PR Strategy & Planning

What is the press strategy? What stories should be told, what release written, how do we get the message out, and what publications and editors do we pursue?  These are only a few of the questions that need to be answered to generate a world-class press strategy and plan. Bellandi Group South has a strong and experienced group of PR consultants that can help you shape your PR strategy and plan based on a wealth of PR experience with a proven track records.

Example PR elements include:

• Press Release Generation
  For many companies, a Press Release is a marketing afterthought, with the marketing manager or PR firm cranking out a quick summary of the item of interest, planting a quick customer quote, then blasting to the newswires in hopes of coverage.  In actuality,the Press Release (and all of the activities surrounding it) is one of the most cost-effective tools to create market visibility and enhance market positioning.  But there is an art and a science behind creation of the perfect Press Release.

• Press Launch and Management
  Identify and setup pre-launch briefings with industry analysts and key press contacts. If a tradeshow is involved, it would also involve setting up live meetings at the show with the goal of securing favorable coverage.

• Analyst and Press Presentations
  A quality editor will see more than 15 product presentations every week. If your presentation does not stand out… if it is not quick and to the point… if it does not contain the appropriate information or sound bytes, the chances of your launch being covered is minimal.  This service assumes there exists a base launch presentation and a quality Press Release to draw from.

• Target Editor/Analyst List Generation
  A company typically knows all of the top editors and analysts in a given space, and sure, reaching out to them and generating coverage and a favorable impression can be a good (and very difficult) thing.  More important, however, is understanding who the up-and-coming editors are, knowing about hot new publications that might be looking for contributed content, knowing what your end users read in given vertical market segments, etc.   A detailed Target list is the first, and most important deliverable that a mature PR program will develop.

• Editorial and Reviews Calendar
  One sign of a great marketing department is this:  are you receiving more than your fair share of industry visibility through the trade press?  Where many companies simply launch a Press Release in support of a launch, to create ongoing press coverage takes much more focus and commitment.  The Editorial Calendar (Ed Cal) is a strategic, detailed list of the monthly and weekly topics the magazines will be covering throughout the year.  It also details when product reviews and product shoot-outs occur, with submittal dates and links to instructions.  The problem is… when the list is created, then what?  Again, there is both art and science when it comes to submitting ideas to editors and submitting products for review.  For instance… not everything is placed on the public Ed Cal’s, so how find out (or influence) other editorial opportunities?  We have a proven track record of well-above-industry average for successful Ed Cal tracking.