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. Word count is 995 including guidelines and resource box. Robert A. Kelly © 2004. Add Some Firepower to your PR
Sure, as tactics usually presented to business, non-profit and association managers, special events, brochures and news releases are fine.
But they’re not
high-octane PR firepower you need to deliver growth results like new proposals for strategic alliances and joint ventures; accelerating prospect contacts; rising membership applications; customers making repeat purchases; rebounds in showroom visits, or capital givers and specifying sources looking your way.
As you add such firepower, you should see stronger relationships with educational, labor, financial and healthcare interests; new community service and sponsorship opportunities; improved relations with government agencies and legislative bodies; enhanced activist group relations, and expanded feedback channels, not to mention new thoughtleader and special event contacts.
And here’s key that can unlock such a bonanza, underlying premise of public relations: people act on their own perception of 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 very people whose behaviors affect organization most, public relations mission is accomplished.
There seems little doubt that you as a manager work hard to insure that your most important outside audiences see your operations, products or services in best possible light. Which is why you need to assure yourself that your PR people are totally on board this effort. Be especially careful that they accept reality that perceptions almost always lead to behaviors that can help or hurt your unit.
Because you will need to monitor perception by questioning members of your most important outside audiences, take some time to review PR blueprint in detail with your staff. Consider questions like these: how much do you know about our organization? How much do you know about our services or products and employees? Have you had prior contact with us and were you pleased with interchange? Have you experienced problems with our people or procedures?
You have a choice as to who handles perception monitoring phases of your program. Of course professional survey people can do job, IF budget is available. But fortunately, your PR people are also in perception and behavior business and can pursue same objective: identify untruths, false assumptions, unfounded rumors, inaccuracies, misconceptions and any other negative perception that might translate into hurtful behaviors.
Now, let’s talk about your public relations goal. You need one that speaks to “problematics” that showed up during your key audience perception monitoring. In all probability, it will call for straightening out that dangerous misconception, or correcting that gross inaccuracy, or doing something about that damaging rumor.
