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When devising a public relations campaign, whether it be to push a new product or to simply raise awareness of a particular issue, there is one method that is tried and true amongst public relations practitioners. The ROPE method (Research, Objectives, Programming, Evaluation) is a great guideline for entry-level PR specialists as well as the professionals that have been doing it for years. It gives you a place to start, helps set goals and allows you to stay on target with what is most important in your campaign.

Research, while one of the most important aspects, is often skipped over so the PR department can get to the real meat of the project. However, by not researching, you may miss what tactics are most effective based on the audience you are trying to reach. Surveys and cultural research are just a couple of things that should be done before the start of a campaign.

Objectives are by far the most important part of the ROPE technique, and the most time should be spent developing them. These are the ultimate goals for your campaign, such as changing attitudes of the public toward your product. Keep in mind, to be effective they should be very specific (ex. We will raise awareness by 15% amongst our group about Product B).

Programming is what you do to get your objectives going. Perhaps a big event is required to push your message. Your maybe your campaign needs a catchy theme or slogan to resonate amongst the public. Or just pulling together a press conference. This is all dependent on the type of campaign being devised.

And, one of the most skipped over steps, evaluation. It is important to sit down after your campaign and evaluate how well it went. This step is what makes the objectives step so important, because you need very specific objectives in order to see if they were achieved. Vague objectives lead to vague evaluations that do not assist in the planning of campaigns later.

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