PLANNING AND EVALUATING PUBLIC RELATIONS Samuel T. Ramos, Jr., MCM

PLANNING & EVALUATING  Practical people want to get things done; they want to get on with it, to move into action and see results. Planning can feel like you are putting things off, that you are wasting time and prevaricating. Doubtless, Planning saves time, is highly creative and sets you up for success, thus, communication needs planning.

Professor Anne Gregory (2010)  She says that “ successful public relations programmes do not just happen ”, they are the result of sound research, meticulous planning, and careful implementation and further adds that “ there are practical reasons for planning”.

Summary  If you don’t plan, you have no control  Planning provides a structure and particularly agreed goals against which performance can be compared. This is important whether you are an in-house team reporting internally to management or a consultancy reporting into a client.  And you can start to think longer term, not just in the moment which can result in knee-jerk responses.

you focus your efforts on the objectives  You have to get right down to it and work out why you are doing what you are doing.  You have a real purpose to the tactics you eventually undertake.  You can take everyone with you if the direction and purpose are clear.  You end up with a clear action plan with a defined goal.

you become more creative  Contrary to popular belief, a good plan sets up space for creativity, a space bounded by insight and with a clear goal.  Planning allows for innovation, so people can come up with new ways to solve problems.

You reduce uncertainties  Change is a constant in our modern fast-moving world.  Every organization, every sector faces issues, risks, unforeseen challenges—good planning, includes contingency planning so you are forced to consider the ʻ mights ʻ and ʻ coulds ʻ.  A solid plan builds in a consideration of risk and includes risk and contingency planning.  A plan builds in a consideration of risk and includes risk and contingency planning.

You use resources wisely  People ʻ s time in money—proper planning avoids time-wasting.  You can predict when you need more or less resources and when you need additional help, for example agency or freelance support.  You can allocate material resources and work out economies of scale to purchase effectively.

You co-ordinate effort  Your team knows where it ʻ s headed because the objectives are clear.  You can integrate individuals, team and departments across a network.  Multi-disciplined approaches (eg marketing, advertising, public affairs, international communications) are richer because everyone knows where they are now and where they are headed.  You can avoid duplication of efforts and wasted effort.

You all feel better  Planning leads to a sense of order and discipline.  Colleagues know what is expected of them and know what to do and when.  Consequently, everyone can do their best to achieve the desired results.  Engagement is therefore stronger and productivity increases.

You become more competitive  Because communications teams that fail to plan don’t get results, don’t celebrate success and don’t win awards!

7 Barcelona Principles (2010)  1. measurement and goal-setting are fundamental to any PR programme.  2. media measurement requires quantity and quality measures; quantity measures on their own are useless.  3. advertising value equivalents (AVEs) are not the value of PR.  4. social media can and should be measured.  5. measuring outcomes is preferable to measuring outputs.  6. business results can and should be measured wherever possible.  7. transparency and replicability are paramount to sound measurement.

Communications planning-writing a brief  Rigorous self-analysis is the starting point. An understanding of where the organization is now is essential for us to set a course to help us reach out desired destination. It is as simple as that. Spending time thinking is not a luxury—it is vital and will enable you to develop a brief that leads to a public relations strategy that is reasoned and logical.

Key questions  1. the marketplace/environment: ` what market/sector/environment is the organization operating in? ` what are the prevailing dynamics? What are the key communications issues? ` is the market growing or shrinking? ` what are the current market/sector shares? `which players are gaining/losing ground—why? `who is winning the communications battle—why? `who are the main stakeholders? Is this changing— why?

2. The organization  What is the recent/distant history of the organization?  SWOT analysis- what are the organization ʻ s strengths and weakness, and what opportunities and threats face it in the environment in which it operates?  PESTLEE analysis: `Political `Economics `Sociological `Technological `Legal `Environmental `Ethical

3. Communications:  `how has the organization managed communications in the past;  `what resources are allocated to communications? Is the person responsible for communications operating on his or her own on a day-to-day basis? How is the budget set?  `what skills does the current team have? Are there any gaps/needs for communications.  `is there international aspect to communication  `who manages communication  `what sorts of communications  `how is communications  `what is the internal relationship  `how is the media planned

4. Communication collateral  `what materials does the organization currently have for the purpose of communications (identify)  `who is responsible for this? Is it communications/PR-led

5. Research  `what research does the organization have at its disposal. Qualitative and quantitative Continuous and ad hoc Desk research Media coverage analysis-online, print, broadcast? `who evaluates? How are results reported, circulated and acted upon?

Consultancy pitch process:  `what sort of response is required to the brief?  `what budget will be allocated to the consultancy?  `if 10 per cent is allocated to evaluation, how will this be deployed?  `what is expected at the pitch itself?  ` when will the pitch take place?  `who will be working on the business?

Best practice in communications planning  The important things is to make sure you do all five steps and these are:  1.) audit;  2.) objectives setting;  3.) strategy and plan;  4.) ongoing measurement;  5. result and evaluation.

Stage 1 (audit)  Research  Stakeholder and target audience analysis  Informal discussion  Desk research  Media analysis  Media audit  Review of media coverage  Incorporating your PESTLEE analysis

Stage 2 (objective setting)  Increasing awareness  Educating informing and generating understanding,  Supporting sales efforts.

Stage 3 (strategy and plan)  The plan to achieve is a long term aim.  The planning and direction of military activity in a war or battle.

Stage 4 (ongoing measurement)  Inputs  Outputs  Outtake  Outcomes  Media monitoring  Monitoring social media  Social media monitoring

Stage 5 (results and evaluation)  When reviewing consider using  `management report  `case histories  `presentations  `awards

exercise  Create your own media plan and deliver them in the class. who says What To Whom Is communicated What Channel when