Planning With a Purpose

PR Is a Business Function — Treat It Like One

Why This Matters

A thoughtful PR calendar ensures you’re not scrambling for visibility. Planning around milestones, events, and seasons keeps your brand top-of-mind year-round.

Founder's Point of View

You already plan product launches, fundraising rounds, and key hires. PR should work in tandem with these milestones, not as an afterthought. By building a calendar that balances known announcements with seasonal relevance and reactive opportunities, you can keep your brand visible and avoid wasting effort.

Overview

PR success depends as much on timing as it does on the story itself. Without a plan, you risk missing critical opportunities or clashing with bigger industry news. A purposeful approach ensures you always have something relevant to share.

Ways to plan effectively:
- Start with “known news” – product launches, funding announcements, hiring pushes, partnerships
- Layer in seasonal relevance – awareness months, industry conferences, or holidays tied to your narrative
- Anticipate external timing – avoid competing with major events (e.g., Apple launches, national elections) that will dominate headlines
- Leave room for reactive opportunities – breaking news or trends that align with your expertise

A quarterly PR calendar gives you structure without overloading your team. It helps prioritize which stories matter, when they’ll have the most impact, and what assets need to be ready ahead of time.

Key Actions to Take

- Identify “known news”: product launches, funding, hiring pushes, events
- Add seasonal or industry-specific opportunities (e.g., awareness months, conferences)
- Build a quarterly PR calendar with goals, messages, and timing
- Leave room for flexibility and reactive opportunities

Metrics

Timeliness of pitches (sent ahead of events or trends)
Coverage volume and quality tied to pre-planned milestones
Internal coordination success (on-time approvals, asset readiness)

Examples

A fintech brand delays a product announcement by two weeks to avoid clashing with Apple’s keynote, ensuring their story isn’t drowned out
A consumer startup entering holiday season prepares a PR push tied to Black Friday and December gifting trends, amplifying sales conversations

Tools

PR calendars & planning: Cision editorial calendars, Trello, Asana (paid/free) + Google Sheets templates (free)
Trend & seasonality tracking: BuzzSumo (paid) + Google Trends, AnswerThePublic (free)

Optional Assets

- Quarterly PR Planning Grid
- Seasonal PR Themes Matrix
- Annual PR Roadmap aligned with product, HR, and investor timelines

Pro Tips

Think like a journalist: their content calendar fills early—pitch at least 4–6 weeks before your key date.
Group smaller stories into “campaigns” to create narrative momentum.
Review Google Trends and competitor news cycles to spot peaks in search or media interest. Align your next announcement to those windows so your story rides existing momentum instead of competing against it.

Don't Make These Mistakes

Treating PR as an afterthought once a product is already live
Ignoring external timing conflicts (e.g., big competitor news cycles)
Overloading all PR into one quarter or launch cycle