Your important outside audiences behave in ways that stop you from reaching your objectives.
Because you haven't paid much attention to their care and feeding, is it likely you'll know they are placing a hammer lock on your business in time to limit the damage?
With some luck, you might save the day, but why let matters fester until you have a bad situation like this on your hands?
Especially when a proven sequence can help you alter the perceptions, and thus behaviors of your most important external audiences making the achievement of your business objectives much easier.
Take a quick look at what makes it all possible, the fundamental premise of public relations:
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 perception by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action those people whose behaviors affect the organization, the public relations mission is accomplished
Now, put it into action this way.
First, think about those groups of people whose behaviors can really affect your organization. The test for placing a key, external audience on your action list is this: does its behavior affect your business in any way. If the answer is yes, list it.
Let's take the target audience at the top of that list and work it over. Obviously, you need to know how members of that audience perceive you, and that requires that you interact with those members and ask a lot of questions. This is the monitoring phase.
How do they think of your organization, if at all? Do they have any problems with you? Do negative thoughts creep into the conversation? Are misconceptions, inaccurate beliefs, even rumors apparent?
As unsettling as these data may be, the silver lining is the fact that they let you establish your public relations goal. Straighten out that misconception, or correct the inaccurate belief, or knock down that rumor once and for all.
Reaching your goal isn't going to happen if you don't have the right strategy. You're fortunate that there are really only three strategy choices: create perceptions (opinion) where there isn't any, change existing opinion, or reinforce it.
Now comes a real challenge ? writing the message that will alter that perception. It must make a compelling case, so think about it carefully. In order to persuade, it must state clearly that the offending perception is not a true perception. Instead, you lay out the truth in a credible manner, keeping in mind your create-change-reinforce strategy choices.
Getting that message to members of your target audience is the least complicated step in the problem solving sequence. There are dozens of communications tactics available to you that can reach those members. They range from open houses, announcement luncheons, press releases and speeches to articles, emails and newspaper and radio interviews, and many others.
Are you making any progress? Only way to tell is to go back to other members of your target audience and ask the same questions all over again. Only now, you watch carefully for signs that their perceptions reflect the corrections contained in your message.
If you're not satisfied with the movement in perception, you should consider using a wider selection of communications tactics with a proven record of reaching that audience. You might want to use them more frequently to increase their impact.
Also, your message should be evaluated again for impact and factual content.
Obviously, if you pay regular attention to your most important external audiences, you will be aware that certain behaviors are beginning to exert a negative impact on your organization.
Using a proven sequence like this to deal with those impacts insures that you will always be aware of brewing target audience behaviors that could hurt your organization.
Please feel free to publish this article and resource box in your ezine, newsletter, offline publication or website. A copy would be appreciated at bobkelly@tni.net.
Robert A. Kelly ? 2003.
About The Author
Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks about the fundamental premise of public relations. 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. bobkelly@tni.net. Visit: bobkelly@tni.net.
shuttle from Midway Glen Ellyn ..It's a phrase I hear over and over again from... Read More
What you are about to read is a step by... Read More
Attracting new business: sometimes it happens by luck, sometimes by... Read More
One of the greatest ways to promote your product or... Read More
Think for a moment! If you were to do a... Read More
The easiest way to meet city council members is to... Read More
So many restaurants spend money on publicity and then practically... Read More
Public relations is the art, as one of my colleagues... Read More
You have a story to tell. Your company has developed... Read More
For a business, non-profit or association manager, they could be... Read More
Although media relations is not all there is to PR,... Read More
Press releases are a useful tool for announcing news and... Read More
A PR product or service launching is a perfect way... Read More
Experience tells me that too many business, non-profit and association... Read More
For business, non-profit and association managers, is it publicity that... Read More
Shooting from the hip always creates anxiety.Especially when managers order... Read More
If a reporter was writing a story about you and... Read More
1. Appearing in other types of media is the best... Read More
The power of PassionPassion is an extraordinarily powerful spring. Without... Read More
Once considered the stepchild of the publishing industry, custom publishing... Read More
A great way to celebrate your achievements and capitalize on... Read More
It is virtually impossible to succeed professionally and personally without... Read More
Imagine you're in the breakfast cereal business. You make the... Read More
Most business, non-profit and association managers live to tell about... Read More
It's the time of year when calendars crowd out the... Read More
shuttle from O'Hare North Chicago ..The toughest thing about writing a news release is getting... Read More
Excerpted from "Selling Goodness- The Guerrilla PR Guide To Promoting... Read More
They know they had better do something positive about those... Read More
Let's say you've called a reporter with some ideas for... Read More
There's a dirty little secret about press releases that the... Read More
If you get the hang of speaking to the press... Read More
When I search Google News for "surveys," I get nearly... Read More
While awaiting economic recovery, business needs to attract the attention... Read More
Once considered the stepchild of the publishing industry, custom publishing... Read More
When ABC News anchor Peter Jennings announced he had lung... Read More
Everything, that is, if you ignore those folks whose behaviors... Read More
Let's start out with a caution for business, non-profit and... Read More
Stripped down to its core, publicity is little more than... Read More
Business people often spend time and money trying to find... Read More
The media has the power to shape public opinion and... Read More
The world has woken up to ethical issues in corporate... Read More
Business, non-profit or association managers hurt their own public relations... Read More
The Acai Berry is starting to gain world wide recognition... Read More
A wise friend of mine has often said, "There is... Read More
Think for a moment! If you were to do a... Read More
Powerful is a strong word. But it fits here. As... Read More
Getting a press release published in a newspaper or magazines... Read More
OK, as a manager, your goal is to show a... Read More
Maybe it played for Kevin Costner in "Field of Dreams,"... Read More
Public Relations (or P.R.) is a wonderful, yet often overlooked... Read More
Public Relations |