Step 3 Reach, Persuade and Move-to-Action

Now, you must reach, persuade and move-to-action those people whose behaviors will affect your organization. That includes, among others, a variety of stakeholders including customers, employees, prospects, retirees, media, legislators and regulators, and both financial and plant communities.

Reaching these target groups means applying most effective communications tools available to you. Among others, these will include such tactics as media relations and publicity- generating news conferences and press releases, newsletters and e-mails, high-profile speeches, charitable contributions, investor relations and informal opinion surveys.

Special events will be high on action list: newsworthy events like trade shows, open houses, awards ceremonies, contests, VIP receptions, financial roadshows, and even media-attracting stunts. On marketing side, you will want to target your sales-oriented communications to help build brand franchise, win consumer acceptance and gain competitive advantage.

Persuading these important groups of stakeholders to your way of thinking depends heavily on message you prepare for each target audience. You must understand and 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.

Moving your target group to action, hopefully with a mix of activity such as above, can be accelerated, even amplified by careful selection of media to reach your target audience. This applies whether, among others, it’s print or broadcast media, key podium presentations or a series of top level personal contacts, and they all must communicate clearly and directly to your target audiences.

Of equal importance to success of your program will be selection and perceived credibility of actual spokespeople who will deliver your messages. They must have stature in their industries, and speak with authority, personal confidence and conviction if meaningful media coverage is to be achieved.

Step 4 Gain and Hold Understanding and Acceptance

By this time, your action program should begin to gain and hold kind of public understanding and acceptance that leads to desired shift in public behavior.

Signs that your messages are turning some opinion in your direction should appear. A chance comment in a business meeting, a popular columnist’s observations, e-mails from interested parties or co-worker alerts that this political figure or that local celebrity made public references to your topic, should begin to build. Many of these indicators, each reflecting state of individual perception, will gradually begin to reflect modified behaviors you have in mind.

Step 5 Modify Behavior, Achieve your Goal

When changes in behaviors become truly apparent through media reports, thought-leader comment, employee and community chatter and other feedback, at same time clearly meeting your original behavior modification goal, your public relations program can be deemed a success.

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PERSUADE

Persuading your key audiences, third leg of opinion troika, is yet another challenge because bringing these important groups of stakeholders around to your way of thinking depends heavily on quality of message you prepare for each target audience.

It’s hard work. You must understand and 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.

By way, those incentives could include very strength of your position on issues, a new plant expansion holding promise of more jobs and taxes for City, or even your organization’s efforts to attract low and middle income housing to area.

ACTION

Moving your target groups to action, hopefully with a mix of activity such as above, can be accelerated, even amplified by careful selection of those media most likely to reach your target audience. This applies whether, among other tactics, you use print or broadcast media, key podium presentations or a series of top-level personal contacts, because when these tools communicate with your target audiences you want them to score direct bullseyes.

Of equal importance to success of your action program will be selection and perceived credibility of actual spokespeople who will deliver your messages. They must be seen as people of stature, and they must speak with authority, personal confidence and conviction if meaningful media coverage is to be achieved.

Now, Let’s Gain and Hold

By this time, your action program should begin to gain and hold kind of public understanding and acceptance that will lead to desired shift in public behavior.

Signs that your messages are turning some opinion in your direction will begin to appear. For example, indicators like comments by a colleague in an outside business meeting, observations in a local newspaper editorial, e-mails from interested parties, public references by political figures and local celebrities should begin to build. Each of these indicators will reflect a segment of local, individual perception which, in turn, will gradually begin to reflect modified behaviors you seek.

And The End-Game? Modify Behavior, Achieve your Goal

When changes in behaviors become truly apparent through media reports, thought-leader comment, employee and community chatter and a variety of other feedback -- at same time clearly meeting your original behavior modification goal -- I believe your public relations program can be deemed a success.

Obviously, your piece of action in business recovery ahead will come at a price. And that will be your cost to efficiently modify behaviors of your target audiences. But, payoff makes it all worthwhile -- nothing less than achievement of your business objectives and, at slight risk of overstatement, a real contribution to survival of your organization.

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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