Go On. Invest in a Proper PR Strategy and Creative - Here Are 5 Reasons Why
It’s tempting to focus on one tactic at a time, especially with uncertainty around regulatory approvals, funding and resources. You might just do a media story here. A spike of stakeholder engagement there. Or a short blast of an awareness campaign.
It’s effective, but you can do better.
A burst of activity is another moment in a world bursting with moments. All trying to get attention and impact quickly. Only to be quickly swallowed up and forgotten as the next moments roll through our news and socials.
A creative strategy with well-planned activities captures and holds attention, long enough for you to influence your audience and create the change you want. It also gives you enough data and insights to assess and report ROI, as well as improve your strategy and execution along the way. Invest up front to get the increased returns later.
If you’re just not sure about making that investment, then here are 5 reasons to help you make the call.
1. Know what’s coming. Plan resources more effectively.
A PR strategy lays out exactly what’s ahead for the next 6, 12 or more months. So, you can plan budgets and resourcing, ensure campaign partners and advocates are available (or involve them in planning). You can also give your internal teams a generous heads up on when you’ll need their involvement on reviews, approvals, amplification etc.
2. Fit the separate pieces together for one great outcome.
Strong strategy is like good architecture – every piece is designed to support the next. When activities are planned as part of a bigger objective or narrative, each one contributes. You can also tailor tactics to the right targets at the right time, because they will all contribute to the overarching objective. This is better than using each campaign to try and engage everyone all at once with the same, or a convoluted mix, of messages and content.
3. Creativity isn’t optional. You need to outperform mass AI-generated content.
Generative AI is increasing the amount of content you’re competing with. There’s a lot of average and good content out there. To really get results you need to be better – and that’s where investing in insightful, lived-experience, human-led creativity comes in. Be different. Be human. Give yourself the time and space to create the ideas that will move customers, donors, doctors, patients, regulators etc to make a change for the better.
4. Make it local. Make it count for your audience.
“But global directs our creative and campaign ideas”, I hear you say. Agreed, that can be a tough hurdle, but it doesn’t have to be a block. Remember, don’t you want to create something that truly strikes a chord with the people and culture in your market? Localise it. It can still build off the global concept, just with local nuance. You don’t have to be wildly bold, just engagingly effective. Back it up with local research and insights to make your case to global.
5. Test, learn and improve based on data. Show true ROI.
A longer-term approach lets you set more bespoke metrics, track progress and evolve your approach with each campaign. Then turn the insights into sharper, more effective creative. You can see what is shifting awareness, behaviour or preference over time, not just what spikes short-term awareness or engagement. When measurement is built into the plan from the start and aligns with your activities, you gain the confidence to adapt tactics. You also get to justify investment and demonstrate the tangible value of communications within the broader business strategy.
Now is the time to consider the points above and start on your PR strategy and creative.
#MakePeopleBetter