PR is Nothing Without A Strategic Focus.
PR works better with a strategy. Strategy works better with research. Without it, you’re not doing PR, you’re improvising in public.
There’s a famous movie line: “I’ve been poor, and I’ve been rich. Rich is better.”
In PR, it translates cleanly: “I’ve been clueless, and I’ve been informed. Informed is better.”
Because the moment you bring in communication experts, the questions start. Not to annoy you, but to protect you:
What’s your turnover?
Who do you compete with, and why do clients pick them?
What business objectives matter this year?
Who exactly are we talking to, and what do they care about?
If you can’t answer those, the PR team can’t build a strategy. They can only produce outputs.
Strategic planning starts with research
Research sits at the start of the process, before you launch anything. It’s the groundwork that turns “let’s do PR” into a plan that can actually deliver: it clarifies the audience, sharpens the message, and maps the reality you’re walking into.
It also stops the most expensive mistake in communications: saying something perfectly to the wrong people in the wrong context.
Segment, cluster, profile: know who you’re speaking to
Audiences aren’t a demographic slide. They’re groups with different motivations, fears, habits, and triggers. The more precisely you understand those differences, the easier it is to craft messages that land and choose channels that actually reach them.
In most organisations, this data already exists somewhere in marketing, sales, customer support, or product. PR can add qualitative insight, but it can’t replace hard inputs. Strategy needs facts, not guesses.
Research isn’t just for the audience. It’s the whole landscape.
Good PR research also looks outward:
What the media is paying attention to.
What topics are rising or dying?
What people already believe about your category, and what sentiment exists before you enter the conversation.
That context is what helps PR teams build messages that resonate, pick the right platforms, and avoid walking into avoidable backlash. In short, research doesn’t slow PR down. It stops you from wasting time at speed.
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About the Author
Steve Gardiner (exec MBA) is a senior marketing and commercial leader at Lighthouse PR, bringing global experience from Accenture, Electronic Arts, Virgin Media, Telekom, and Etisalat. Latterly, as VP Business at Etisalat, he was responsible for $1.8B in revenue.
Today, Steve applies his strategic, marketing, and growth expertise to support Lighthouse PR clients as part of the agency’s service offering.