Unit 2: Public Relations Components and Planning
Most major undertakings start with the essential process of planning. This is especially true in public relations efforts, where a complex mix of tools and coordinated timing is crucial to the successful outcome of a campaign. The process begins with identifying the many intricate parts of a specified project and then assembling them into a working mechanism guided by a detailed blueprint called the Public Relations Plan.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 4 hours.
Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- identify and describe the fundamental components of a public relations campaign, including the terms, concepts, and tools essential to PR planning; and
- design a formal public relations plan suitable for presenting to key decision makers.
2.1: Essential Components of Public Relations Planning
This chapter describes the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Excellence Studies and organizational factors that have impacted PR practices, such as values, organizational structure and organizational culture.
This chapter describes three approaches to PR management and implementation: goal attainment, systems theory, and stakeholder management.
2.1.1: Public Relations Primer
Review modules 1–8, and make a note of any resources or templates you may find especially useful. These resources and templates may be useful as you undertake a public relations campaign. We will refer back to this primer later in the course, but for now it gives an overview of public relations and demonstrates some of the tools that PR experts use. This primer was prepared to help government and business leaders in the former Soviet Union make the transition from a centralized system to a market environment, where they were expected to interact with a freer and more independent media. The concept of "public and media relations" was new to many of these leaders, so this primer provides a fundamental overview of the basic ideas and tools of PR.
2.1.2: Fundamental Terms and Concepts
Watch this video, which summarizes the fundamentals of marketing terminology and practices. Many of the terms and concepts found in public relations are rooted in the foundations and traditions of marketing. Pay extra attention to the key concepts of targeting, positioning, demographics, and segmentation. These topics are critical when defining public relations audiences and the methods to reach them.
2.2: The Public Relations Plan
This chapter discusses the important role research, during the first and final steps of the four-stage PR process, plays in creating an effective PR plan. The author presents the forms and types of research PR practitioners use most frequently.
2.2.1: Preparing the Public Relations Plan
Read this excellent primer on crafting a PR plan.
2.2.2: Public Relations Planning Primers
Read this article by PR agency founder Steven Le Vine. He provides a 5-point overview of key concepts a practitioner must keep in mind when planning a public relations campaign.
Read Pari Noskin Taichert's brief summary of the four initial steps for preparing a public relations plan.
2.3: Constructing a Strategic Public Relations Plan
This chapter presents the RACE model (research, action planning, communication, evaluation), which offers a foundation for developing a public relations plan.
Unit 2 Discussion
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