12 steps to a successful campaign

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12 steps to a successful campaign

• Marius Ulozas,
• Feb6, 2009

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12 key elements / stages of Campaign

• RESEARCH
• SITUATION ANALYSIS
• OBJECTIVES
• IDENTIFYING PUBLICS
• IDENTIFYING STAKEHOLDERS
• KEY MESSAGES
• STRATEGY
• TACTICS
• TIMESCALE
• BUDGET
• CRISIS ISSUES AND MANAGEMENT PLACE
• EVALUATION

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RESEARCH

• No matter what kind of campaign youre involved
  in, research will be at the core of it. Depending
  on what youre doing, different research methods
  can be used at various times.
• Two sources of informations
• PrimaryThis is finding out the information you
  want first hand Questionnaires, one-to-one
  interviews, telephone interviews, focus groups,
  blogs etc.
• SecondaryOften called desk research and involves
  gathering information from already published
  sources Books, journals, papers, libraries,
  Internet etc.

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SITUATION ANALYSIS

• The research should clearly define the current
  situation with regard to the campaign. Depending
  on whats involved, this might include an
  organisations current situation , how its
  perceived by customers or staff or how its
  fairing financially.
• Whatever your campaign involves, you must be
  absolutely aware of everything both internally
  and externally.
• From this you can carry out a situation SWOT
  analysis to examine Strengths, Weaknesses,
  Opportunities and Threats of the current
  situation, and a PEST analysis to examine the
  external environment Politically, Economically,
  Socially and Technologically.

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OBJECTIVES

• Once youre aware of the problem(s) your
  organisation is facing, you can then define the
  objectives of the campaign. The objectives are
  what is hoped to be the end result of the
  vampaign. Each objective must be SMART.
• Specific Are they clearly defined and
  comprehensible?Measurable Can each objective be
  measured in the evaluation?Achievable
  Considering other factors (e.g. budget and
  timescale) are they achievable?Realistic Are
  you being realistic given the resources you
  have?Time When do you want to achieve the set
  objectives?
• Depending on the situation, sometimes the
  objectives set can initially be before the
  research has been undertaken.

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IDENTIFYING PUBLICS / Targeting

• Who do you want to talk to? The research carried
  out in the initial stages of the planning process
  should have identified each public relevant to
  the campaign. This is crucial to ensure your key
  messages are communicated efficiently as
  possible.
• The research also should have identified each
  publics current attitude to the situation
  allowing you to tailor your key messages
  appropriately.

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IDENTIFYING STAKEHOLDERS

• Once the publics of this campaign have been
  categorised, it is then important to identify who
  the stakeholders are. A stakeholder analysis is
  not as specific as identifying publics as it
  looks at everyone that is involved in the
  campaign as opposed to only those who need to be
  communicated to. Publics can also be categorised
  as stakeholders also. A stakeholder analysis may
  involve
• Members of organization Identified publics
  Governments International Organizations
  Funding bodies Etc

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KEY MESSAGES

• Once you know the issue youre facing, the
  current situation of the organisation (both
  internally and externally) and who you want to
  talk to, you then have to plan what you want to
  say.
• Every campaign needs to have a set of messages
  that forms the main thrust of the communication.
  These messages need to be clear, concise and
  readily understood.
• Key messages are important for two reasons.
• First of all, they are an essential part of the
  attitude forming process and
• second, they demonstrate the effectiveness of the
  communication.
• Key messages must not cross over or conflict.

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STRATEGY

• The strategy is the foundation on which a
  tactical programme is built. It is the theory
  that will move you where the current situation is
  now to where you want it to be.
• The strategy is usually the overlying mechanism
  of a campaign from which the tactics are deployed
  to meet the objectives.
• A good example, albeit a rather gruesome one, of
  strategy and tactics is noted in Gregorys
  Planning and Managing Public Relations Campaigns
  where she describes the USs plans to move
  against Iraq following its invasion of Kuwait
• The objective To get the Iraqis out of
  KuwaitThe strategy According to General Colin
  Powell was to cut them and kill themThe tactics
  Pincer movement of ground forces to cut the
  Iraqis off from Iraq, carpet bombing, divisionary
  tactics, cutting bridges and so on.

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TACTICS

• There is a number of tactics (or tools) and the
  challenge is choosing the right tactics to meet
  the objectives.
• Again, depending on what type of campaign youre
  involved you might use media relations, lobbying,
  events, interviews, blogger relations,
  presentations, consultations, newsletters,
  competitions, podcasts, websites, conferences,
  photography, video news releases, etc etc.
• Only use the tools that will best help you meet
  your objectives. Although, creativity is always
  paramount.

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TIMESCALE

• A timescale allows you co-ordinate your tactics
  appropriately and helps you be aware of certain
  deadlines. Not only that, if there are certain
  future events that relate to your campaign, you
  can tailor a tactic in your timescale to
  coincide.
• Or on the flip side, if there are more
  prodominant happenings in the news agenda you
  could hold off until things have died down.

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BUDGET

• Allocating the budget is an essential part of a
  campaign so all costs should be taken into
  consideration. The primary reason for a budget
  lets you know what you can or cant do, but it
  also allows you to allocate money to the specific
  areas of the campaign
• Operating costsDistribution, administration,
  travel, production, seminars
• HumanOverheads, expenses, salaries
• EquipmentTelephones, computers, etc

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CRISIS ISSUES AND MANAGEMENT PLACE

• Risk is an inevitable part of some PR campaigns,
  so being thoroughly prepared in case a problem
  does occur is paramount.

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EVALUATION

• The evaluation is an ongoing process particularly
  in a long-term campaign so it is critical to
  constantly review all specific elements.
  Evaluating a campaign should be done in two ways
• OngoingThe ongoing review is what will be
  carried out throughout the campaign. It is not
  calculated at the end of all the campaign
  activity, but constantly throughout. If certain
  elements of the campaign are not working as
  effectively as thought in the planning stages, it
  can be re-focused or re-jigged to fit.
• EndThe end review will take place after all
  activity has finished and where the final results
  will be compared against the campaign objectives.
  To do this, the tactics for each objective will
  be analysed individually and critically.
• The evaluation is vital to discover which parts
  of the campaign were successful and which were
  not. Not only that, it helps determine what the
  current situation is after the campaign has
  ended.

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Happy campaigning!
Marius Ulozas Marius.ulozas_at_gmail.com, skype
mierka 370 686 26260, 370 685 06074