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Want This Kind of PR?
PR that really does something positive about the
behaviors of those outside audiences that most affect your business,
non-profit or association?
PR that uses its fundamental premise to
deliver external
stakeholder behavior change – the kind that leads directly
to achieving your managerial objectives?
PR that persuades those
important outside folks to your way
of thinking, then moves them to take
actions that help your
department, division or subsidiary
succeed?
Get organized and you could be looking at results like
these:
prospects starting to do business with you; membership
applications on the rise; customers starting to make repeat
purchases;
fresh proposals for strategic alliances and joint
ventures; community
leaders beginning to seek you out;
welcome bounces in show room visits;
higher employee
retention rates, capital givers or specifying sources
beginning
to look your way, and even politicians and legislators starting
to view you as a key member of the business, non-profit or
association
communities.
And the fundamental premise of public relations will show
you the way: people act on their own perception of the facts before
them, which leads to predictable behaviors about which something can be
done. When we create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching,
persuading and moving-to-desired-action the very people whose behaviors
affect the organization the most, the public relations mission is
accomplished.
As a manager, if you're serious about making your public
relations
dollars earn their keep, you had better take the time to actually
list those outside audiences of yours who behave in ways that help
or hinder you in achieving your objectives. Then prioritize
them by
impact severity. Now, let's work on the target audience in first place on
that list.
I'll wager that you don't have access to data that tells you
how most members of that key outside audience perceive your
organization. You would, however, have these data if you had been
regularly sampling those perceptions.
But without a hefty budget to
hire professional survey people, you and your colleagues will have to
monitor those perceptions
yourselves. Interact with members of that outside
audience by
asking questions like "Have you ever had contact with anyone
from our organization? Was it a satisfactory experience? Are you familiar
with our services or products?" Stay alert to negative statements,
especially evasive or hesitant replies. Watch carefully for false
assumptions, untruths, misconceptions, inaccuracies and potentially damaging
rumors. Any of which will need to be corrected, because experience shows
they usually lead to negative behaviors.
Since you must correct such
abberations before they morph into hurtful behaviors, you now select the
specific perception to be altered, and that becomes your public relations
goal.
Unfortunately, a PR goal without a strategy to show you how
to
get there, is like meatloaf without the gravy. That's why you
must select
one of three strategies especially designed to create perception or opinion
where there may be none, or change existing perception, or reinforce it. The
challenge here is to insure that the goal and its strategy match each other.
You wouldn't want to select "change existing perception" when current
perception is just right suggesting a "reinforce" strategy.
Now
writing skill enters the fray. Someone on your PR team
must put those writing
skills to work and prepare a compelling
message carefully designed to alter
your key target audience's
perception, as called for by your public
relations goal.
Consider combining your corrective message with another
newsworthy announcement of a new product, service or
employee which may
lend credibility by not overemphasizing
the correction.
Try to build
several values into your corrective message.
Clarity for example. It must be
clear about what perception
needs clarification or correction, and why. Your
facts must be truthful and your position must be persuasive, logically
explained and believable if it is to hold the attention of members of
that target audience, and actually move perception your way.
Here is the
least challenging part of your campaign, picking
the "beasts of burden" –
the actual tactics you will use to carry
your persuasive new thoughts to the
attention of that external
audience.
There are plenty of
communications tactics available including
letters-to-the-editor, brochures,
press releases and speeches. Or, you might select others such as radio and
newspaper interviews, personal contacts, newsletters, or group briefings,
always making sure the tactics you select have a record of reaching the
same audiences as those that make up your target stakeholders.
You'll
want to be ready for queries about progress by again
monitoring perceptions
among your target audience members.
Using questions similar to those used
during your earlier monitoring session, you will now watch carefully for
indications
that audience perceptions are beginning to move in your
direction.
We are fortunate in the PR business that we can always put the
pedal to the metal by employing additional communications tactics, AND
by increasing their frequencies.
As this article suggests, you WILL want
this kind of PR only
after you insist on an aggressive new public relations
plan that
targets the kind of key stakeholder behavior change that leads
directly to achieving your operating objectives.
end
Bob Kelly
counsels, writes and speaks to business, non-profit and association managers
about using the fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their
operating objectives. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.;
VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.;
director of communi-cations, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy
assistant press secretary, The White House. He holds a bachelor of science
degree from Columbia University, major in public relations.
mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net Visit:http://www.prcommentary.com
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