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Word count is 1120 including guidelines and resource box.
Robert A. Kelly 2004.
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 moneys 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 its 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
theyre already in the perception and persuasion business.
But, whether its 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 wont 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 wouldnt 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. Its 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, youll 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. Youll 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
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