Now, it is a short step towards establishing whether perceptions and opinion among those key audiences must be created from scratch, nudged in one direction or another, or simply reinforced. An important decision because it will influence direction, content and tone of all of your communications.

The Persuasive Message

Then, it’s time to prepare messages tailored to each audience that, while providing details about your products and service quality and diversity, indirectly address those potential problem areas that came up during information gathering meetings. Of special concern in preparing messages will be your behavior modification goal and audience perception adjustments necessary to achieve it.

Reaching Your Audience

How will you communicate each message to its audience? How will you reach these people? Your choices include face-to-face meetings, briefings, news releases, news announcement luncheons, media interviews, facility tours, special promotional events, a brochure, and a variety of other communications tactics.

And don’t forget special events as a means for reaching those target audiences with your messages. They are usually newsworthy and include activities such as financial roadshows, awards ceremonies, trade shows, contests or open houses.

Media That Target Your Audience

It sounds elementary, but selecting right media to carry your messages demands that you be certain that each communications tool zeros in directly on target audience. Example: no sense in using ride-time (rush hour) radio appearances if you’re trying to reach retirees.

Signs of Improvement

So, how will you know whether your efforts are actually changing perceptions (and behaviors) for better? As time passes, experience shows that you will begin to notice increased awareness of your organization and its role in marketplace; a growing receptiveness to your messages by customers; a growing public perception of role your organization plays in its industry and in community, as well as increasing numbers of prospects.

Achieving The Goal

To track actual results, you or your colleagues must speak on a regular basis with people among each of your key audiences, as well as by monitoring print and broadcast media for mentions of your messages or viewpoints, as well as through interaction with key customers, prospects and influentials. Each of these indicators will reflect local, individual perception of your organization which, in turn, will gradually begin to approach degree of behavior modification you seek.

The effort is worth it. Done correctly, when public relations results in modified behaviors among groups of people important to your organization, you’re talking about nothing less than its survival.

end

Bob Kelly, public relations consultant, was director of public relations for Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-Public Relations, Texaco Inc.; VP-Public Relations, Olin Corp.; VP-Public Relations, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communications, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net

Next, prepare persuasive messages that not only provide details about your product and service quality, but address problems that surfaced during your conversations with target audience members. Identify what is really at issue at moment; impart a sense of credibility to your comments; perform regular assessments of how opinion is currently running among that group, constantly adjusting your message; as well as highlighting those key issue points most likely to engage their attention and involvement; and finally, identify and build into your messages pre-tested, action- producing incentives for individuals to take actions you desire.

Then, consider most effective means for communicating each message to each audience. This may include simple face-to-face meetings, briefings, news releases, news announcement luncheons, media interviews, facility tours, targeted speeches, a brochure, and a variety of other communications tactics.

And don’t forget special events, newsworthy activities like trade shows, open houses, awards ceremonies, contests, VIP receptions, financial roadshows, and even media-attracting stunts each of which will provide additional opportunities to communicate your message to your target stakeholders.

As you look for signs that your aggressive efforts are changing perceptions for better, especially important in a recession, you should begin to notice increased awareness of your organization, especially progress in marketplace for products and services as well as ideas; increased receptiveness to your messages; a growing public perception of role your organization plays in its industry and in community; and, of course, growing numbers of prospects.

These details are tracked by speaking on a regular basis with people among each of your priority audiences, by monitoring print and broadcast media for mentions of your messages or viewpoints, by interaction with key customers and prospects and, if resources permit, modest opinion sampling.

Each of these indicators will reflect a segment of local, individual perception which, in turn, will gradually begin to reflect modified behaviors you seek.

Especially during hard times, remember that people in your community or marketing area behave like everyone else – they take actions based on their perception of facts they hear about you and your business.

Which means that you must deal promptly and effectively with those perceptions by doing what is necessary to reach them. Especially during recession, you must persuade your stakeholders to your way of thinking, thus moving them to take actions that lead to success of your organization.

end

Bob Kelly, public relations consultant, was director of public relations for Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-Public Relations, Texaco Inc.; VP-Public Relations, Olin Corp.; VP-Public Relations, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communications, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net