|
The_Ultimate_PR_Scam
| The Ultimate PR Scam
Please feel free to publish this article and resource box in
your ezine, newsletter, offline publication or website. A copy
would be appreciated at bobkelly@TNI.net. Word count is 815
including guidelines and resource box. Robert A. Kelly © 2003.
The Ultimate PR “Scam”
It happens to business, non-profit and association managers when
their public relations budget fails to deliver the crucial
external audience behaviors they need to achieve their
department, division or subsidiary objectives.
Behaviors they should have received leading directly to boosts
in repeat purchases; growing community support; more tech firms
specifying the manager’s components; increased capital
donations; stronger employee retention rates; new waves of
prospects, or healthy membership increases.
If that rings your bell, you need to take two actions.
First, insist that your public relations activity is based on a
fundamental premise like this: 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.
Second, as the manager for whom they labor, get personally
involved with the professionals managing your PR effort. Tell
those specialists that you must list, then prioritize those key
external audiences whose behaviors effect your unit the most.
Identify that outside audience sitting at the top of your slate,
and we’ll work on it right now.
Nothing happens, of course, until you gather some pithy
information. Namely, how do members of that key target audience,
whose behaviors affect your unit’s success or failure, actually
perceive you?
You and/or your PR team must interact with members of that
audience and monitor their perceptions by asking a number of
questions: Do you know anything about us? What have you heard
about our services or products? Have you ever had contact with
our organization? Was it satisfactory?
The trick here is to stay vigilant for negative signs, in
particular, untruths, exaggerations, inaccuracies, rumors or
misconceptions.
By the time you complete this exercise, you will have gathered
the raw material you need to establish a corrective public
relations goal. It might aim to fix an inaccuracy, clear up a
misconception or lay that rumor to rest.
How you get to that goal, however, is another question because
you have just three strategy choices when it comes to
perception/ opinion matters like this. Create perception/opinion
where there isn’t any, reinforce existing opinion, or change it.
A warning: insure that your new strategy is an obvious match for
your new public relations goal.
Now, alert your team to a real writing challenge – a message
tasked with altering the offending perception. Which means your
writer must produce a message that changes what many target
audience members now believe. No easy job!
It must be clear about how the current perception is out of
kilter. And it must not only be truthful, but persuasive,
compelling and believable if it is to lead ultimately to the
desired behavior. True heavy lifting!
By the way, messages like that best retain their credibility
when delivered along with another news announcement or
presentation, rather than a dedicated, high-profile press
release.
Speaking of delivery, it’s time for you and your PR team to
select the communications tactics to carry that message of yours
to members of a target audience that really needs to hear it.
Fortunately, there are dozens of such tactics awaiting your
pleasure – speeches, radio/newspaper interviews, brochures,
op-eds, newsmaker events, newsletters and many, many more. Be
careful that the tactics you use have a record of reaching folks
just like those you’re aiming at.
It won’t be long before people around you begin asking about
progress. Which, once again, will put your team back in the
opinion monitoring mode out among the members of your target
audience. And the questions they ask will be very similar to
those used in the first perception monitoring session.
Difference this time around will be your close attention to just
how much current perceptions are really undergoing the change
for which you planned. You want solid signs that the offending
perception is actually being altered.
You can always shovel more coal into the boiler by adding new
communications tactics, then using them more frequently to
achieve faster progress.
When you apply a comprehensive and workable plan like this, you
have little to fear from “a PR scam.” Instead, you are on-track
to achieve those key audience behaviors you must have to reach
your unit’s operating objectives.
end
About the author:
Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to 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 communications, U.S. Department of
the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White
House. mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net Visit:http://www.prcommentary.com
|
|
| |
| |
