I think that a great PR program, like a great Web site, lies in the strategy behind it. In order to assess the value of your PR program (or a competitor's), you should consider:

1.       The message - Do you have clearly defined messages? Do you have a key message that can be stated in exactly seven seconds? A seven-second sound bite is critical as the foundation of your PR program, with supporting messages surrounding it. Think about creating a 'message map' which is something that professional PR people do for their clients.

2.       The medium - How do you deliver your messages? Do you take into consideration how your targeted audience prefers to receive their news? If you are targeting teenagers, you might want to consider text messages since they think that even e-mails are so "1990s." If you are targeting senior citizens, you might want to use snail mail. Ask your audience how they prefer to be contacted then segment your list accordingly.

3.       The target - Who is your most important audience? Your secondary audience? Draw a diagram showing all the different audiences you want to communicate with, and then connect the message to your targets.

4.       Press releases alone do not a PR program make - Well-qualified PR professionals know that just issuing press releases does not mean you are implementing a comprehensive PR program. It is critical to create relationships with the media based on mutual trust and respect so you can suggest story ideas as part of ongoing conversations over time. If the media people know the person contacting them is a real person, they are more likely to like and trust them. Like many PR professionals, my staff and I have relationships with the media based on 20 years of our agency's history in the business. Our media contacts know and trust us. We covet these relationships and would never jeopardize them.

5.       Measure and assess - Just as you need to track the analytics of your Web site traffic, you need to track the results of your PR program. Are your messages resonating with your target audiences? Are you getting your stories out in the right media outlets? It might be more effective to have a story in a local weekly paper with a circulation of 1000 than in the New York Times if all of your targeted audience reads that weekly paper.

So a public relations program needs to be grounded in a well-planned strategy, just as your Web site needs to have a Web strategy plan. We spend our time helping our clients with these plans, and it is extremely rewarding when we hear comments like this from our clients:

"The Maine Children's Home has quietly gone about the good work that we do for the past 111 years. Recently, our Board and staff decided through a strategic planning process, that we needed to develop a marketing plan to promote the work that we do state-wide. We contacted several marketing consultants and ultimately decided to work with Nancy Marshall Communications. What a great decision that was. Even before the decision was made, Nancy was offering suggestions that could easily be implemented. Once the process of developing the Marshall Plan and Web design began, we had the good fortune of meeting the amazing team that work with Nancy. What an incredible team they are! They are personable, intelligent and so competent in their areas of expertise. They also exude enthusiasm which kept our board and staff energized throughout the process. The first actual project they provided following the development of the Marketing Plan was a press release. I have to say it was like a miracle how quickly their connections worked for us. Within less than 24 hours, we had two TV interviews, a radio interview and eight printed articles in various newspapers. I can't speak highly enough about this marketing team. I only wish we had made this decision a long time ago."