| |
| |
|
PR Information | Mommy Home Jobs |
|
|
|
Managers, Start Your PR
There'll never be a better time for a manager working for a business, non-profit or association to ask this question: "Am I getting the public relations results I'm paying for -- the really important external audience behaviors I need to achieve my department, division or subsidiary objectives?" If the answer is no, better get busy and rebuild that public relations engine. Best place to look for an answer to your question is the foundation on which your public relations effort is based. Are the PR people assigned to your unit guided by solid fundamentals rather than mechanics like special events and communications tactics? Do they really believe that people act on their own perception of the facts before them, leading to predictable behaviors about which something can be done? And do they believe that 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? Because that kind of foundation is just what you may need to help persuade those important stakeholders to your way of thinking. And leading directly to results such as new waves of prospects, expanded community support, large, new capital donations, higher employee retention numbers, new engineering firms specifying your components, a boost in membership applications, or a welcome increase in repeat purchases. I have noticed, however, a tendency for managers to set down the rules of engagement, then let things bump along under somebody else. That's not going to work with your public relations restart. You MUST get personally involved with the PR professionals managing your public relations program because they will be dealing with the very stakeholders whose behaviors will help determine whether you succeed or fail in your job. And that should be an incentive. Here's another reason to keep a keen eye on the effort. Chances are that is that this kind of PR restart will be a dramatic departure for your public relations staffers, thus requiring your oversight of decisions affecting both thematics and tactical deployment. For example, you must stay involved as they list those key external audiences of yours whose behaviors affect your unit the most. And again when they prioritize those audiences so that your public relations restart planning begins with the target audience YOU believe is #1. The success of the program will depend on how efficiently you and your PR staffers gather certain data. Namely, how members of that key target audience, whose behaviors affect your unit's success or failure, really perceive you. Your team must interact with members of that audience, and monitor their perceptions of your organization by asking questions like "Do you know anything about our organization? Have you ever had contact with our people? Was it a satisfactory experience? How familiar are you with our services or products?," and so forth. Make sure that you and your staff remain sensitive to hesitant or evasive responses, and especially to negative comments. And stay alert for misconceptions, untruths, false assumptions, inaccuracies and rumors. These problem areas will need correction because experience shows they lead to negative behaviors. Now, your team must select what needs correction the most, thus establishing your public relations goal. For example, perception alterations like correcting that damaging inaccuracy, straightening out that unfortunate misconception, or neutralizing that hurtful rumor. But how will you reach that goal? In the same way you approach any operating problem - select the right strategy, one that shows you how to reach your public relations goal. However, when it comes to opinion and perception problems, you have just three strategy choices: create perception where there may be none, reinforce an existing perception, or change the offending opinion/perception. Just be certain the strategy you select is a good fit with your PR goal. Obviously, you would not use the "reinforce it" strategy option when your goal is to kill a damaging rumor. Now, some writing talent is needed to prepare the message you will use to alter that key target audience's perception. The message must be clear and persuasive if it is to nudge perception or opinion in your direction, and lead directly to the behaviors you desire. Much like the military when they call in artillery fire during combat, you must employ your communications tactics in a way that insures that your message reaches those members of your target audience. Fortunately, you have a wide choice of communications tactics such as audience briefings, news releases, speeches, radio and newspaper interviews, special events, personal contacts, and many others. You do want to be sure that the tactics you select have a proven track record for reaching people just like the members of your target audience. While a budget sufficient to employ professional survey counsel would be very nice, the fact remains that you and your PR team can once again monitor perceptions among members of your target audience by asking the very same questions used during the earlier monitoring session. The difference now is that you will watch carefully for signs that your message and communications tactics have moved audience perception in your direction. If things need to move faster, you always have the option of adding new tactics to the fray as well as increasing their frequencies. Also advisable, another check of your message for impact and factual accuracy. By this time, you will have created a public relations program certain to reassure you that you are now getting the key stakeholder behaviors you need to help achieve your department, division or subsidiary objectives. About The Author 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 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. mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net. Visit: http://www.prcommentary.com.
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Public Relations The wind of changes.. Free Radio Publicity for Marketing-Minded Financial Planners Radio is a powerful publicity tool. Most stations offer news and talk programming. Is The Traditional Press Review Still A Business Tool Of The Future? Press reviews are a common and basic feature for surveying the market situtation, your company's public image and the coverage of your competitor's business. Only if you are well-informed about theses topics, you can make sound business decisions. The Power of Radio - Tips for Great Radio Interviews Many people are intimidated by radio interviews, whether live or pre-recorded and often spoil great promotion and branding opportunity in less then effective interviews.Did you know there are more than 1500 talk radio shows in the US?Also, radio is the only medium to show increased usage since the introduction of the Internet. PR: Time For a New Playbook? When your public relations results pretty much depend on whether your news item gets used in a newspaper column or on a radio talk show, you may be ready for a fresh approach.Why not shoot for a 1-2 PR punch?First, focus sharply on those external audiences who play a major role in just how successful a business, non-profit or association manager you will be. Writing a Press Release: How to Write Quotes Ideally, you will have two types of quotes in your press release. A quote from yourself is mandatory. What? You Havent Got a Capability Statement? What's a Capability Statement?As the name suggests, it tells potential clients what you, or your organisation and staff are capable of. It highlights what your future capability is and reflects on your past successes. The Medias Muscle: Make it Work for You The least expensive, most effective way for you to promote your product is through media coverage. Reporters are excellent communicators. Do-It-Yourself Public Relations "Advertising is what you pay for. Publicity is what you pray for. The Three-Mile Radius In last year's animated film Shrek II, a giant gingerbread man steps on a building and sends all the customers scurrying across the street. The name of the establishment they leave and the one they run into is "Farbucks" - poking fun at the fact that an unending stream of patrons appears willing to pay four bucks for a cup of coffee. Making the News - Tips from A News Journalist What makes a good media release and how do you engage the media with your story idea? How do you pitch stories to the media, especially hard-nosed news hounds who can sniff out a 'puff piece' a mile away?The media receives literally hundreds of media releases a day, many which are instantly disregarded. Why? A number of factors contribute to the demise of a media release, one key aspect however that contributes to a well written and published releases is the writers ability to be media savvy, that is identify the aspects an editor is looking for when selecting the day's news. Press Kit Elements That Work Considering how fundamental they are to the publicist's trade,it's always amazed me how lousy almost all press kits truly are.Your typical press kit is a bloated folder filled with puffery,hype, irrelevant information and worse. 6 Steps to Using Trade Magazines To Reach Customers When developing a publicity campaign for their business many owners overlook the importance of trade magazines and journals as vehicles for reaching new customers. While mass media publications have widespread readership, the targeted nature of trade publications make the information that appears within them even more powerful. What to Do When the Reporter Calls: Five Tips for New (and not-so-new) Business Owners New business owners often miss out on publicity opportunities because they think it's a nuisance to talk to reporters. In fact, publicity can be far more valuable than advertising. PR: Short Form for Managers Experience tells me that too many business, non-profit and association managers pursue their goals and objectives largely without the insights, behavioral strategies and sheer power public relations can bring to the table.Here's what I believe they're missing, i. What Kind of PR Makes Sense? For business, non-profit and association managers, is it publicity that delivers newspaper and talk show mentions backed up by colorful brochures and videos, combined with special events that attract a lot of people?Or could your business, non-profit or association PR dollar be better spent on public relations activity that creates behavior change among your key outside audiences that leads directly to achieving your managerial objectives? And does so by persuading your most important outside audiences to your way of thinking, then moves them to take actions that help your department, division or subsidiary succeed?What we're talking about is the kind of PR that lets you do something positive about the behaviors of those external stakeholders of yours that MOST affect your organization. Which means the right PR really CAN alter individual perception and lead to changed behaviors that help you win. Same Time Next Year: Using Editorial Calendars as Part of your PR Efforts It's the time of year when calendars crowd out the books and magazines in bookstores and are even on sale at reduced prices. But there's a special kind of calendar that all good public relations professionals use - the editorial calendar. Between Now and Economic Recovery There's still time to review your public relations program like Navy flight crews go over a fighter jet.Reason is, you need to fine-tune your public relations activity looking forward to a snap-back in the economy, when you'll need all guns blazing. For Financial Planners, Marketing and Publicity Is About You For financial planners, getting publicity, in the end, isn't about having contacts in the media.Or about writing a great press release. Etymology- How Words Change Over Time Etymology is the study of the origins of words.As languages develop the meaning of words can change over time.
|
| Mommy Home Jobs | Mommy Matters | index | site map |
| Copyright © MommyHomeJobs.com |
