An organizations communication goals can bridge a gap between which one of the following?

Public relations isn’t an exact science, but it does require a strategic process. Below are five key elements that comprise a strategic PR campaign.

Know your target audience.  

Understanding the target audience is the most important part of any successful public relations strategy. Do your research and identify the demographics of the ideal customer. Then you can tailor the PR elements of your campaign around these characteristics.  

Set realistic goals. 

Think about what you hope to achieve with your brand, and when. Be realistic, but also don’t be afraid to be ambitious. You should have a clear vision of what you want your PR strategy to accomplish, whether it’s increased social media presence, traditional media exposure, or thought leadership. Include these goals in your PR strategy and create an action plan with which to achieve them.

Develop a message. 

Once you know who you’re reaching and what you want to achieve, the next step is figuring out how to tailor your message to your audience to make your goals a reality. Because you’ve done your research and know your audience, you should know the most effective ways to reach them.

Maybe you’ve identified a gap in the marketplace that you can fill with your products or services. Create a message that identifies these pain points and clearly outlines how your brand can improve their lives. Use language that best speaks to your audience, and reach them through the media they’re likely to consume.

Know your competition. 

The only way to stay ahead of the competition is to know everything about it. Make a list of your biggest threats and then take note of what they’re doing. Monitor their PR activities and note their successes and missteps. If a strategy seems to be working for them, see if you can incorporate something similar into your own campaign. If you see them lacking in a certain area, there’s an opportunity for you to fill the gap.

Don’t directly replicate your competition’s PR strategies. Rather, learn from them to improve your own.

Stay relevant. 

The only way to stay top-of-mind with the public is to remain a relevant force in the marketplace for as long as possible. Keep up with trends, and go where the people are. Experiment with different social media platforms as they fall in and out of favor with your target audience.

Following long-term trends is always important, but also stay on top of viral crazes and current events. People will only talk about your brand if your brand is doing things worth talking about, so keep your ear to the ground and create buzz as often as possible.

When we speak of research in public relations, we are normally referring to primary research, such as public opinion studies based on surveys and polling. (The following lists quantitative research methods commonly employed in public relations.) Surveys are synonymous with public opinion polls, and are one example of quantitative research. Quantitative researchResearch that is based on statistical generalization. It allows numerical observations to be made in order for organizations to improve relationships with certain publics and then measure how much those relationships have improved or degraded. is based on statistical generalization. It allows us to make numerical observations such as “85% of Infiniti owners say that they would purchase an Infiniti again.” Statistical observations allow us to know exactly where we need to improve relationships with certain publics, and we can then measure how much those relationships have ultimately improved (or degraded) at the end of a public relations initiative. For example, a strategic report in public relations management for the automobile maker Infiniti might include a statement such as “11% of new car buyers were familiar with the G35 all-wheel-drive option 3 months ago, and after our campaign 28% of new car buyers were familiar with this option, meaning that we created a 17% increase in awareness among the new car buyer public.” Other data gathered might report on purchasing intentions, important features of a new vehicle to that public, brand reputation variables, and so on. Quantitative research allows us to have a before and after snapshot to compare the numbers in each group, therefore allowing us to say how much change was evidenced as a result of public relations’ efforts.

Methods of Quantitative Data Collection

• Internet-based surveys
• Telephone surveys
• Mail surveys
• Content analysis (usually of media coverage)
• Comment cards and feedback forms
• Warranty cards (usually demographic information on buyers)
• Frequent shopper program tracking (purchasing data)

In quantitative research, the entire public you wish to understand or make statements about is called the populationIn quantitative research, the entire public that is sought to be understood or about which statements are made.. The population might be women over 40, Democrats, Republicans, purchasers of a competitor’s product, or any other group that you would like to study. From that population, you would select a sampleIn quantitative research, a portion of a population that is sought for study. to actually contact with questions. Probability samplesA randomly drawn portion of a population from which the strongest statistical measure of generalizability can be drawn. can be randomly drawn from a list of the population, which gives you the strongest statistical measures of generalizability. A random sampleA randomly drawn portion of a population in which the participants have an equal chance of being selected. means that participants are drawn randomly and have an equal chance of being selected. You know some variants in your population exists, but a random sample should account for all opinions in that population. The larger the sample size (number of respondents), the smaller the margin of error and the more confident the researcher can be that the sample is an accurate reflection of the entire population.

There are also other sampling methods, known as nonprobability samplesResearch sampling that does not allow for generalization but that meets the requirements of the problem or project., that do not allow for generalization but meet the requirement of the problem or project. A convenience sampleA population sample drawn from those who are convenient to study., for instance, is drawn from those who are convenient to study, such as having visitors to a shopping mall fill out a survey. Another approach is a snowball sampleA population sample in which the researcher asks a respondent participating in a survey to recommend another respondent for the survey. in which the researcher asks someone completing a survey to recommend the next potential respondent to complete the survey. A purposive sampleResearch sampling in which a specific group of people is sought out for research. is when you seek out a certain group of people. These methods allow no generalizability to the larger population, but they are often less expensive than random sample methods and still may generate the type of data that answers your research question.

Quantitative research has the major strength of allowing you to understand who your publics are, where they get their information, how many believe certain viewpoints, and which communications create the strongest resonance with their beliefs. Demographic variables are used to very specifically segment publics. Demographics are generally gender, education, race, profession, geographic location, annual household income, political affiliation, religious affiliation, and size of family or household. Once these data are collected, it is easy to spot trends by cross-tabulating the data with opinion and attitude variables. Such cross-tabulations result in very specific publics who can be targeted with future messages in the channels and the language that they prefer. For example, in conducting public relations research for a health insurance company, cross-tabulating data with survey demographics might yield a public who are White males, are highly educated and professional, live in the southeastern United States, have an annual household income above $125,000, usually vote conservatively and have some religious beliefs, have an average household size of 3.8 people, and strongly agree with the following message: “Health insurance should be an individual choice, not the responsibility of government.” In that example, you would have identified a voting public to whom you could reach out for support of individualized health insurance.

Segmenting publics in this manner is an everyday occurrence in public relations management. Through their segmentation, public relations managers have an idea of who will support their organization, who will oppose the organization, and what communications—messages and values—resonate with each public. After using research to identify these groups, public relations professionals can then build relationships with them in order to conduct informal research, better understand their positions, and help to represent the values and desires of those publics in organizational decision making and policy formation.

Why are outcome objectives considered the most valuable in connection to an organization's goals?

What is one way that students of PR in the future will be able to make more thoughtful and informed choices as practitioners?

What is public relations in mass communication?

What are the six key concepts of public relations?