Scooping Up Wins: The Secret Ingredients of Great PR Briefs
We’re big believers that asking for exactly what you want is a faster, much more effective way to achieve your goals. A successful PR brief is like a very specific question – a well-thought, thorough presentation of what you want to achieve that leaves little room for rejection.
It’s kind of like going for ice cream: It’s summer and it’s hot and you need a cooling break. People who are serious about their scoops don’t simply say “a cone would be nice.” They go all in: “Hey friends, it’s 95 degrees out and we really need something to cool us off. Let’s go get ice cream at Meg’s House of Cones ASAP! They have a great waffle wrap – vanilla ice cream, chocolate mint shell and sprinkles. And the doubles are free all week! Who’s in?”
With a pitch like that, who can say no?!
Like clearly stating your plan to beat the heat, an enticing PR brief matters because it creates an overall, relevant vision; aligns internal stakeholders prior to external communication; reduces costly revision cycles; and gives your PR teams the direction needed to identify the right outlets instead of mass-blasting generic pitches.
Key Ingredients Make Sweet Results
Think of PR briefs like the mental prep we did to convince our friends to go for ice cream. They’re fairly easy to do, but brands often miss the mark with poorly stated or vague details and a lack of “why should I care?” When done correctly, you and your teams will achieve your goals.
Let’s look at the key ingredients an effective, thorough PR brief should contain:
Objectives –You’ll need a clear idea of where you’re going to build a plan that works. Keep your organization’s overarching brand and business goals as your North Star, then work your way deeper. What does campaign success look like? Is it media placements, share of voice, thought leadership positioning, crisis mitigation, butts-in-seats? Be definitive and remember, vague goals produce vague results.
Audience – As we’ve said here before, it matters tremendously who you tell about your plans. Consider who the story is for, and which journalists/publications speak to that audience. The “we want to be in everything to everyone” brief weakens your message and leads to scattershot results.
Guidelines – Be sure to include the limitations of what the campaign can and can’t do and the specific environment in which it’s implemented. Rules help focus your efforts. Embargoes, executive availability, competitive sensitivities, budget for paid amplification and real deadlines keep execution realistic instead of aspirational.
Relativity – If you pitched your ice cream scheme as simply insight into commercial refrigeration, you would probably miss the mark. A much more effective angle is one whose angle is interesting, enticing and makes sense for the reporter’s audience. The brief should surface a human interest or a trend that’s indeed newsworthy. “Cinnamon crunch cones, homegrown vanilla beans and free doubles served by the heir to Baskin-Robbins?” Yes, please!
Proof Points – The PR brief needs a few facts to back up the pitch narrative. The goal is not to overwhelm the recipient with data and stats, but rather to provide them enough information to validate why the story is newsworthy.
Single or Sundae, Process Matters
At Paquin PR, we help clients develop PR briefs that get results. Whether it’s a relatively simple, single objective campaign or a muti-layered, extended effort that needs to achieve many things, we reach the right contacts with the right requests.
Formal or informal, we always ask for exactly what we want, careful to consider our goals and provide enough information, guidance and incentive to make the answer “yes.”
Let’s chat; we’d love to show you how the right pitch gets great results.
Now, if you’ll excuse us, ice cream awaits!
