Tweet

Why Good PR Warrants Your Attention

Written by: Bob Kelly

Article Overview: Success in any form is worth managerial investigation and, perhaps, adaptation to a manager's operations.

Why Good PR Warrants Your Attention

Please feel free to publish this article and resource box
in your ezine, newsletter, offline publication or website.
Only requirements: you must use the Robert A. Kelly
byline and resource box. Word count is 1125 including
guidelines and resource box. Robert A. Kelly © 2006.

Why Good PR Warrants Your Attention

Because good public relations can alter individual perception and lead to changed behaviors among key outside audiences. And that can help business, non-profit and association managers achieve their managerial objectives.

It all happens when you do something positive about the behaviors of those important external audiences of yours that most affect your operation. In particular when you persuade those key outside folks to your way of thinking, then help move them to take actions that allow your department, division or subsidiary to succeed.

I believe the key to good PR is this reality. 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.

In other words, your public relations effort must involve more than special events, brochures and news releases if you really want to get your money’s worth.

The payoff can make your day: membership applications on the rise; customers starting to make repeat purchases; fresh proposals for strategic alliances and joint ventures; community leaders beginning to seek you out; welcome bounces in show room visits; prospects starting to do business with you; higher employee retention rates, capital givers or specifying sources beginning to look your way, and even politicians and legislators starting to view you as a key member of the business, non-profit or association communities.

But who among your PR team really understands the blueprint outlined above and shows commitment to its implementation, starting with key audience perception monitoring? Luckily, your PR people are already in the perception and behavior business, so they should be of real use for this initial opinion monitoring project.
Be certain that your public relations people really accept why it’s SO important to know how your most important outside audiences perceive your operations, products or services. Make sure they believe that perceptions almost always result in behaviors that can help or hurt your operation.

Talk it over with them, especially your game plan for monitoring and gathering perceptions by questioning members of your most important outside audiences. Questions along these lines: how much do you know about our organization? Have you had prior contact with us and were you pleased with the interchange? Are you familiar with our services or products and employees? Have you experienced problems with our people or procedures?

Because it can run into real money using professional survey firms to do the opinion monitoring work, you may wish to use those PR folks of yours in that capacity since they’re already in the perception and persuasion business. But, 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.

What your aiming at, obviously, is a PR goal that does something about the most serious distortions you discover during your key audience perception monitoring. Will it be to straighten out that dangerous misconception? Correct that gross inaccuracy? Or, stop that potentially painful rumor cold?

Of course, without the right strategy to tell you how to proceed, you won’t get there at all. So keep in mind that there are just three strategic options available when it comes to doing something about perception and opinion. Change existing perception, create perception where there may be none, or reinforce it. The wrong strategy pick will taste like horseradish on your pancakes, so be sure your new strategy fits well with your new public relations goal. You wouldn’t want to select “change” when the facts dictate a strategy of reinforcement.

Here, you must come up with a well-written message and send it to members of your target audience. It’s always a challenge to create an actionable message that will help persuade any audience to your way of thinking.
What you want now is your strongest writers because s/he must build some very special, corrective language. Words that are not merely compelling, persuasive and believable, but clear and factual if they are to shift perception/opinion towards your point of view and lead to the behaviors you have in mind.

After your PR team has signed off on draft copy of your message, you move on to the next selection process -- the communications tactics most likely to carry your message to the attention of your target audience. There are scores that are available. From speeches, facility tours, emails and brochures to consumer briefings, media interviews, newsletters, personal meetings and many others. But you must be certain that the tactics you pick are known to reach folks like your audience members.

An alert: you may wish to avoid too loud a voice with this kind of message and unveil it before smaller meetings and presentations rather than using higher-profile news releases, as the credibility of any message is fragile and always at stake.

From this point forward, you’ll start getting requests for progress reports, which tells you and your PR team to begin a second perception monitoring session with members of your external audience. You’ll want to use many of the same questions used in the first benchmark session. But now, you will be on red alert for signs that the bad news perception is being altered in your direction.

It does seem fortunate that such matters usually can be accelerated simply by adding more communications tactics as well as increasing their frequencies.

The value of public relations to managers becomes clearer when you realize that the people you deal with behave like everyone else – they act upon their perceptions of the facts they hear about you and your operation. Which means you really have little choice but to deal promptly and effectively with those perceptions by doing what is necessary to reach and move those key external audiences of yours to actions you desire.

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 written 245
articles on the subject which are listed at EzineArticles.com, click
ExpertAuthor, 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

Related Articles
  REVERSE MERGER ACQUISITION & FUND RAISING
  There's No Time To Procrastinate
  THREE FACTORS MAKE PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT A SUCCESS
  SMALL BUSINESS FINANCING OPPORTUNITY
  Lead Generation Best Practices: Agree on Lead Definition

Article Tags:



Related Forum Posts
Advertisement that sales - Plan your marketing programme. It should include commitment to capital resources. If you run a small business, you aren't likely to have a generous enough advertising budget that will allow you to run costly branding or campaign ads. Every advertisement you run must convey to your prospect a solid offer and attractive reasons to act quickly, and result in increased sales and an enhanced image of your company. Good advertising always pays its own way through increased sales and profits, improved cost-effectiveness, reduced selling costs and shortened selling cycles. A useful formula that will help you increase the effectiveness of your advertising efforts is A-I-D-A, which stands for Attention, Interest, Desire and Action. When creating an advertisement, always remind yourself that it should: (1) capture your prospects' Attention, (2) arouse their Interest in your offer, (3) create their Desire for your product or service, and (4) provide a powerful spur to Action, that is, turn your prospect into buyers. Remember, bad advertising is an unproductive expense, and good advertising is an investment in future profits!
Re: Attention Age Doctrine - Hi Andy, So how did you find of "The Attention Age Doctrine" Part 1? And has following its guidelines yielded any positive results yet?
Re: Character Design - using it effectively in marketing - One thing about characters is that you can make them do things that real people can't do (such as fly). Depending on what you are selling, that can make it seem like if you use/buy their product, you'll have super powers. I know that sounds goofy, but flying is something we all wish we could do at one point in our life and the thought of it brings out the child in us, which makes us WANT. Also, kids are more apt to watch the commercial and say, "Hey, Mom, look at that......!) Attention getting, which is always good.
Re: Character Design - using it effectively in marketing - [quote="mbrand2222":3jr8ndgd]One thing about characters is that you can make them do things that real people can't do (such as fly). Depending on what you are selling, that can make it seem like if you use/buy their product, you'll have super powers. I know that sounds goofy, but flying is something we all wish we could do at one point in our life and the thought of it brings out the child in us, which makes us WANT. Also, kids are more apt to watch the commercial and say, "Hey, Mom, look at that......!) Attention getting, which is always good.[/quote:3jr8ndgd] Hi Mary, I don't think it's goofy at all. Isn't this business is all about making wishes come true? That's what a good sales page do, so why not a flying character?
Re: Networking - Good work, just remember to continue to plug away and dont stop. Good luck, Matt Belock


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

Environment and productivity at the office

Web Design in 30 Minutes - Can this be Right?

Entrepreneurs and the “Oh! No!” Trap

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.