Back to School, Back to Business: Is Your PR Plan Ready?
Traffic is on the roads and school supplies are flying off the shelves. That means one thing: it’s September. For some people, it’s back to school and for us PR practitioners, it’s back to business.
Regardless of when your fiscal year ends, September is always a good time to revisit your plans and see what needs a refresh.
If that’s the case, then what things should PR people be reviewing now?
First: your news pipeline. Do you have enough fresh, substantive, relevant content to sustain you through a cluttered media environment? Remember: this year, in addition to the usual competition for space, you're also vying for mindshare in an election year. Spend time now to analyze your content for its “newsworthiness” and that will optimize timing and placement of each news item moving forward.
Next, what does your social media policy look like? Do you have one? By now most companies allow and many encourage employees to use social media. But platforms, not to mention habits, change so quickly these days, it’s always a good opportunity to review any governance you’ve set around employee use of social media and be sure that your employees can follow best practices without stifling the terrific dialogue that social media should encourage.
Let’s not forget crisis plans: in the next few months we’ll face a busy holiday shopping season, inclement weather, and likely some economic challenges too. Regardless of the industry sector you’re in, the spotlight is always on your resources, your technology, and your people. How nimble you are in responding to adverse events can make or break your company’s reputation to key stakeholders. Be sure that you’ve planned for the possibility of every potential scenario with a good crisis plan on the books, and a good team in place to manage it.
And finally, don’t forget CEO media training. Your CEO is in the spotlight a lot already. He or she is used to speaking in public but even the most seasoned presenters can use a refresher. Try to schedule a yearly training with your top executives to be sure they’re poised and ready when the cameras roll.
With all the innovative techniques at our disposal, it’s really easy to forget where we started with content, messages, and plans. September is a great time to get back to the basics!
Posted by Meghan Gross on September 12, 2012 at 1:52 PM
