PEST analysis
The PEST analysis is used most frequently where there are external factors to be considered within your project. Therefore use it for your marketing and external communications projects.
PEST stands for:
- Political
- Economic
- Social
- Technological.
Some practitioners have added three more parameters to create PESTELI:
- Environment
- Legislative
- Industry analysis.
If your project involves areas such as corporate social responsibility, carbon trading or environment issues then you might want to add environment. Legislative might involve changes in the law, new European directives or local by laws. Industry analysis will look more closely at the direction of your industry and competitors.
In most cases the three additional parameters can usually be covered under the traditional PEST model.
Like the SWOT(1)analysis, PEST is best used in a brainstorming session. If you are using both models then do PEST first because this may well identify points that you want to investigate in more depth with the SWOT analysis.
As with SWOT, make sure that you define clearly the subject or objective of the PEST analysis.
| Political | Economic |
|---|---|
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| Social | Technological |
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In the chart above you will find some of the areas you might want to investigate further in a PEST analysis. As with the SWOT analysis there are some that are covered by more than one field i.e. social networking appears in Social and Technological.
Once you have completed your PEST analysis you will find it useful to prioritise these topics and for the most undertake a SWOT analysis.
There is a big difference between knowing the theory and making it happen. For help in implementing your communications practices email us now.
