Think you don’t have time to write a PR brief? Think again.
A well-written brief that provides your PR team with the right information will actually save you time in the long-run.
Don’t believe me? Consider the benefits of a written brief for a moment.
When you share the essentials of your business with your PR team, provide them with an opportunity to ask questions, and encourage them to challenge your thinking, they are much more likely to bring you creative business building ideas (without a lot of back and forth).
And, assuming your circulate the brief to internal decision-makers for input, a written PR brief means everyone on your side of the table is aligned with the goals and PR measurement metrics.
There is no one way to write a PR brief, but here are 9 elements that fit most situations.
Background
Begin with a few sentences about your company, your brand and the project. Explain the primary benefits of your product or service. What are its strengths and weaknesses? Its opportunities? Why do people purchase your product?
This element is critical if you’re working with a new PR team who isn’t familiar with your business … and an important refresher when the team remains the same.
Goals
Provide a short list of your business objective using SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely) goals. Look at the big picture and avoid unnecessary details. What are you trying to achieve? How can PR help?
Audience
Share your customer personas with the PR team. Include customer attitudes and problems, along with their demographic and psychographic characteristics.
If you’re undertaking a publicity project, what media does your customer read or listen to? Where do they hang out online? Do they read popular blogs?
Competitors
Include a competitor list in the PR brief, along with their brand positioning, target audiences, and recent marketing campaigns.
Other Marketing Tactics
Your PR team will find it helpful to understand your brand’s marketing activities. Share your advertising, promotion and social media campaigns. These details will provide insight your brand’s personality and messages. They will also introduce the PR folks to other initiatives they may be able to leverage.
Past PR initiatives
If you’ve used PR in the past to support your brand, share the details and results with your new PR team. Include examples of media coverage particularly effective in communicating your key messages to your target audience.
What does success look like?
Share the most important KPIs with your PR team. Tell them what success looks like to you. Ask yourself what they need to achieve in the next 6 months to make you say, “I’m so glad we hired ABC PR person, they really made a difference to our business.”
Timeline
Are you considering on-going PR support or does your project have a definite beginning and end? Include these details in the briefing and ask the PR team how much time they need to get up to speed and launch a program.
Budget
Last, but certainly not least, provide a budget. If you haven’t worked on a PR effort in the past, you may not have a good sense of what a campaign is likely to cost.
If that sounds like you, ask yourself if you’re willing to spend $20,000, $50,000, $100,000, or more on a PR project. You’ll quickly have an indication of the budget you’re comfortable with when you start to choke on a number.
Garbage In, Garbage Out
You know the saying, right.
It applies to working with any marketing agency, including public relations. If you don’t provide the right information about your business, the team simply won’t be able to develop a suitable strategy to help you achieve your objectives.
Simply put, they won’t know your objectives.
And if they don’t know your objectives, how can they give you the business results your brand deserves?
If you need help with a PR project (including writing a brief), get in touch.
This article was syndicated from Business 2 Community: How To Write A PR Brief And Get The Business Results You Deserve
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