PR Toolkit
Planning your publicity
Planning is essential. It will help you focus your efforts and help you set
measurable and clearly defined objectives.
It need not cost much, but you may need a little time to research your
local media and plan a photograph.
Although there may be limited media in your area, you might for example
wish to look further afield to tell your story i.e. in your trade
press/professional journals or as part of a network of like-minded people.
Use the five questions to plan your publicity activity:
-
What do I wish to achieve?
-
Who do I want to talk to?
-
What do I want to say?
-
How shall I achieve it?
-
How do I know I've got it right?
Suggestions
-
Communicate with your users via the media: Gaining a Charter Mark is the
ultimate opportunity to tell your users about the excellent quality of
service you offer. One of the most cost-effective ways of doing so is by
using your local media to get your messages across.
-
Tell the media why you have succeeded: If you really
wish to benefit longer term from the publicity that the achievement of a
Charter Mark brings, you must sell yourself and your organisation and
explain why you have been awarded a Charter Mark rather than just the
fact that you have!
-
Think long term : You can continue to keep reinforcing the message of
your success each time you have something new to say. Local newspapers
have a great deal of space to fill, so highly relevant material for their
readers is always welcomed.
-
Use the kudos of your Charter Mark to get you noticed with your local
media: The local media may not have noticed you before or were negative
about your organisation in the past. Charter Mark related articles may
make a difference.
