Managers Your PR in the Strike Zone

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Robert A. Kelly © 2006.

Managers: Your PR in the Strike Zone?

It is if you’re trying to do something meaningful about
the behaviors of those important audiences that MOST
affect the business, non-profit, government agency or
association unit you manage.

It’s in the strike zone when your public relations creates
the kind of external stakeholder behavior change that leads
directly to achieving your managerial objectives.

And it stays in the strike zone when you follow through
by persuading those key outside folks to your way of
thinking by helping move them to take actions that allow
your department, group, division or subsidiary to succeed.

Your managerial public relations is NOT in the strike zone
when all that preoccupies you is how to move a message
from one point to another using simple tactics like
broadcast plugs, brochures and press releases. A simplistic
approach to public relations that ignores the need to
properly profile and qualify your target audience by
probing how they feel about you and your services or
products.

This could be problematic because the perceptions of key
outside audiences invariably lead to behaviors that can
help or hurt a business, a non-profit, a government agency
or an association.

Instead, consider this approach to your managerial public
relations and do something meaningful about the
behaviors of those important audiences that MOST affect
the organization you manage; create the kind of external
stakeholder behavior change that leads directly to
achieving your managerial objectives; then follow through
by persuading those key outside folks to your way of
thinking by helping move them to take actions that allow
your department, group, division or subsidiary to succeed.

A one-two-punch that lets you measure the success of
this methodology while you get the best public relations
has to offer. In addition, this approach recognizes that
many managers build their public relations program
around communications tactics which, as noted, they
simply use to move a message from here to there.

But the reality is that tactics such as special events, press
releases, broadcast plugs and brochures cannot, all by
themselves, deliver results like those outlined above.

It’s not every day that you can base your public relations
planning on a high-potential underlying premise. But
here you can: 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 usually accomplished.

The fact of the matter is, the right PR planning actually
CAN alter individual perception and result in changed
behaviors among key outside audiences. But, you’ll only
get there when your PR requires more than news releases,
special events and broadcast plugs. Only then will you
receive the quality public relations results you deserve.

Now, a sampling of possible results could include capital
givers or specifying sources beginning to look your way;
new proposals for strategic alliances and joint ventures
showing up; customers starting to make repeat purchases;
welcome bounces in show room visits; community leaders
beginning to seek you out; politicians and legislators
looking at you as a key member of the business, non-profit
or association communities; new prospects actually
starting to do business with you; and membership
applications starting to rise.

Because your PR people already labor in the perception
and behavior vineyards, they’re prepared to handle your
new opinion monitoring project. Be doubly certain,
however, that the PR staff really accepts why it’s SO
important to know how your most important outside
audiences perceive your operations, products or services.
And insure that they believe that perceptions almost
always result in behaviors that can help or hurt your
operation.

Your overall public relations plan for monitoring and
gathering perceptions by questioning members of your
most important outside audiences, must be reviewed
with your PR people in detail. Suggest that they
consider asking questions like these: how much do
you know about our organization? Have you had prior
contact with us and were you pleased with the
exchange? Are you familiar with our services or
products and employees? Have you experienced
problems with our people or procedures?

Be aware that it costs real money to employ a
professional survey firm to do the opinion gathering
work, and this must be compared to the cost of using
those PR folks of yours in that monitoring capacity.
Nevertheless, whether it’s your people or a survey
firm asking the questions, the objective remains the
same: identify untruths, false assumptions,
unfounded rumors, inaccuracies, misconceptions
and any other negative perception that might
translate into hurtful behaviors.

Without doubt, your top priority now is the establishment
of a realistic PR goal calling for action on the most
serious problem areas you uncovered during your key
audience perception monitoring. At this point, you
probably will decide to stop that potentially painful
rumor on the spot, or straighten out that dangerous
misconception, or correct that gross inaccuracy.

Goal-setting begets strategy-setting and that’s what
you must undertake now. A strategy that tells you how
to reach that goal. However, you have just three
strategic options available to you when it comes to
doing something about perception and opinion. And
they are, change existing perception, create perception
where there may be none, or reinforce it. Of course,
the wrong strategy pick will taste like chocolate
covered asparagus. So be sure your new strategy fits
well with your new public relations goal. You
certainly don’t want to select "change" when the
facts dictate a strategy of reinforcement.

The order here is a persuasive message that will
help move your key audience to your way of thinking.
And your very best writer must come up with a
carefully-written message targeted directly at your
key external audience. The writer must use corrective
language that is not merely compelling, persuasive
and believable, but clear and factual if it is to shift
perception/opinion towards your point of view and
lead to the behaviors you have in mind.

Still burning the midnight oil, you should make a
decision as to those communications tactics most
likely to carry your message to the attention of your
target audience. Fortunately, you have a lot from
which to choose. From speeches, facility tours,
emails and brochures to consumer briefings, media
interviews, newsletters, personal meetings and
many others. But be certain that the tactics you
pick are known to reach folks just like your
audience members.

Alert: communicating your message, particularly
HOW you communicate it, has a lot to do with the way
your message is perceived, especially its credibility.
So you may wish to unveil such corrective language
before smaller meeting presentations, rather than using
higher-profile news releases.

Sooner or later, you’ll have to show how things are
going and that’s where periodic progress reports
come in handy. They can also demonstrate how
resources applied to public relations pay off. Progress
reports also provide timely alerts to begin a second
and comparative -- perception monitoring session
with members of your external audience. You’ll want
to use many of the same questions used in the
benchmark session. But now, you will be on strict
alert for signs that the bad news perception is being
altered in your direction.

In the unlikely event that your PR program loses some
of its forward motion, remember that you have the
option of speeding things up by adding more
communications tactics and/or increasing their
frequencies.

Fortunately for all concerned managers, when you take
proper control of the public relations being performed
on your behalf, the PR program tends to move into the
right strike zone and away from dependence on
communications tactics. What it does is something
meaningful about the behaviors of those important
external audiences of yours that MOST affect your
operation.

Naturally, as you follow through by persuading those
key outside folks to your way of thinking, you help
move them to take actions that end up allowing your
department, division, group or subsidiary to succeed.

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 published over
200 articles on the subject which are listed at EzineArticles.com, click
Expert Author, 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



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