PR Going According to Plan?

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Robert A. Kelly © 2003.

PR Going According to Plan?

Think carefully! You’re a department, division or subsidiary
manager for a business, non-profit or association and you
really need to achieve your operating objectives.

But even a yes response to the headline above leaves the
really big question unanswered – does your current public
relations plan help persuade your most important outside
audiences to your way of thinking, then move them to take
actions that lead to your success?

If the answer to that question is uncertain or even no, change
is in order. Change that gives you a public relations blueprint
that helps lead to managerial success and, some might say,
survival.

I refer here to the kind of blueprint that moves the emphasis
from communications tactics to an aggressive plan for reaching
those outside groups of people with a big say about how
successful you’re going to be – your key external audiences.

Here’s the essence of such a blueprint: 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.

Use it to deliver behavior results like lots of new inquiries,
buyers coming back for more, fresh queries about joint
ventures and strategic alliances, meaningful increases in
capital contributions or brand new specifiers of your
component products and services.

To make it work, you need to lead those public relations
people assigned to your unit away from a preoccupation
with communications tactics over to that new, comprehensive
blueprint. As a manager, you’re now prepared to create the
external audience behaviors you need to achieve your
department’s business, non-profit or association objectives.

Charge your PR team with finding out how those key outside
audiences perceive your operation. That will require interaction
with members of that audience which you will identify when
the team prioritizes those groups in order of their impacts on
your unit. Here, your choice is, spend significant money on
professional survey people to handle the perception monitoring
chore, or use members of your assigned PR team to gather the
data. Remember that your public relations team is already in the
perception and behavior business.

Either way, questions must be asked. “What do you know about
us? Have you had positive or negative contact with our folks?
Do you have an opinion about our services or products?

Keep your antennae up for any signs of negativity. Did
questioners note a glaring inaccuracy? Or a false assumption
about your operation? How about any hurtful misconceptions or
rumors? Evasive or hesitant responses should also be noted.

Now you’re ready to establish your public relations goal which
could be as simple as “correct that dangerous inaccuracy,” or
“squash that hurtful rumor” because of the damaging behaviors
such negatives can create.

But how to achieve that goal? With the right strategy, of course.

Because there are just three strategies available in matters of perception/opinion, you can create perception where there may
be none, change an existing perception/opinion, or reinforce it.
But be certain that your strategy choice meshes with your new
public relations goal.

Here’s where your PR team’s writing talent comes to the fore.
You need a corrective message that will alter negative perceptions
among members of your target audience. As unit manager, you
need to stay involved in message preparation to make certain it is compelling, persuasive, well-written, fact-based and believable if
your target audience’s perceptions are to be altered towards your
point of view.

Getting that nifty piece of writing to the attention of that audience
of yours is easily accomplished. And here is where communications
tactics DO matter. They’ll carry your message to audience members
using everything from personal contacts, brochures and media
interviews to speeches, newsletters and facility tours. But be certain
that your chosen tactics are known to reach people like those in your
target audience.

Soon you’ll need hard evidence that the negative perception is
really being altered according to plan. This demands that you
return to the field and remonitor the perceptions of your target
audience members. This time, however, your team will be alert for
indications that the offending perception is really changing in
the way you planned.

By the way, things can always be moved along faster by adding
new communications tactics, and by increasing their frequencies.

As noted at the outset of this article, you need to persuade your
most important outside audiences to your way of thinking, then
move them to take actions that lead to your success as a unit
manager.

Your new public relations blueprint will help you reach that
objective.