s story in some way. Because of this, PR writing tends to be a bit more targeted in content and tone, and it can also be a little more creative and whimsical in nature. PR writers might adjust for a variety of demographics, including age, region, gender, or relationship to the brand. 

3. Differences in Tone

As mentioned above, journalists need to write stories that address large swaths of audiences and that approach news in an unbiased, factual manner. That means journalists typically need to follow a strict code of ethics in their writing. They also need to take a wholly objective approach to their stories. Tweaking a quote or message to fit better with the story is not acceptable and can destroy the public’s trust in that journalist and publication.

Meanwhile, public relations specialists get to let their creative flags fly when it comes to writing. PR teams select messaging, verbiage, tone, and mediums that best represent their clients and the stories they want to share—even if their claims are a bit biased or out there. PR specialists also don’t have to worry about including all the facts as a journalist does—they can pick and choose the messaging that fits the campaign best, whatever it may be. Molding a favorable narrative around a client, especially a company with a bad reputation, is hard work that requires lots of creative thinking and problem-solving in the writing space.

4. Main Goals

The ultimate goal of journalism is to share messages, information, and stories that the journalist believes would be interesting or helpful for their communities. Those messages might be positive (i.e., “Dog Saves Man From Burning Building”) or negative (i.e., “Company X Declares Bankruptcy”). But no matter what they cover, the journalist believes the details included within are important for the general public to know. 

Public relations goals are more widespread and varied. Of course, public relations specialists want to share important information and messaging, but they also aim to create goodwill in the community, build consumer confidence, and craft a positive public perception of clients. That requires a level of bias that journalists simply can’t adopt. Because PR teams have a stake in a business’s health and revenue, harmonious relationships are at the forefront of every PR pro’s mind at all times.

How should I choose whether to become a journalist or a public relations specialist?

Recent graduates and others looking to make career changes should consider both options carefully and consider each role's pros and cons. Do you prefer to tell unbiased stories or craft careful messaging? Do you like learning about many different topics or specialize in just a few? And do you like to build lots of relationships or focus on a few important ones? Journalism careers allow individuals to share important stories with the community, build a vast network, and write about many topics each week. Meanwhile, public relations specialists have the opportunity to control their own narratives, and they pride themselves on specializing in certain topics and curating strong relationships with fewer people. Ultimately, you should make your choice based on which sounds more appealing and which role matches best with your current skill set.

Want to chat with a team of PR professionals about their careers and lives in the fast-paced industry? Contact us to schedule an informational interview today!

by R Public Relations Firm

5 Roles of a PR Firm that Will Improve Your Business Functions

You’ve probably heard of public relations (PR) firms, but what do PR pros actually spend their time doing? PR results can be challenging to quantify, but over time, comprehensive and strategic campaigns can improve many business functions and can even boost revenue. Read on to learn more about the five major roles of a PR firm and how each of these can improve business operations.

1.  Develop and Implement Communications Campaigns

It’s a great idea to get an outside perspective on your business from time to time, and PR firms can do just that. As unbiased outsiders, PR firms can craft objective communications campaigns that truly highlight the business’s differentiators and key messages effectively. 

Communications campaigns take a lot of work to plan, execute, and report on. Outsourcing this type of work ensures corners are not cut and ample time is spent on each task. PR firms can also decrease the overall workload that goes into campaigns because they can leverage tactics that worked in the past for other campaigns and their widespread connections with media personnel. 

Finally, PR teams are equipped to monitor media coverage and opportunities around the clock. When your internal team is busy with other projects or traveling for work, your PR firm can keep campaigns moving without disturbing other workflows.

2. Monitor Media Coverage

The media cycle runs 24 hours a day, and it seems like a new media outlet is announced every week. It can be nearly impossible to keep up with all the chatter.

Media coverage is a significant task PR firms can take off your team’s list. Most PR firms are equipped with technology that can round up all media mentions of your business and other specific keywords. Ask your PR firm to provide an end-of-month report of your business’s media coverage, so you have a record to share with leadership and refer back to in the future.

You might also employ your PR firm to run competitor analyses using the same monitoring processes. Keep an eye on the types of coverage your main competitors are securing, and don’t be afraid to borrow good ideas. You might also use this research to inform the reporters and publications your business reaches out to in the future!

3. Manage Crisis Communications

Maintaining a favorable brand reputation is of the utmost importance, but proactive pitching techniques can fall by the wayside when your team has tons of other work. PR firms can keep up with your social listening.

When a crisis does arise, however, it will be all hands on deck. It’s smart to hire a PR firm with ample experience in crisis communications because, in the worst of times, things move fast. A slow response can often be interpreted by media members as a refusal to comment. Even if that’s not the case. In order to control the narrative of the crisis, you’ll need people in your corner who understand your business and can craft a thoughtful, empathetic statement in a matter of hours, not days.

Crisis communications also require a lot of time for coverage monitoring, responding to media requests, managing social media communities, and communicating with internal staff. If you don’t have an outside PR firm to help shoulder this burden, your internal team will likely have to table other work until the crisis is over. PR firms usually have multiple people on staff. They can shift assignments to deal with your crisis while your team continues pushing forward.

4. Develop Content and Key Messages

There are dozens of platforms to keep up with these days. Large companies will likely want to participate on all platforms to capture the widest audience possible.

PR firms are staffed with excellent writers and creative thinkers, which makes them well-suited for content creation. You can bounce ideas off your PR team or work with them to create and refine content buckets for any platform, from email marketing to your company blog to social media videos. 

Staff members at PR firms also tend to be on top of content trends, whether it’s the latest TikTok audio or the current suggested length of LinkedIn posts.

5. Social Media Platform and Community Management

Speaking of social media, managing communities across so many platforms can be very time-consuming. PR firms can help your business ideate and draft content, schedule and publish content, respond to comments and DMs and comment on other brands’ posts. The best social media strategies include tactics for tackling all of these tasks and more—sometimes on a daily basis. This often is not realistic for internal team members. But PR firms have specialists on staff who can make quick, well-informed decisions on social media. So you don’t have to worry about getting accidentally canceled.

Social media community management, in particular, can be a time suck. Some brands select to respond to every comment and DM, while others respond to only a few. Either way, you’ll need to show your audience that you’re engaged and listening to them. Or you’ll lose followers and fewer people will see and interact with your posts. PR firms can dedicate a team member to manage your social media channels daily.

What is the best method to ensure I choose a PR firm that meshes well with my business and existing team?

First, vet your potential firm thoroughly. A great thing to do is to read case studies from past projects. You might also elect to meet your account manager to get a feel for their personality and communication preferences. At the end of the day, you’re looking for a team that fits seamlessly into your internal framework and makes your life easier, so you can continue regular daily business functions.

If you are currently looking for a full-service firm, contact us to schedule a call today!

by R Public Relations Firm

7 Key Benefits of PR to Society

Public relations (PR) is so much more than making a sale. The industry’s work helps build connections between brands and consumers, place important stories into the media cycle, and allows brands to give back through cause marketing campaigns. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg! Here, we’ve outlined seven benefits of PR to society at large.

1.  Bring Private and Public Policies Into Harmony

It’s easy to just think of PR as press releases and social media posts for B2C brands, but PR is a wide-spanning industry that touches government work, B2B, non-profits, and beyond. Ultimately, the work done by PR professionals helps bring private and public policies into the same sphere and allows individuals on both sides to align. Mutual understanding between various groups and companies leads to greater societal efficiency and less friction, and well-executed PR campaigns can be key to unlocking this level of harmony.

2. Relationship Building

As PR professionals help businesses and individuals tell their unique stories, they leverage their extensive networks. This ultimately leads to building valuable connections between brands and other entities. Whether it’s bringing together a large corporation with a local non-profit or two individuals with similar missions, PR professionals' work often leads to fruitful, impactful connections. 

3. Connecting Customers with Businesses

When PR pros manage platforms like Facebook and Instagram for a business, they simultaneously open up another reliable pathway for consumers to connect with the businesses they support. Especially, customers that have issues with their product or service can reliably get in touch with a member of the brand’s PR team through DMs or email, as their contact information will be readily available on press releases and across other channels. This, in turn, helps consumers feel heard, while brands can keep purchasers happier.

4. Ethically Shape Beliefs and Ideas

Another societal benefit of PR is the industry’s ability to shape minds and change lives. PR pros are often the masterminds behind the news you read or watch, which means they have an outsized influence in ensuring certain stories get the publicity they deserve. They can use their connections and influence to gain coverage for feel-good stories about local non-profits who give back or a local hero who did great things for the community. They can also ensure media outlets are sharing wholly accurate information and that no information is misrepresented by reporters. PR professionals, when doing their jobs well, can minimize false news stories and accurately reflect actual happenings.

5. Improve Media Literacy

With so many media platforms out there—and more launching every day—it has become increasingly difficult to navigate journalistic biases in the news. PR professionals can ensure stories that are published about their clients are fairly represented and can ask for the removal of false information. If a story is especially inaccurate, PR team members can even ask the editor to take it down or issue an apology statement. Indeed, one of the benefits of PR to society is its ability to help the general public navigate the cluttered media landscape and more easily determine which news is real and which is fake.

6. Increase Corporate Social Responsibility

Have you noticed a recent rise in cause marketing? Besides, PR teams are always looking to tell the most positive stories about their clients, and they often push for increased and improved corporate social responsibility to push narratives about their clients in a positive direction. Not only is this good for large companies because they can spotlight their contributions to society, but their dollars actually help society in the process! Moreover, PR teams can and do assist corporations in putting together 401(c)(3) organizations, developing charitable partnerships, planning and executing corporate volunteering days, and more. All of these actions contribute to positive PR and improve society as a whole.

7. Improved Internal Relations

Just as PR professionals act as a bridge between companies and the public, they can also act as a bridge between companies and their employees. They can help executives connect with the people who work for them and ensure that values, key messaging, and employee happiness are aligned from the top to bottom of an organization. PR professionals can assist executives in crafting messages that accurately represent employee sentiment and funnel feedback upward for leadership’s consideration. Happy employees who feel heard will bring greater contributions to their company.

How can I ensure my PR strategy is benefitting society?

Every good PR strategy should include a few important pillars: positive proactive pitching, social listening, cause marketing, and crisis communications. Cause marketing is the most approachable, and perhaps the most widely replicated, benefit of PR. Use your cause marketing resources to support local charities that mean a lot to your employees, and their genuine interest will shine through in subsequent media coverage. Consider asking your employees what types of causes they feel strongly about and dedicating a member of your PR team to research the best organizations to support in the area. If you approach your cause marketing from a place of authenticity, you’ll be able to ensure your efforts are truly benefitting society. If you’re looking for PR strategy or execution support, especially in the realm of cause marketing, contact us to schedule a call.

by R Public Relations Firm