PR: How Sweet It Is!

Please feel free to publish this article and resource box in your
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be appreciated at bobkelly@TNI.net. Net word count is 800
including guidelines and resource box. Robert A. Kelly © 2003.

PR: How Sweet It Is!

The public relations goal and strategy make sense; the message
is persuasive and compelling; the communications tactics are
aggressive and well-targeted. YES!!

For those of us in public relations, how sweet it is when
members of an important target audience appear to understand
why the rumor was wrong and what they believed about the
organization is simply not true.

While that happy result can be yours, including the inevitable
improvements in behavior, it doesn’t just happen. And
especially before somebody in the organization even
recognizes the importance of doing something about what
those key audiences think about you.

When that epiphany does occur, it’s usually because target
audience perceptions have led to behaviors that just hurt
too much.

Why wait? Get hold of your target audiences now before
they do damage and possibly affect the survival of your
organization.

And I’m talking about damage such as prospects who
decide not to do anything with you; existing customers
who stop doing business with you, or community leaders
who lose faith in your organization’s value to their
constituents.

It’s not worth it to ignore beginning an aggressive public
relations effort a minute longer.

Start by listing those two or three outside audiences whose
behaviors can ruin your day. Let’s take the one at the top
of the list and see how we can get organized to change
the perceptions of members of that group and, thus, their
behaviors.

Can’t look to improve perceptions if you don’t know how
key audience members currently view you and your
organization. Get out there and interact with them. Ask
questions like “What do you think about our organization?”
You must stay alert to factual errors in their responses as
well as inaccuracies that need to be corrected. And don’t
overlook misconceptions or rumors that are just plain wrong.

Now you’re in position to set a corrective public relations
goal. And make sure it zeros in on a specific problem. For
example, shoot down that rumor. Or clarify that misconception.
Or correct that inaccuracy.

Here, you come to three forks in the road to a workable
strategy that will show you how to get to your public
relations goal. When it comes to altering opinion
(perceptions), you have just three options available to
you: create opinion where there may be none; change
existing opinion, or reinforce it.

Pick one that obviously is required by the public relations
goal you selected.

Now we come to real work, preparing the persuasive and
compelling message you need to alter perceptions, and
thus behaviors in your direction. For example, if members
of your target audience are persuaded that you in fact
offer quality service instead of the inferior service they
believe you provide, their behaviors will signal change
when they begin doing business with you again.

But your message must not only be persuasive and
compelling, it must be easily understood, completely
factual and, of course, truthful in all details. That’s the
only way your message will be believable enough to
alter perceptions.

Is there a difference of opinion about how to get your
message to the eyes and ears of members of your key
target audience? Not really because there are so many
communications tactic “foot soldiers” available to carry
that message for you. They range from fraternal club
speeches, newspaper and radio interviews and awards
ceremonies to brochures, face-to-face meetings, plain old
emails and dozens of others.

Once you fire the communications tactics gun, and give
it several weeks to sink in, you must return to monitoring
what members of your key target audience are NOW
thinking about you. And that means more questions.

If you fail to do so, you will never know for certain if
your public relations effort is making any progress.

You should use the same questions as you did for your
first information gathering session. The difference now
is your objective: have perceptions been altered in your
direction because, if so, a change in behavior cannot be
far behind?

And so, your public relations goal and strategy will make
sense; your message will be persuasive and compelling,
and your communications tactics will be aggressive and
well-targeted.

A sure path to public relations success.

end