How to “Spring Clean” Your PR Strategy
When the days start getting warmer and you’re feeling motivated to tackle cleaning your coat closet, don’t forget to bring that spring-cleaning motivation to the office. Taking the time to refresh and revamp your PR strategy will help you reenergize for the season ahead, so you can keep working productively:
Here’s how to “spring clean” your PR strategy:
- Clean up your media contacts
Lists, lists, and more lists—ever feel like you’re drowning in your own attempts to organize? Start your PR spring cleaning by reviewing your media contacts and cleaning up these endless lists.
Consider: Has anybody become a big player in their industry in the last year who you should now reach out to? Are there any new influencers you should add to your list? Has anybody changed publications and/or roles and is no longer relevant to your target audience? Even just scanning through your Twitter list and cutting through the clutter can lighten your load and help you reevaluate your targets.
- Review your pitching style
After you dust the cobwebs off some old media contacts, the next step is to review your pitching style.
Are your key messages still communicating the right voice for your brands? Can you tighten up your messaging to make it more direct or maybe try some new, catchy subject lines? Think about the key points you want your target audiences to hear and adjust your pitching style to help them hear it in a new way.
- Review the media coverage you’ve earned this year
You may have already done an audit of last year’s media coverage in December, but it’s a good idea to review again at the end of Quarter 1. Are you on track to meet the goals you’ve set for yourself for 2024? Are you reaching out to the right publications for your target audiences?
In your PR spring cleaning, take the time to review what you’ve earned for media coverage so far in the year so that you can move into the next season with a clear idea of what you’ve done well and on what you need to improve.
- Evaluate goals for the next season
Only after you’ve thoroughly cleaned up and reviewed your work from Q1 can you move forward productively into the next season.
What new media coverage do you want to earn next for your brands? Make a list by month of which publications are covering features and topics that fit with your goals. From this list, give yourself concrete deadlines to help you chart out the next quarter. Then, use your just-cleaned media list to find the right targets.
Think of how good it feels when you finally clean out your closet—bring that same sense of refreshment and productivity to the office by spring cleaning your PR strategy!
Do you have any tips for PR spring cleaning? We’d love to hear it—reach out and share it with @CasterComm.