4 FREE PR plan templates

Maybe you're new to the public relations industry, and you've been tasked with creating a sparkly new PR plan. Or, perhaps, you're a seasoned pro looking for new, innovative ideas to reinvigorate your current public relations campaigns.

Whatever your motivations, we'll dive into the world of public relations planning: what it is, how it'll help your brand, and how a pre-populated PR plan template can save you time, money, and a little sanity.

When it comes to public relations, strategy is everything. There are plenty of tasks you can do that can help you look busy, but without a cohesive, strategic PR plan? You're just sort of doing stuff.

A good public relations plan builds upon itself and helps your whole team understand where you're going and why.

So whether you're launching a company, growing an existing business, or simply revamping your public relations and marketing strategy, creating a strategic PR plan is always a good idea.

Many brands will choose to work with an outside agency to generate the plan for them. This can be beneficial because the agency will do most of the leg work and bring a wealth of expertise in public relations strategy. However, it can also be done in-house as well.

The great thing about a PR plan is that you don't have to do it the way everybody else does. In fact, the best plan is unique to your brand’s particular mission, vision, and ethos. The more unique and individual it is, the better.

That being said, it's often helpful to start with a blank, customizable template so you can get creative and make it your own.

Take the following copy-and-paste templates, paste them into a document, and let your creativity run wild with the guided direction of these tried-and-true PR plan methods.

For those teams that need a template to address smaller, more specific goals that align with the direction and mission of the brand using the SMART objectives.

For teams that need a strategic PR plan to bring the company into the digital age, with an emphasis on social media adaption and writing social media press releases.

Sh*t happens. This risk management plan template will help you prepare for an inevitable PR crisis, negative coverage, or other not-so-good thing. Planning ahead of time and having a solid media plan in place will prevent you from a stressful, chaotic, and unproductive scramble should the worst happen.

This is a general planning template for sharing your company's news, promotions, product announcements, and other key information you want to get out to the public.

"Why even use a template, anyway?" the chorus cries in unison.

Well, here are four solid reasons why a template might help you achieve your lofty business goals.

A template can get you started and help you overcome the dreaded blank page anxiety. You shouldn't rely on each template as is, as your needs are unique to your industry, resources, and limitations. But a PR template can get you at least part of the way there.

As with most things in life, you would likely benefit from crafting your own plan from scratch with absolutely zero outside influence. But that takes time, and who has time these days?

A template can cut out some of the leg work and get you on your way to the important part: building the action plan that matches your specific needs.

Particularly for those who are new to public relations, an outline can give you the confidence to know you are on the right track.

Having a great plan is a good first step, but using the right tools can be a huge game changer for your PR and marketing efforts.

PR software like Prezly helps you save time and energy by providing many of the tools you need for a stellar PR campaign.

These tools include:

• Dedicated newsrooms and press releases, housed online for easy distribution
• Pitching capabilities to send your news to journalists, customers, and other stakeholders
• A collaborative CRM
• Dedicated analytics
• Coverage reporting & media monitoring

Pretty much everything you need to implement awesome PR strategies.

Your audience should always be at the forefront of your planning strategy. Whether you're reaching out to journalists, influencers, current customers, or prospective clients, consider how they'll receive the message (not just how it benefits your brand).

For example, say you send out a campaign email blast, and then immediately post the exact same message on social media, on your website, and in another email blast for good measure.

Will the redundancy irritate your customer base? Will they unsubscribe because they are tired of hearing about whatever you're communicating?

Or think about journalists. If you plan on sending your email pitch with a generic, soulless plug to a thousand semi-relevant media contacts.

Will they actually want to work with you? Are you showing how you'll benefit their readers, or are you spamming self-promotion?

A good PR plan is not a set-it-and-forget-it kind of thing. You'll need to constantly evaluate and re-evaluate your progress and adjust course as needed.

Just because something seemed like a good idea at the beginning of a campaign doesn't necessarily mean it will be halfway through.

Having team meetings and assessing the efficacy of your plan action items can help you from steering your PR boat into a metaphorical iceberg.

Obviously, as a PR team, you'll be "doing PR things" until you presumable retire (or the company ceases to exist). But that doesn't mean your PR plan should run endlessly.

A good PR plan has a definitive end goal. Once the goal is accomplished, you can start preparing your next plan, campaign, or strategy.

Frequently asked questions about PR planning and the process of creating an action plan for your team.

To write a PR plan, first identify your specific goals, resources, and timeframe. Your plan should outline who on your team is responsible for what tasks, benchmarks for success, and metrics to be aware of throughout the process.

A good plan is the needs of your team as well as the goals of your agency. It's also actionable and clarifies who is responsible for what along the way. It also determines how you’ll know if your campaign has been successful based on identified metrics.

While all professionals write their PR plans differently, four reliable steps to PR planning include:

Step 1. Do your research

Step 2. Set your goals

Step 3. Delegate your action plan responsibilities

Step 4. Review for success

If your action plan is missing any of these crucial steps, you may want to reevaluate and ensure that all four steps are being addressed.

You're on your way to creating awesome, strategic PR plans for your brand! Make your life even easier by using the best tool for the job – Prezly.

Prezly is your PR sidekick and will help you execute all of these PR plan action items and more, including creating press releases, sending pitches, tracking coverage, and building lasting relationships with journalists and stakeholders.

Try our 14-day, no credit card required free trial to see if Prezly is a good fit for you!