PR: Ouch! Tells the Tale

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including guidelines and resource box. Robert A. Kelly © 2003.

PR: Ouch! Tells the Tale

Ever get the feeling that your public relations program isn’t
doing much about the behaviors of your important outside
audiences? Those audiences whose actions have the greatest
impacts on your business?

Chances are your PR effort is focused primarily on communi-
cations tactics and not on the process needed to really move
those key audience perceptions, and thus behaviors in your
direction.

Which means you’ve missed out on the sweet spot of public
relations.

Ouch!

That sweet spot can be summed up in just two sentences:

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 those people whose behaviors affect the organization,
the public relations mission is accomplished.

Now there’s nothing wrong with communications tactics.
They are necessary “beasts of burden” that fit in nicely at the
proper time, as you will shortly note.

So, if you believe it finally may be time to utilize that PR sweet
spot, you could start this way.

Just who are your most important outside audiences? Customers
and prospects, of course. But what about employees, minorities,
residents, political and labor union leaders, the trade and
business communities, among others?

Rank them in order of importance to your operation and let’s
work on your #1 external target audience.

Nothing can happen until you know what members of that
audience think about your organization. And that means
interacting with them while asking lots of probing questions
and monitoring their perceptions. Have they heard about your
company, its products or services? What do they think about
them? Do you detect negativity, inaccuracies, misconceptions
or even disturbing rumors?

With that kind of information, you’re ready to set down your
corrective public relations goal. Examples might be to counter
that rumor with the truth, or correct an inaccurate belief, or
clarify a hurtful misconception.

Now, you need the right strategy, one that gets you from here
to your goal. Happily, there are only three strategies you can
use in dealing with an opinion challenge like this: create
perception (opinion) where there may be none, change existing
perception, or reinforce it. Your goal will lead you to the
correct strategy choice.

It’s time to put on your writer’s hat and prepare a really
responsive message for delivery to the target audience. Above
all, you must be convincing when you state that the unfortunate
misconception, inaccuracy or rumor is untrue, and then lay out
that truth creditably. Strive for clarity, persuasiveness,
believability and, if at all possible, a compelling tone.

Your “beasts of burden” are standing by patiently ready
to carry your message to the attention of your target audience.
Because there are so many such tactics, you must choose
carefully, and check just as carefully that each tactic has a
proven record for reaching people like those who make up
your target audience. Tactics range from radio and newspaper
interviews, newsletters and press releases to emails, op-eds,
speeches and many, many others.

What about progress? Are you making any? Best way to find
out is to re-monitor perceptions/opinion in that target audience
now that your communications tactics have been underway for
six to eight weeks. Interact again with target audience members
using the same questions you used the first time around. What
you want to see are perceptions beginning to reflect the
corrections in the message carried by your communications
tactics. In other words, you are looking for opinion/perceptions
that have been altered in your direction.

Talk about early-warning systems! When you pay attention
regularly to your most important external audiences, you will
be continuously aware that certain behaviors may be getting
ready to exert negative pressure on your business. Which gives
you time to spersuade the stakeholders who make up that
target audience to your way of thinking, thus moving them to
take actions that lead to the success of your organization.

end