Four Step • Research

• Action Plan/Objectives/Program planning

Process of PR • Communication Tactics/ Implementing
plan
• Evaluation
 • PR Process is the act that outlines the various
steps to be undertaken before implementing
any program or events to ensure the success
of a program.
• It’s a management activity that attempts to
shape the attitudes and opinions held by an

Introduction
org’s stakeholders.
• PR is an important tool which can be used to
reach specific audiences in a way that the
to PR Process paid media cannot.
• PR engines work by spreading info &
improving the levels of knowledge that
people held about particular issues
pertaining to the org in question thereby
advancing itself in the eyes of those it sees as
influential to its company’s activities.
Strategic
…in public relations involves making
decisions about program goals, identifying
key publics, setting objectives, establishing
Planning policies or rules to guide selection of
strategies, and determining strategies.
Public Relations Strategic Planning Process
Four-Step Strategic Planning Steps and
Process Program Outline

STEP ONE: The Problem, Concern or Opportunity

“What is happening now?”
Defining
the
Problem
 • What are the key elements:

Defining the - Client or organization

- Problem or potential problems and

Problem or opportunities to do PR
- Audiences or publics

Opportunity - How- Formal and informal research

methods
 • Research
Research is the systematic collection and
interpretation of data to increase
understanding. Research also can be

Defining the defined as the controlled, objective, and

systematic gathering of info for the
purpose of describing and
problem or understanding.
• Research Methods
opportunity i) Quantitative research- E.g. telephone
polls, mail surveys, mall intercept study,
… face to face interview study, panel
studies.
ii) Qualitative research- E.g. library
research, on-line databases, content
analysis, interviewing, focus group
interview.
 • Describes the current situation—
“What’s happening now”—in present
tense.
• Describes situation in specific and
Writing measurable terms.
• What is the source of concern?
Useful • Where is this a problem?
• When is it a problem?
Problem • Who is involved or affected?
• How are they involved or
Statements affected?
• Why is this a concern to the
organization and publics?
• Does not imply solution or place
blame.
Writing Useful Problem Statements…

Blood program director:

“Our problem is that we need more blood.”

“We can use all you can get.”

Writing 1. Does that statement
describe the current
Useful situation—“What’s
happening now”—in
Problem 2.
present tense?
Does it describe situation
Statements… in specific and
measurable terms?
3. Does it imply solution or
place blame?
Writing Useful Problem Statements…

Blood supplies run short by an average of 100

units each month during June, July, August and
December, resulting in emergency room delays,
postponed elective surgeries and expensive
blood transfers.
Writing 1. Does this new statement
describe the current
Useful situation—“What’s
happening now”—in
Problem 2.
present tense?
Does it describe situation
Statements… in specific and
measurable terms?
3. Does it imply solution or
place blame?
Public Relations Strategic Planning Process
Four-Step Strategic Planning Steps and
Process Program Outline

STEP TWO: Program Goal

“What is the desired situation?”
Planning “By when?”

and
Programming
 • Planning is the purpose of making
something to happen or prevent it.
• It identifies what, why, and how to
accomplish a program plan. It’s a formal
plan, written presentation of the
research findings and program
Planning and recommendations for strategy, tactics
and evaluation.

Programming • A client first sees it before approving

implementation.
• It entails:
- Identify goals and objectives
- Identify target audience or publics
- Creating a theme for the
program/campaign/initiative
 • To estimate the working hours and costs
involved
The • To set targets for PR overall operations
• To select priorities which will control the
Importance number and timing of different
operations in the program
of Planning • To decide the feasibility of carrying out
the declared objectives
Elements of - Define the problem- Situation
- Identify objectives
- Identify audience or public
Planning & - Media selection
- Budget
Programming - Schedule
- Evaluation
 • Situation- Three traditional reasons why PR program
take place are:
1. to overcome a problem or negative situation
2. as a onetime specific launch of a product or
service, and
3. to reinforce an ongoing effort to preserve its
Elements of reputation and public support.
• Objectives- a stated objective should be evaluated by
Planning & asking if it really addresses the situation, it is realistic
and achievable and can the success be measured in
meaningful terms.
Programming… • An objective can either be informational or
motivational. Informational is designed to inform and
increase awareness and accurate dissemination of
info and are hard to evaluate or measure.
Motivational are designed to change attitude and
influence behavior and easy to measure or evaluate.
 • Audience- who are the specific targeted
audience even if the message is targeting the
general public? Need to know their
demographics and Psychographics.
• Strategy- it’s a broad statement describing
how an objective will be achieved. It has

Elements of guidelines and key message themes for the

overall program and actions planned.

Planning & • Tactics – they describe the specific activities

for each strategy.

Programming… • Calendar/timetable- a campaign can range

from 3 months to more than a year to
implement all the strategies and tactics in
the program plan. The timetable can be
established to include the timing of the
campaign, schedule of tactics and the
compilation time.
 • Budget – its divided into two categories:
staff time and out of pocket expenses.
Most of the budget goes into the staff
time. It’s advisable to allocate 10% of the
budget for contingencies or unexpected
costs.
Elements of • Evaluation- the objectives must be
measurable in order to know if they have
Planning & been achieved or not. It needs to be
realistic, credible and specific.
Programming… Informational objectives entails a
compilation of news clips and analysis of
how often key messages points were
mentioned while motivational objectives
are measured or evaluated by increase in
sales or market share.
Problem Statement

Blood supplies run short by an average of

100 units each month during June, July,
August and December, resulting in
emergency room delays, postponed elective
surgeries and expensive blood transfers.
Program Goal

To increase the units of blood

donated by an average of 100
units each month during June,
July, August and December.
Public Relations
Strategic Planning Process
Four-Step Strategic Planning Steps and
Process Program Outline
Action Strategy
STEP THREE:
“What changes must be made to achieve
Taking the outcomes stated in the objectives?”

Action
And
Communicating
 • Develop and implement
- Tactics for communicating
- Timelines for program campaign

Taking Action - Budget

• Action is the process of doing or acting
and on something.
• Channel of communication is the mean
Communicating by which messages are disseminate from
one individual to another. It can be
divided into three categories: New
media, Broadcast media and Printed
media
 • Communication is most visible part of
public relations function.

Taking Action • The goals of communication are:

a) to inform
and b) to persuade
c) to motivate
Communicating… d) achieve mutual understanding
• It’s the execution stage in PR process.
Objectives of a communicator:
• Message exposure- providing materials to the mass media and disseminate other messages through controlled media
such as newsletters and brochures. Intended audiences are exposed to the message in various forms.
• Accurate dissemination of the message- making sure that the basic information even after being filtered by the media
gatekeepers remains intact as it’s transmitted in the various media.
• Acceptance of the message- audiences retain and accept the message as valid.
• Attitude change- audiences believe and make mental commitment or verbal commitment to change their behavior as a
result of the message.
• Change in overt behavior- audiences actually change their behavior.
• For a message to be successful it must be received by the intended audiences, capture their attention, understood,
believed, remembered and acted upon.
 • To be an effective communicator, one
must have basic knowledge of:
- what constitutes communication and
how people receive messages
- how people process information and
change their perception
- What kind of media and
Taking Action communication tools are most
appropriate for a particular message.
and • The communicator should ask if the
message is:
Communicating… - Appropriate
- Meaningful
- Memorable
- Understandable
- believable
Framing the Message

ü Message must be newsworthy, according to the

standards of the media gatekeepers.
ü Messages must be understandable,
uncomplicated, free of jargon, and simple to grasp.
ü Most importantly, messages must be immediately
actionable, empowering receivers to act on their
interests and concerns (“mobilizing information”).
Public Relations Strategic Planning Process
Four-Step Strategic Planning Steps and
Process Program Outline

Evaluation Plans
STEP FOUR:
“How will the outcomes specified in the
program goal and objectives be
Evaluating measured?”

the
Program
 • Evaluation is the process which involves
assessing the preparation, implementation
and results of a public relations program.
• Identify research methods to be used to
evaluate the success of the campaign during
and after.
• Determine a way to measure whether the
Evaluating the campaign achieved its objectives.
• Adjustment can also be made during
program/campaign implementation and base on evaluation
feedback whether to continue or stop the
program.
• The purpose is to determine whether
accomplishment of organization’s goal has
modified or changed the overall objective
Prerequisite • PR personnel and management should
agree on the criteria to be evaluated in

for Evaluation order to attain the objectives

• Do not wait until the end of the program
to determine how it will be evaluated
Methods of Assessment
- publicity
- opinion
- interviews/questionnaires
- news monitoring
 1. Number of messages sent and
activities planned
2. Number of messages placed in media
Implementation and activities implemented

Phase 3. Number who receive messages and

activities
4. Number who attend to messages and
activities
 1. Number who learn program content
2. Number who change opinions

Impact Phase
3. Number who change attitudes
4. Number who behave in desired fashion
5. Number who repeat behavior
6. Nature of social and cultural change