Front Page Coverage. So What?

Anne-Marie Lacey, Managing Director of Filament PR, talks about planning effective PR and communication strategies for 2018, that help you to achieve your bigger business objectives

Blink and you’ll miss it. 2017 is rapidly coming to an end. But while many people (like me) are scratching their heads wondering where the heck this year has gone, now is the time to take stock of the past 365 days, but also to look forward and plan for 2018. You see, it’s great to look back and reminisce. But it’s even more important to critically reflect and learn from your experiences especially when it comes to planning your PR and marketing communication efforts for the New Year. Take some time to look back at what you did in 2017. How did it work out? Did all go according to plan, or have you learned a better way as a result of the experience? What can you take forward from this into 2018? These are really simple questions to ask yourself but absolutely critical when you’re forward planning, using this information to quite literally inform your PR and marketing communications strategy for the New Year.

And while it’s good to look back at the past, the best laid plans have their eyes firmly on the future. In terms of your PR and marketing communications strategy for 2018, using your learnings from the past year; now is the time to think about what you want to achieve. Set solid goals that are clearly measurable so you can benchmark your success and identify areas for improvement along the way. Do you want to achieve national media coverage? That’s great but why? What benefit would this have on your business and how, when it comes to the crunch, will you be able to prove to the Board, shareholders, whoever it is you report to, that front page coverage in The Times has actually helped you to achieve your business goals? You see, that’s the trick for a successful 2018.

Look back at what you’ve learned, plan for the future, set goals, but most of all, make sure you PR and communication strategies are aligned to help you achieve your wider business objectives.