Goal

Your goal should be the overarching objective that encompasses everything you want to achieve with your media outreach. Did we explain what they can achieve? i.e. how local PR can enhance business? PR is free advertising!

Reference back to the “Newsworthy” paragraph; your story is newsworthy, but why do you want everyone in your state to know about your accomplishment?

This first implementation section will help you formulate a strategy to accomplish your chapter’s specific goal(s). Then the development of objectives establish criteria against which campaign results can be measured. 

Here are some steps developed by Norman R. Nager and T. Harrell Allen in, Public Relations Management by Objectives:

1. What is the purpose of the communication and how does it promote or achieve your objective?

2. Audience/publics: Who exactly are you reaching out to with the message and how can that audience help achieve that chapter’s objectives?

3. What is it that the audience wants to know and how can the message be tailored to audience self-interest? Consumers are more interested in how a new computer will increase their productivity than in how it works.

4. Communication Strategies: What environmental factors will affect the dissemination and acceptance of the message? Are the target publics hostile or favorably disposed to the message?

5. Essence of message: What is the planned communication impact on the audience? Is the message designed merely to inform, or is it designed to change attitudes and behavior? Telling people about the values of physical fitness is different from telling them how to achieve it.

6. Nonverbal support: How can photographs, graphs, films, artwork and a webpage clarify and visually enhance the written message? Bar graphs or pie charts are easier to understand than columns of numbers.

These six steps take you through the thought process of any PR professional when identifying their client’s needs.  The steps ask questions and demand direct answers allowing the professional to filter out unnecessary elements and create a concise, well written, and attention grabbing media outreach plan.