Managers Who Leave PR to Others

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Robert A. Kelly © 2003.

Managers Who Leave PR to Others

You’re a business, non-profit or association manager who
needs to achieve your organizational objectives on schedule.
Since public relations should be helping you do just that,
why leave it wholly in the hands of others?

In your own best interest, get personally involved in your
public relations effort and ask the PR team servicing your
department, division or subsidiary a few questions.

Are they focused on a workable, comprehensive plan for
producing those key external audience behaviors like
customers coming back for repeat purchases; new prospects
starting to sniff around; capital donors asking for more
information, and others deciding to specify your services
or products, and similar good stuff?

Ask the PR folks how they feel about using the fundamental
premise of public relations as a guide to the PR work they
are doing for you. For that matter, what do you think about
these two sentences? 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.

The nice thing about that premise is that it shines the PR
spotlight directly on those outside groups of people with a
large say about how successful you’re going to be – namely,
on your key external target audiences.

Then ask your PR team how they feel about using these tools
to capture the perceptions, and thus behaviors of your most
important outside audiences.

For example, do you and your PR people really know how
your organization is perceived by those target audiences, and
are you all really aware of the behaviors that flow from those
perceptions?

Because that’s where the rubber meets the road – target audience
behaviors that help or hinder you in achieving your operating
objectives.

To find out what target audience members think about your organ-
ization, you and your PR team must interact with them and ask
a lot of questions. The alternative is to spend considerable money
on professional survey work, but let’s assume that’s not really
an alternative at this point in the budget cycle.

At any rate, we’re talking about questions like “What do you
think of us? Have you had dealings with us? Were they
satisfactory?” Stay alert to negativities such as misconceptions,
inaccuracies, false assumptions and rumors.

With such data in hand, you’re ready to establish your public
relations goal. Often, it can be expressed in a few words: clear
up that misconception, correct that inaccuracy, or clarify that
false assumption.

But no PR goal is ready for battle without a sound strategy to
tell you how to reach it. In matters dealing with perception and
opinion, there are just three strategies from which to choose:
reinforce existing perception, create perception where there is
none, or change it. A word here, make certain the strategy you
choose is a good fit with your public relations goal.

Clearly, the most challenging aspect of the PR problem-solving
sequence is preparing the message that will do the heavy lifting
– altering individual perception within your target audience pop
ulation. It can do so only if it’s both persuasive and compelling.
As the PR team’s “client manager,” you must also be involved in
message preparation. Is it clear as to what perception needs to be
altered, and is your rationale believable and persuasive?

Next, hitch up your “beasts of burden,” the communications
tactics you need to carry that message to the eyes and ears of your
key target audience. Fortunately, you and your PR team have a
long list of such tactics available ranging from press releases,
media briefings, newsletters and facility tours to radio and
newspaper interviews, brochures and face-to-face meetings.
Just be sure that the tactics chosen have a record of actually
reaching folks like those in your target audience, and that the
budget can accommodate the type and frequency of
communications tactics required to do the job.

Pretty quick-like, you will wonder just how much progress
towards your public relations goal you are really making. Which
is the signal to re-monitor perceptions of those members of
your target audience. Same questions, but a new objective: watch
closely for signs that perceptions are actually being altered.

You can always apply more pressure to the effort by adding new communications tactics to the battle, AND bumping up some of
their frequencies.

By keeping a managerial eye on your public relations program –
and satisfying yourself that it is focused on helping you achieve
your operating objectives – you can be certain your PR dollars
are being spent on that workable, comprehensive plan for
producing those key audience behaviors that impact your operation
the most.

end