PR and the Small Matter of Results
PR and the Small Matter of Results
in your ezine, newsletter, offline publication or website.
Only requirement: you must use the Robert A. Kelly
byline and resource box. Word count is 1095 including
guidelines and resource box. Robert A. Kelly © 2006.
PR and the Small Matter of Results
As a business, non-profit and association manager, how
satisfied are you when the public relations people assigned
to your unit spend the bulk of their time on someone’s favorite
special event, brochures, press releases and talk-show
mentions?
Especially when you’d rather have a public relations effort
that creates the kind of key stakeholder behavior change
that leads directly to achieving your managerial objectives?
You know, PR that does something positive about the
important outside audiences whose behaviors most affect
your operation. And, in the bargain, helps persuade those
key external audiences to your way of thinking, helping
move them to take actions that allow your department,
division or subsidiary to succeed.
After all, what public relations boils down to are these realities:
the right PR really CAN alter individual perception and lead
to changed behaviors that help you succeed. Your public
relations effort must involve more than parties, videos,
booklets and column mentions if you really want to get your
money’s worth. And you need a simple blueprint that gets
everyone working towards the same external audience
behaviors insuring that the organization’s public relations
effort stays sharply focused.
Sounds like good stuff, and it is!
Here’s one blueprint that can lead you in that direction: 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.
And results like these can come your way. New proposals for
strategic alliances and joint ventures; customers making repeat
purchases; prospects starting to work with you; membership
applications on the rise; capital givers or specifying sources
looking your way, and even bounces in showroom visits.
How, you are asking, do such managers produce results
like those?
They spend some time figuring out who among their most
important outside audiences behaves in ways that help or
hinder the achievement of their objectives. Then, they list them
according to how severely their behaviors affect their
organization.
More to the point, precisely how do most members of your
key outside audiences perceive your organization? If paying
for professional survey counsel isn’t in the cards (or in the
budget!), your PR colleagues will have to monitor those
perceptions themselves. Actually, they should be quite
familiar with perception and behavior matters since they’re
already in that business.
All of which means meeting with members of that outside
audience and asking questions like “Are you familiar with
our services or products?” “Have you ever had contact with
anyone from our organization? Was it a satisfactory
experience?” And if you are that manager, you must be
sensitive to negative statements, especially evasive or
hesitant replies. And watch carefully for false assumptions,
untruths, misconceptions, inaccuracies and potentially
damaging rumors. When you find such, they will need to be
corrected, as they inevitably lead to negative behaviors.
Big job now is to pick out the actual, offending perception
to be changed, and that becomes your public relations goal.
You obviously want to correct those untruths, inaccuracies,
misconceptions or false assumptions.
The toughest part of this exercise is that a PR goal without
a strategy to show you how to get there, will taste like
asparagus with pancake syrup. So, as you select one
of three strategies (especially constructed to create perception
or opinion where there may be none, or change or reinforce it,)
what you want to do is insure that the goal and its strategy
match each other. You wouldn’t want to select “change
existing perception” when current perception is just right
suggesting a “reinforce” strategy.
Now you must create a compelling message carefully put
together to alter your key target audience’s perception, as
specified by your public relations goal.
Remember that you can always combine your corrective
message with another news announcement or presentation
which may give it more credibility by reducing the
apparent need for such a correction.
The message you convey must be not only compelling, but
quite clear about what perception needs clarification or correction,
and why. Naturally, you must be truthful and your position
logically explained and believable if it is to hold the attention
of members of that target audience, and actually move
perception in your direction.
It’s easy to see why some folks refer to the communications
tactics necessary to move your message to the attention of that
key external audience, as “beasts of burden.” After all, they
must carry your persuasive new thoughts to the eyes and ears
of those important outside people.
You have a really wide choice because the list of tactics
is a long one. It includes letters-to-the-editor, brochures,
press releases and speeches. Or, you might choose radio
and newspaper interviews, personal contacts, facility tours
or customer briefings. There are scores available and the
only selection requirement is that the communications
tactics you choose have a record of reaching people just
like the members of your key target audience.
Of course, you can always move things along by adding
more communications tactics, AND by increasing their
frequencies.
In short order, you’ll hear calls for progress reports. But
you will already be hard at work remonitoring perceptions
among your target audience members to test the
effectiveness of your communications tactics. Using
questions similar to those used during your earlier
monitoring session, you’ll now become beady-eyed looking
for signs that audience perceptions are beginning to move
in your general direction.
Despite the article’s headline, public relations results are
no small matter. In my view, your results will be directly
dependent on whether you base your PR budget primarily
on tactics, or the creation of key stakeholder behavior change
that leads directly to achieving your managerial objectives.
One can hope it will be the latter.
end
Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to 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 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:http://www.prcommentary.com
PR and the Small Matter of Results - To learn more about this author, visit Bob Kelly's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
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 1095 including
guidelines and resource box. Robert A. Kelly © 2006.
PR and the Small Matter of Results
As a business, non-profit and association manager, how
satisfied are you when the public relations people assigned
to your unit spend the bulk of their time on someone’s favorite
special event, brochures, press releases and talk-show
mentions?
Especially when you’d rather have a public relations effort
that creates the kind of key stakeholder behavior change
that leads directly to achieving your managerial objectives?
You know, PR that does something positive about the
important outside audiences whose behaviors most affect
your operation. And, in the bargain, helps persuade those
key external audiences to your way of thinking, helping
move them to take actions that allow your department,
division or subsidiary to succeed.
After all, what public relations boils down to are these realities:
the right PR really CAN alter individual perception and lead
to changed behaviors that help you succeed. Your public
relations effort must involve more than parties, videos,
booklets and column mentions if you really want to get your
money’s worth. And you need a simple blueprint that gets
everyone working towards the same external audience
behaviors insuring that the organization’s public relations
effort stays sharply focused.
Sounds like good stuff, and it is!
Here’s one blueprint that can lead you in that direction: 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.
And results like these can come your way. New proposals for
strategic alliances and joint ventures; customers making repeat
purchases; prospects starting to work with you; membership
applications on the rise; capital givers or specifying sources
looking your way, and even bounces in showroom visits.
How, you are asking, do such managers produce results
like those?
They spend some time figuring out who among their most
important outside audiences behaves in ways that help or
hinder the achievement of their objectives. Then, they list them
according to how severely their behaviors affect their
organization.
More to the point, precisely how do most members of your
key outside audiences perceive your organization? If paying
for professional survey counsel isn’t in the cards (or in the
budget!), your PR colleagues will have to monitor those
perceptions themselves. Actually, they should be quite
familiar with perception and behavior matters since they’re
already in that business.
All of which means meeting with members of that outside
audience and asking questions like “Are you familiar with
our services or products?” “Have you ever had contact with
anyone from our organization? Was it a satisfactory
experience?” And if you are that manager, you must be
sensitive to negative statements, especially evasive or
hesitant replies. And watch carefully for false assumptions,
untruths, misconceptions, inaccuracies and potentially
damaging rumors. When you find such, they will need to be
corrected, as they inevitably lead to negative behaviors.
Big job now is to pick out the actual, offending perception
to be changed, and that becomes your public relations goal.
You obviously want to correct those untruths, inaccuracies,
misconceptions or false assumptions.
The toughest part of this exercise is that a PR goal without
a strategy to show you how to get there, will taste like
asparagus with pancake syrup. So, as you select one
of three strategies (especially constructed to create perception
or opinion where there may be none, or change or reinforce it,)
what you want to do is insure that the goal and its strategy
match each other. You wouldn’t want to select “change
existing perception” when current perception is just right
suggesting a “reinforce” strategy.
Now you must create a compelling message carefully put
together to alter your key target audience’s perception, as
specified by your public relations goal.
Remember that you can always combine your corrective
message with another news announcement or presentation
which may give it more credibility by reducing the
apparent need for such a correction.
The message you convey must be not only compelling, but
quite clear about what perception needs clarification or correction,
and why. Naturally, you must be truthful and your position
logically explained and believable if it is to hold the attention
of members of that target audience, and actually move
perception in your direction.
It’s easy to see why some folks refer to the communications
tactics necessary to move your message to the attention of that
key external audience, as “beasts of burden.” After all, they
must carry your persuasive new thoughts to the eyes and ears
of those important outside people.
You have a really wide choice because the list of tactics
is a long one. It includes letters-to-the-editor, brochures,
press releases and speeches. Or, you might choose radio
and newspaper interviews, personal contacts, facility tours
or customer briefings. There are scores available and the
only selection requirement is that the communications
tactics you choose have a record of reaching people just
like the members of your key target audience.
Of course, you can always move things along by adding
more communications tactics, AND by increasing their
frequencies.
In short order, you’ll hear calls for progress reports. But
you will already be hard at work remonitoring perceptions
among your target audience members to test the
effectiveness of your communications tactics. Using
questions similar to those used during your earlier
monitoring session, you’ll now become beady-eyed looking
for signs that audience perceptions are beginning to move
in your general direction.
Despite the article’s headline, public relations results are
no small matter. In my view, your results will be directly
dependent on whether you base your PR budget primarily
on tactics, or the creation of key stakeholder behavior change
that leads directly to achieving your managerial objectives.
One can hope it will be the latter.
end
Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to 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 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:http://www.prcommentary.com
PR and the Small Matter of Results - To learn more about this author, visit Bob Kelly's Website.
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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John AlexanderJohn has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center. I look forward to hearing from you! - Visit John Alexander's Website |
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Cheryl MatthynssensCheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur. Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well. A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles. She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide- to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being. Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com - Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website |
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