Public relations planning cases and planning schemes!

The three major problems that public relations planning solves include making communication content more easily accepted by the public, improving the effectiveness of communication, and improving the public relations work system. Therefore, public relations planners must master the "six elements" and practical skills required for program planning.

Six elements of public relations planning

Whether the six elements exist at the same time in the public relations planning process, the plan will be affected by factors such as the needs of the actual situation and the practical ability of the public relations subject. The plan and design will be based on the "three-element theory", "four-element theory" and "five-element theory" as standards.

1. Public relations survey

To a certain extent, domestic small and medium-sized social organizations lack professional public relations investigation links due to human, financial or capacity issues. They may even use simple investigation methods to "follow procedures" or directly collect data on the Internet as investigation results. There are countless cases where planning results deviate from the goals or fail due to limited conditions and lack of attention from decision makers.

Although a complete and professional public relations survey requires an organization to spend a lot of manpower, material resources, financial resources and energy, it can provide the organization with detailed and rich information from public relations strategy to implementation, and help the organization adjust and improve its strategy, formulate precise policies, and efficiently coordinate and implement execution work. Public relations surveys can be conducted in five areas: public psychological tendencies, comprehensive information on competitors, relevant policies and regulations, analysis of internal organizational situations, and scene and venue conditions.

2. Planning goals

Setting planning goals is to ensure that the plan can achieve the desired ways and means, but the goals vary depending on the actual needs of the organization.

Information dissemination , by delivering relevant information of the organization to the public in a way that the public is interested in understanding and accepting, such as information on the organization's new achievements, developments, and policies, so that the public is willing to accept it, achieves its goal.

Emotional maintenance can be achieved through planning organizational activities to build, develop, connect and maintain emotions. When an organization establishes emotional connections with the public, it will be easier to gain public understanding, support and cooperation as emotions develop and accumulate.

Attitude influence , most public relations activities transform the public's unfamiliarity, indifference, and even prejudice and hostility towards the organization into understanding, recognition, and even support.

Promoting action aims to make the public accept the organization and generate expectations and cooperative behaviors. Due to the preparation of the above levels, promoting public action is the final stage of achieving the goal.

3. Planner

The planning of public relations plans requires planners to have creativity and organizational skills, and requires many basic qualities and skills. For example, the planner's character will be reflected in the planned activities and influence the shaping of the organization's image. Planning work requires a broad range of knowledge and deep humanistic accumulation. The same is true for public relations planning. In addition, there are organizational skills, oral skills, writing skills, communication skills, and innovation capabilities.

However, more and more organizations have realized from practice that the complexity of planning schemes in the organizational execution stage will limit the planners' creativity, so planners will also need the cooperation of executors.

4. Planning object

Although public relations is aimed at a wide range of the public, most public relations activities cannot be directed at all members of the public, so planners need to classify weights and focus on them based on planning goals. The planning of all activities must follow the selection of primary and secondary focus objects. Because the public needs currently faced by the organization vary in strength and the public has different characteristics, it is even more necessary to clarify the specific planning objects and design activities, so as to effectively achieve the "specific goals" of public relations activities and provide support for the "overall goals".

Confusing the public's characteristics and needs will have consequences that are very detrimental to achieving the goal, especially when the organization's investment capacity is limited. It is undoubtedly a "taking a chance" approach to obtaining limited results with a large base.

5. Plan a solution

A plan is a written expression that integrates all the key points. The higher the quality of the plan, the more attention it can attract from the demander. The core of the plan is creativity and logic, and a concise layout is the guarantee that the demander can read the plan conveniently and comfortably.

The structure of the plan includes introduction and background, themes and projects, strategic ideas, action models, communication strategies, and the estimated use of material funds.

6. Effect evaluation

Public relations planning attaches great importance to the evaluation of effects, which is also the finishing touch of the overall logic of the plan. In fact, the expected evaluation only shows the demand side an expected effect, but after the public relations activity is over, the creativity and copywriting can be evaluated and measured through the collected information and data.

Measurement uses both "qualitative" and "quantitative" evaluation methods to assess the non-quantitative and quantitative results of an activity. The non-quantitative qualitative method is applicable to the subjective feelings of the planning object, while the quantitative method is applicable to statistically analyzing the public's awareness and reputation of the organization. In most cases, it is expressed in the form of percentage. When the demand side's activity scale and data information require more precision, it is expressed in the form of data charts and specific data tables.

Public relations planning theory

1. Principles

Public relations planning requires that information be delivered to the public based on the principle of truthfulness throughout the planning process, and that strategies and timing be adjusted according to changes in actual conditions. Public relations activities also require systematic planning and coordination. In order to leave a deep impression on the public, they also require innovation and interesting elements. However, the uncontrollability of public relations activities is more obvious, so more flexible combination strategies need to be considered in the details and each link.

The planning of public relations activities is different from marketing activities and must be based on the unified values ​​​​and ethical norms of society. Because the public's impression of past marketing activities is becoming increasingly negative, and this situation is mostly caused by unprofessional planning and execution, public relations planning should pay special attention to the psychological impact of values ​​and ethics on the public.

Finally, of course, there is the principle of effectiveness. Public relations activities adhere to the core principle of achieving better public relations results with less cost investment and achieving the organization's public relations goals.

2. Nature and value

First of all, we need to determine the nature of public relations planning. It is a comprehensive subject, but also a "soft" science and an applied science with practicality. And its value is reflected in the level of public relations activities, which is a concentrated reflection of the value of the activities. It can enable an organization's public relations operations to achieve leapfrog growth and is also the key to enabling the organization to gain an advantage in a competitive environment.

3. Content and Procedure

A public relations planning program is a systematic, multi-faceted task, and the preparation of its content needs to be carried out step by step according to established procedures.

Collecting and analyzing information will determine the correctness of achieving the goal in consulting business, just like a doctor needs to get a medical report before treating a patient. Before planning, you must obtain as much information as possible about the current status of the organization and various valid historical information. Conduct a comprehensive analysis of the information collected to determine the problem or key points of need, and then effectively position goals and formulate strategies. Avoid arbitrary speculation and conjecture.

Determine the public relations goals . Public relations personnel determine feasible desired results through comprehensive analysis, as well as what the activity should do, to what extent it should be achieved, and what effects should be achieved. For example, first determine the direction of shaping, correcting, optimizing the image, or solving problems and crisis public relations, and then formulate corresponding long-term and short-term goals. After that, micro-goals, overall goals are broken down into projects and operational parts, and overall image goals are broken down into detailed goals such as products, personnel, environment, and services.

Analyze the target public and organize specific public objects to be faced. Determine the specific public objects that need to be faced in the planning through analysis and interpretation of the target public, select the corresponding public relations talents, media, and models, and achieve the established benefits with less investment and effective allocation.

Develop an action plan that includes PR goals and target audience selection, and choose the correct activity model, appropriate communication media, and determine the time and location of the activity. The activity model will be listed in detail later.

Formulate a public relations budget , which is mainly composed of three categories: administrative expenses, project expenses, and unexpected expenses. Administrative expenses include labor costs, management expenses, and facility and material costs; project expenses are the costs required for the implementation of various projects in the activities, including research fees, public relations and advertising fees, sponsorship fees, consulting fees, rental fees, reception fees, etc.; unexpected expenses are unexpected and sudden expenses. The setting of this item requires the planner to have very rich practical experience.

Analyze and evaluate the plan . This part includes analyzing and evaluating the feasibility and logic of the action plan. When both are met, the plan is more likely to be recognized. Otherwise, it is necessary to re-optimize the purpose, operability and financial expenditure of the plan. A comprehensive evaluation method is used to conduct a comprehensive evaluation to obtain the advantages and disadvantages of all plans, and then transplant them to each other to obtain a feasible combination of advantages.

Review and finalization : Review and approval of the plan by decision makers is a necessary step to ensure consistency with the overall goals, and is also a prerequisite for obtaining the active cooperation of all units and personnel within the organization. Planning schemes that pass the review will directly enter the organization and implementation stage, while planning schemes that fail the review will enter the optimization and adjustment stage if there is still a chance.

4. Public relations activity model

l Communication mode

Establishing extensive connections through interpersonal communication between people is often used in public relations activities that require establishing relatively "intimate" relationships because of its advantages such as short distance, affinity, and emotional appeal.

l Promotional model

Information is disseminated through various appropriate media, mainly used to enhance the organization's visibility, such as news reports, press conferences, new product launches, product shows, public relations advertising, etc.

l Consultation mode

Through opinion polls, media surveys, behavioral information collection and other methods, we provide the necessary information for decision-making consultation, such as essay writing competitions, prize tests, telephone interviews, etc., which play a role in enhancing public participation and improving the image of the organization.

Social Model

It is mainly reflected in social welfare and charity activities. Various social welfare activities can enhance the visibility and reputation of an organization, but such models must be investments in long-term interests, so weaker organizations must act within their means.

Service Model

By providing the public with various service experiences to enhance the organization's visibility and reputation, such as knowledge popularization, after-sales service, skills training, etc., the goal is always to deepen the emotional relationship between the public and the organization.

Offensive Mode

As the saying goes, "even a rabbit bites when it is cornered." When an organization is facing fierce external competition and attacks at a critical moment, it adopts a strategy of advancing to retreat and attacking to defend to carry out relevant public relations activities.

Defense mode

Organizations must not only deal with internal and external disputes and conflicts, but also have the ability to predict and prevent these situations from happening. They must proactively adjust and optimize their own flawed aspects, and then spread the results to society through public relations activities. This is a proactive defense model.

Construction mode

Newly created organizations need to work on creating their organizational image for the public, with the goal of leaving a good first impression, such as through free events, groundbreaking ceremonies, celebrations, etc., combined with public relations activities that can enhance the reputation of the organization. Forming a series of activities will help the newly created organization to create adjustable space and time in the process of creating its image.

l Maintenance model

Maintain the organization's good image in the minds of the public through continuous publicity and services, and achieve the goal of promoting public cooperation and occupying the public mind.

l Correction mode

When an organization encounters risks and public relations imbalances, which damage the organization's image or seriously affect the normal operation of the organization, the public relations activities carried out according to the public relations crisis management system and measures are unique in that they can promptly discover problems, correct errors and improve the public relations environment.

Public relations planning skills

If a planner wants to create a classic public relations plan, he must personally practice, accumulate experience and summarize unique planning skills. However, continuous innovation that keeps pace with the times has enabled public relations planning to summarize practical theoretical skills in the midst of continuous changes. Even if it is not possible to copy the same "routine" model as a marketing plan, public relations personnel can still draw on these theoretical techniques and come up with their own unique practical skills through thinking and experience comparison.

1. Qizheng Xiangfa

Planning work within a period of time can enable the organization's public relations work to advance in a wave-like manner, with daily public relations work and specific public relations activities as the peaks and troughs of the waves respectively, so that the public can pay attention to the organization's image in daily life for a long time, and attach great importance to the organization's image in specific activities.

2. Grafting

This technique is very close to the techniques of "leverage marketing" and "parasitic marketing", but it is essentially different. Grafting is applied to the soft level of relationship coordination rather than the hard level of competition. For example, by taking advantage of the media's reporting opportunities for news events or people, brands, stores, and people can be embedded in the reports to increase their visibility, or they can be used to politely decline requests that do not meet the organization's requirements, etc.

3. The art of warfare

Soldiers are the track. Organizations are often subject to pressure and restrictions from all sides in the fierce competition. A strategy or method that can find a different way may push the organization to the top of the competition pyramid as long as it complies with legal and ethical requirements. For example, in the early days of beverage products, there were prizes for opening bottles, which was a way to promote the relationship between the public and the company in the environment at that time, and this strategy often brought unexpected benefits to the organization.

4. Use offense as defense

Actively take the initiative to protect the organization's own interests. For example, in a crisis event where malicious falsification has a negative impact on the company, the company needs to actively use crisis public relations methods to handle the corresponding incident, use a clear attitude and factual basis to prove the truth of the incident, and use the law as a weapon to crack down on the source of malicious dissemination of falsified information.

5. The method of sincerity for sincerity

When the image of an organization causes deviations or misunderstandings in the public's understanding due to certain influences or mistakes, the organization should prove the positivity and initiative of its image with a sincere attitude and behavior. The public will be infected by the sincere emotions and will gradually develop an attitude of understanding and support from an emotional level. Everyone has personal judgment, and how to use "sincerity" to gain the public's trust and understanding requires public relations planning to first ensure a sincere heart.

6. Use the topic to develop your ideas

The method, as its name suggests, uses social hot spots, events of public concern, and topics closely related to the public interest to achieve public relations goals. It is not a misunderstanding to call this method "marketing by leveraging momentum", but the difference between it and the method of leveraging momentum is that the momentum leveraged is a planning technique aimed at promoting the improvement of multi-party relationships. For example, when the organization lends a helping hand when public interests are harmed, and assists the government and public welfare organizations in improving operational efficiency, so that all parties gain more than expected, the organization's image can be shaped into an organization that plays an important role in the incident through public relations activities.

7. Transformation and combination method

It is also often referred to as the "method of seeking common ground in differences", which connects unrelated events to gain news value and communication power. This method of connection and combination is a planning method based on maximizing communication effects. In order to achieve the target effect, the original plan or an event may even be changed accordingly to obtain the opportunity point for event connection. For example, when an international superstar comes to a city, the organization can adjust the time, scene, or project of the public relations activities, and leverage the superstar's public attention to launch new public relations activities in combination with the changed activities, which will effectively enhance the communication power and news value.

8. Seeking Differences in Similarities

Compared with the convergent thinking mode of the transformation and combination method, seeking differences in similarities focuses more on divergent thinking on a problem, exploring and obtaining solutions to the problem from different angles and directions. This approach focuses on highlighting differentiation and uniqueness, using these elements to form communication advantages in a competitive environment. For example, unprecedented or unpredictable events occur at a press conference or new product launch.

9. Promote your strengths

Every person and every organization has its own unique advantages. Public relations planning based on its own advantages needs to carry out public relations activities completely centered on the advantages. Even if the advantages are small, the public will remember the advantages demonstrated by the organization through continuous long-term communication. For example, the slogan designs of many brands such as "Nongfu Spring is a little sweet" and "BMW, pure driving pleasure" are all based on the planning of public relations communications and public relations activities around their core advantages and characteristics.

10. Make up for shortcomings

Corresponding to promoting advantages is to make up for shortcomings. Below the advantages are shortcomings. Through clever and innovative ways, the public's attention can be diverted from the shortcomings of the organization's current situation to other places, or other advantages can be used to make up for the shortcomings. For example, Haidilao’s “rat gate” incident was solved because it used the correct public relations attitude and handling methods, coupled with the image advantage created by its previous high-quality services, which made the public quickly forget the shortcomings of its individual stores.

Author: Who is who?

Source: That So-and-So