Solid communications strategy is the foundation of any successful campaign. The key is to align business goals with PR and marketing tactics to generate meaningful results:  sales, awareness, issue advocacy and more.

Sherrilynne’s consulting services follow the classic four-step process to communications strategy:

Defining  the challenge. This situation analysis looks at the background of the issues, what caused the problem, what precedents are out there.  It examines allies, opponents and other interested groups are and clarifies communications goals.

Programming. This is where the analysis begins. It looks at the objectives and alternatives of the various activities considered.  It determines the risks, benefits and consequences of each tactic and predicts on the right courses of action.  A schedule of activity  is derived to include the channels, media, talent and costs that will achieve the goal. Buy-in is sought from everyone involved who must support or participate if the programme is to be successful.

Implementation. Here’s where you get into the cut and thrust of public relations. Get your messages out, give context, time communications, strive for enough repetition of message delivery for maximum effect, follow up on every outreach and see it through.

Evaluation. This crucial phase is often overlooked, but is necessary if you want to measure the effect of your activity and use what you learn to inform future public relations.  Measure achievement of your goals and each objective. Are your audiences behaving as you had hoped? Have people’s attitudes been affected? What conclusions arise? How should tactics be revised in future?  Report your feedback to all stakeholders.