Rollercoaster. Trainwreck. Exciting. Whatever you think of your first public relations campaign, there is no doubting its importance on the future of your business. Especially if it didn’t go very well, it can be tempting to toss it into the dustbin of history and move on to the next thing on your to-do list. We’d like to caution you against doing that. Instead, take an hour to sit down with pen, paper (or a Google doc, whatever floats your boat), and the results of your campaign so that you can mine it for valuable information and, yes, get ready for the next PR campaign, which will be that much stronger.

Write down exactly what you did to conduct your first PR campaign

Memories fade. You’re going to be in business for decades to come, and after a while, your public relations campaigns are going to blur together. So, your first task is to write down every step of the campaign: the type of article you released, the platform, the date, the event that you had - all of it. Hopefully you already have this somewhere, so this step won’t take too long to do.

Look at what you were hoping to see happen and what actually did

Next to everything you did in the PR campaign, make two columns: one for your expected results and one for the actual results. Again, you probably have this information somewhere already, but you’re putting this all in one easy-to-read location.

Now add a 3rd column: the why

Next to each result, write down as best you can why it happened. Why didn’t your sales go up 10% Why did you gain another 200 followers that month? What was going on with the economy? Was there a news announcement that threw everything off? Did an employee call in sick that day, or did you oversleep?

Try to connect every result with an explanation, which will help you to do the next step.

In the next column, write down what you should remember for next time

What did you learn from that step that you will apply in future PR campaigns? It could be something as small as remembering that you are not a social media person, so you will need to delegate to someone who is. Maybe you need to read up on the best ways to promote your company on Instagram. It could be that you need to start your holiday PR campaign a month earlier next year. 

Underneath your columns, leave room to put your thoughts about the campaign

Did you enjoy running the campaign? Why or why not? What kind of ideas, crazy or otherwise, did you have while it was happening? Did you find it hard to sustain your momentum? This is a great place to jot down your insights into the campaign, a mini diary of sorts that will be useful to return to in the future.

Now it’s time to look to your upcoming campaigns

Every PR campaign builds on the one that came before it. With this in mind, it’s a good idea to think more about how this campaign can position you for success. Are there any holidays or events that will offer good opportunities for you to promote your business? Will you be speaking in the community and be able to mention something you accomplished during this campaign? 

It can be tough sometimes to connect the dots, of course, but the strongest companies see their PR efforts as 100% interconnected. It’s how they build momentum and are able to scale up. 

Last, give yourself a pat on the back

PR campaigns are the world’s longest running chess matches and require constant vigilance and the ability to pivot at a moment’s notice. Completing one, then, is a true accomplishment. Once you’ve caught your breath and completed the above steps, you’ll be ready to take what you’ve learned and set out on your next public relations campaign, which will be even more rewarding.

Imperium Group is an American public relations and marketing consultancy firm. Founded in 2016, it specializes in guaranteed placements, creating utmost transparency for its clients. Imperium Group generates over 15M impressions a month for its clients. Its team is based out of New York, Dallas, and Los Angeles.  

For more information about Imperium Group, please see https://navigator.imperiumgrouppr.com/.