Do you know the difference between an objective and a goal? How about a strategy and a tactic? A deliverable and metric?

Frequently an organization uses these words interchangeably even though they are quite different and possess distinct nuances. When speaking with a PR firm – or even within your organization – it is helpful to understand these words at a deeper and more precise level. 

Every PR plan (or any plan, for that matter) should be laid out in a way that incorporates these various concepts. Here’s a primer intended to help you engage with your firm and effectively follow the execution of a plan.

Goals vs. Objectives

  • Goals are broad, overarching outcomes you wish to achieve through a strong PR or communications program. The goals should paint the big picture, providing a north star for what the campaign intends to accomplish in the long term. For instance, one goal might be to enhance your organization’s reputation on environmental issues. Another might be to solve a regulatory or other policy problem that impedes your success.
  • Objectives, on the other hand, are Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant, and Time-bound (SMART) milestones that help you to ultimately achieve your bigger-picture goal. For example, to address your reputational issue on the environment, you might create a stewardship program that promotes environmentally responsible behavior among your target audiences. For fixing a regulatory issue, the objectives might be to meet with policymakers, hire a lobbyist, garner media attention to magnify, and lend credibility to what you are confronting. 

Strategies vs Tactics

  • Strategies refer to the overarching approach adopted to achieve the objectives and, ultimately, the goal. It is a blueprint that outlines your approaches or philosophies about what you will be doing. In keeping with the examples we have been using, a strategy for stewardship might be to focus on a specific demographic. To fix a regulatory matter, your strategy might be to educate the regulators or your local elected officials, who may not even know you have a problem or decide to conduct an aggressive media program.
  • Tactics are the specific actions undertaken to execute the strategy. They are the concrete steps formulated to bring the strategy to life. To get your stewardship program up and running, your tactics could include creating a website or program logo, engaging partners or third parties, conducting focus groups to develop effective messaging, running ads on public radio, holding a news conference, etc.

Tactics for fixing your regulatory issue might include putting together an information packet to document the problem and explain its adverse impacts. It’s imperative to meet with your elected officials or have them tour your operations to show elected officials exactly what the problem is and why it needs correction. It’s also vital to apply media pressure with news releases, placing stories and opinion pieces in local press, or conducting a media tour. These are just a few of many examples. 

Deliverables vs. Metrics

  • Deliverables are the actual work products: news releases, the website, the media coverage, a petition for enlisting community support, the posts, videos, memes, posts to social media, etc.  
  • Metrics are a way of measuring the effectiveness of those deliverables and typically focus on quantifying the results: the number of news stories, the quality of the media outlet coverage, impressions, followers/likes, the number of elected officials you met with, the number of letters you generated, and the number of coalition partners who have agreed to support your efforts. 

Often, metrics can be anecdotal as well. An elected official might hear your public radio campaign, or someone you know may have seen your social media or news coverage. It might even be an internal measurement—your boss saw the story or had a good meeting with the regulators. 

Yes, everyone should have these elements in their plan. But the value of your PR campaign will be in tailoring everything – objectives, goals, strategies, tactics, deliverables, and metrics – specifically for you and your organization. 

Remember that a great plan is only valuable if it is executed with precision and focus. You will be in a stronger position to attain your goal with a better understanding of these terms.