Prior to my journey into PR, I worked for a technology firm as a Human Resources (HR) Generalist. One of the many skills I learned while at this firm was project management. Sure, I had worked to solve problems in prior positions, but never in formal way such as developing a plan, determining stakeholders, and setting a budget that project management required.
Why do I bring this up? I mean doesn’t seem to have anything to do with PR, does it? Well actually it does. The first thing I thought of when I started this journey into PR was campaigns were basically projects. I still think of them that way. The verbiage we used may be a little different but the steps are the same. Let me show you.
Any project has goal or goals that must be achieved. To reach these goals, there are series of tasks that have to be completed. Stakeholders have to be identified and we must work with them to meet our goals. In many cases the stakeholders are helping us define our goals. Budgets have to be determined and results must be measurable.
Sound familiar? It should. Any PR campaign happens for a reason. There are goal(s) that must be accomplished. We determine who are stakeholders are, develop budgets, develop tactics to help us meet our goals, and we determine how to measure our results so our clients can see the a return on their investment.
I already had many of the skills I needed to succeed and to this day planning, we would call it developing strategy, is one of my favorite parts of the PR puzzle. Whether you are student or have been working in PR for years, project management skills are essential to your success.
- Reach vs Visibility: Which is Right for Your Marketing? - February 13, 2024
- Focus Your Marketing Efforts By Saying “No” - December 13, 2023
- Focus Your Marketing with a Strategic Plan - September 21, 2023