Posted By Allison Logano on December 17, 2025
Have you ever walked into a store without a shopping list, and walked out with three different pumpkin-scented candles, a miniature heart-shaped waffle maker, and a detoxifying face mask to help you relax after your stressful shopping experience?
Think of PR planning a bit like that. Whether you’re mapping out ideas for your brand or for a client, an effective plan keeps you from wandering aimlessly through the aisles. It helps you get organized, define your north star, stay on track, and eventually, measure your outcomes.
Step 1: Define Success
The best plans start from the end and work backwards. You need to know where you’re going before you can decide how to get there. To define what success looks like for you or your client, consider some of these questions:
- What are your key business and marketing goals in the coming 12-18 months?
- Which KPI is most important to you?
- Do you have a particular audience you’d like to break through with?
- Are there any announcements, product launches, or initiatives coming up that need to be prioritized?
- Do you want to focus on short-term gains or build out long-term, big picture success?
Remember, success isn’t built in a silo. To create a clear roadmap, align your plans with C-suite priorities, sales and product teams, customer needs, and other business areas.
Step 2: Do Your Research
Whether you’re planning for a campaign with a quickly approaching deadline or looking further out, keep your strategies timely and on-trend to increase their chances of success. This might include gathering competitive insights, doing some market soft-sounding, looking for relevant trends, or conducting in-depth whitespace research.
Want to stay up to date on the latest trends without flooding your inbox? Our Agile Insights + Analytics team synthesizes emerging and current trends across business, media, entertainment, technology, climate, health, and more into a monthly cultural crystal ball. Subscribe to What’s Next, Now on Substack.
Step 3: Build a Framework
Plans need the right balance of structure, detail, and comprehensibility to work. Your PR plan framework should include these four key areas:
|
Term |
Definition |
Example |
|
Goals (what) |
An achievable outcome that is often broad and long-term |
Elevate my brand’s corporate positioning |
|
Objectives (what) |
Defines measurable actions in the short-term to achieve the overall goal |
Build breakthrough awareness for my brand, our leadership team, and our products with the company’s target audiences |
|
Strategies (what) |
Specific plan used to achieve goals and objectives |
Establish a market presence by advancing the conversation through features and thought leadership coverage in top-tier business, industry, and innovation press and events |
|
Tactics (how) |
Specific actions required to complete the strategy |
Conduct desk-side meetings with top industry, business, and technology reporters to walk them through a product demo and build stronger relationships |
When determining goals and objectives, think back to your vision of success. What is your ideal end result? What metrics or measurement would show you that you’ve got there?
Step 4: Get Creative
Now for the fun part. The words "strategy" and “tactic” were first used in relation to battle planning. PR and communications plans have the same mission: to draw out how you’re going to win.
The best strategies are well thought out, well researched, and well planned. Examples of strategies could be:
- Build relationships with influential media
- Become a top voice on social media in your area of expertise
- Create a regular drumbeat of news
- Utilize customer success stories to better tell your brand story
Tactics are what gets you there — the how to your what. A good tactic is actionable, time-bound, and tied directly to your overall strategy. Examples of tactics include:
- Conduct always-on earned media relations that tie to key business themes
- Distribute 3-5 announcements each quarter to demonstrate ongoing momentum
- Pitch story around a specific customer
T1 Tip: Think outside the box for your strategies and tactics. It can be easy to rinse and repeat plans quarter over quarter or year over year, so keep things fresh by keeping up with competitive research, industry trends, social media commentary, and team feedback.
Step 5: Set a Timeline
Once you’ve got your whats and your hows, the last step is “when.” A clear, detailed timeline keeps everyone aligned, accountable, and moving in sync. It also makes it easier to allocate resources, manage budgets, and assign the right people to the right tasks. Build a timeline that’s visual and simple enough for everyone to understand at a glance, and don’t forget to make sure everyone has access.
Plan to Change
Our last piece of advice: Stay flexible. A strong plan doesn’t lock you in — it gives you the clarity to adapt. Revisit your strategy regularly, and be ready to reset if priorities, circumstances, or opportunities shift.
Need an expert to create an effective plan? The Tier One team can help.
