PR Remains at the Top Despite Changes

The power of effective PR never changes, just like human nature does.

Whether you operate as a manager for a company, non-profit, or association, you will eventually need to influence the behavior of external stakeholders in a way that directly advances the accomplishment of your managerial goals.

Thankfully, you can accomplish that task by taking constructive action on the actions of those external audiences that have the greatest impact on your company. And you accomplish this by winning over those influential outsiders to your point of view and motivating them to take steps that will support the growth of your department, division, or subsidiary.

The truth is that if you want to get the most out of your PR campaign, it needs to be more than just news releases, brochures, and special events.

That much is said by the basic tenet of public relations, which emphasizes the fact that people behave according to their own interpretation of the information at hand, resulting in predictable behaviors that can be changed. The goal of public relations is achieved when we are able to influence, develop, or strengthen that opinion by reaching out to, convincing, and motivating the individuals whose actions have the most impact on the business to take the desired action.

The premise and blueprint truly promise results: increased offers for joint ventures and strategic alliances; increased showroom visits; an increase in membership applications; opportunities for community service and sponsorship; the attention of capital givers or specific sources; improved relationships with activist groups and expanded feedback channels; and, last but not least, new connections with thought leaders and special events.

Potential outcomes could include things like better links with the labor, financial, healthcare, and educational sectors; prospects beginning to collaborate with you; customers making repeat purchases; and enhanced linkages with legislative and governmental bodies.

That is a substantial output from even a highly effective plan.

It should go without saying that all members of your PR team, whether they work for an agency or directly for you as the senior project manager, must be dedicated to the PR plan and its execution, beginning with monitoring target audience perception.

People in PR who say they are "totally on board the program" should be avoided. That does not imply that they support the entire endeavor. Persuade yourself that your team members genuinely understand the significance of understanding how your target external audiences view your business, offerings, and processes. Make sure they understand the fact that activities that could benefit or harm your unit are nearly always a result of perceptions.

After that, spend some time going over the PR blueprint in depth with your PR staff, paying particular attention to the section on monitoring and gathering perceptions through interviewing members of your most significant external audiences. Such as: what knowledge do you have about our company? To what extent are you familiar with our staff, offerings, and services? Have you gotten in touch with us before, and were you happy with the exchange? Have you had issues with our staff or policies?

Of course, if funds allow, it would be great to have qualified survey advisors manage the program's perception monitoring stages. However, bear in mind that your public relations staff are also involved in behavior and perception, and they can work toward the same goal: locating lies, incorrect presumptions, baseless rumors, errors, misunderstandings, and any other unfavorable view that could result in harmful actions.

You now need a public relations objective to work toward while you rectify the issues that surfaced from your important audience perception monitoring. And that objective might be dispelling that harmful myth, fixing that egregious error, or putting an end to that potentially lethal rumor.

However, don't attempt anything without a plan that outlines how to get there. When it comes to managing a perception or opinion crisis, you have only three strategic options. Perception can be reinforced, altered, or created where none may exist. Make sure the new strategy aligns well with your new public relations objective because the wrong choice will taste like hollandaise sauce on your cornflakes. It is definitely not the best idea to choose "change" when the situation calls for a "reinforce" approach.

In actuality, it takes a lot of effort to persuade someone to agree with you. For this reason, your PR staff needs to craft the ideal retraction language. Words that are precise and true in addition to being interesting, convincing, and believable. You won't be able to change someone's viewpoint in a way that will lead to the behaviors you desire unless you do this.

Consult with your communications experts as they assess the effect and persuasiveness of your message. Next, give it another honing, and decide which communication strategies will bring your words in front of the people that matter most. You have a choice from dozens of options. From keynote addresses, facilities tours, emails, and brochures to press conferences, consumer briefings, newsletters, in-person meetings, and a host of additional events. However, ensure that the strategies you choose are well-known to reach people who are similar to those in your audience.

Recall the adage that a message's trustworthiness depends on how it is delivered. As an alternative to employing more conspicuous strategies like press releases, you might think about revealing it via presentations before of smaller events. It will prompt you and your PR team to return to the field and begin working on a second perception monitoring session with members of your external audience when the time comes to submit a progress report. Many of the questions from the first benchmark session should be utilized again. This time, though, you will be closely monitoring any indications that the public's view of the negative news is shifting to include you.

Additionally, if you're among the impatient among us, you may always move things along more quickly by using more communication strategies and higher frequencies.

The reason traditional PR is still so effective is that it keeps a laser-like focus on the important external audiences that have the biggest impact on both your company and you as a manager. Additionally, it improves them by influencing those important people to adopt your viewpoint and take actions that advance your managerial goals.

conclude

You may freely post this article and resource box on your website, ezine, newsletter, or offline publication. Please send a copy to mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net. There are 1155 words total, including the resource box and recommendations.


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