Tweet

Managers Who Leave PR to Others

Written by: Bob Kelly

Article Overview: Managers, this is where the PR rubber meets the road -- target audience behaviors that help or hinder you in achieving your operating objectives.

Managers Who Leave PR to Others

Please feel free to publish this article and resource box
in your ezine, newsletter, offline publication or website.
Only requirement: you must use the Robert A. Kelly
byline and resource box. Word count is 935 including
guidelines and box. Robert A. Kelly © 2006.

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

Bob Kelly counsels and writes for business, non-profit and
association managers about using the fundamental premise of public
relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has authored 245
articles on the subject which are listed at EzineArticles.com, click
Expert Authors, click Robert A. Kelly. 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. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Columbia
University, major in public relations.
mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net Visit:www.PRCommentary.com

Related Articles
  Management styles for Gen-X and Gen-Y
  Managers Beware: Tips to Prevent Liability under the ADA
  Ten Strategies to Keep Good People
  Smart Management To Avoid Losing Your Best People
  Are you ready for the Self Managing Salesman?

Article Tags:



Related Forum Posts
Re: Twitter Censorship? - I haven't heard that but it wouldn't surprise me. Seems like there are people/governments/sites all over the place trying to get internet censorship. Personally I think it's a bad idea. Once you open that can of worms then where does it stop? Leave it be and see what it can truly grow into!
Re: How should i promote a new website? - I forgot to mention another good one. Leave you business cards (with your website on it) in public places that you go. Even in bathrooms on the sink or on top of the hand blow dryer. People are curious as to what it might say. Also make sure you put something on it that will tell them what you sell. Not just the name of your business.
Re: Hello from Missouri - [quote="MichaelH":gxmrz8rk] If anyone in those markets in a managerial or owner capacity would like to offer some simple numbers help I would be greatly appreciative. To be honest, I've actually posted an ad on my local Craigslist for help, and offer $5 PayPal to anyone willing to help... haven't had any results yet! [/quote:gxmrz8rk] Unfortunately, to get people to respond to anythign these days, you probably need to up the ante to at least $10. Managers to whom time is money aren't going to take even 5 minutes out of their day to answer questions and then just get $5 for it!
Re: How should i promote a new website? - [quote="mbrand2222":2axnoxdu]I forgot to mention another good one. Leave you business cards (with your website on it) in public places that you go. Even in bathrooms on the sink or on top of the hand blow dryer. People are curious as to what it might say. Also make sure you put something on it that will tell them what you sell. Not just the name of your business.[/quote:2axnoxdu] On the rare occasions I use the buss I forget one on the seat.
Re: How to do Link Building? - Hi Members, You have all given some fantastic feedback on this subject and the combined effort of using all of these techniques will surely bring great benefit and I haven’t really got a lot to ad other than one thing which GT has already touched on earlier. That is to type your keyword phrase into Google and list all the sites on page 1 and even 2 and visit them all in turn. Chances are most of them will have articles of some sort and it they have a comments section then jump on it. Leave a meaningful and useful comment (you don’t want it to be removed by the site moderator) as you want to ad useful content to the article and not devalue it. In your comment you can leave a link back to your site and there you have quality backlinks form high ranking sites, regards, Mal.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Selling On Ebay The Good The Bad And The Ugly

Angel Investors Where Are You?

What Makes an Extraordinary Business Consultant?

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.