Continued from page 1
Which of
three strategies you employ is dictated by, and flows naturally from your public relations goal.
Now, toughest part of public relations problem solving sequence is formulating what you are going to say to your #1 target audience.
Your message must be very clear as to what needs clarifying, correcting or rebuttal. It should, no, MUST be persuasive and believable as well as direct and candid as possible. Make it as compelling as can be. And to help prevent further misunder- standing, give your message draft a trial run before two or three members of your target audience, and adjust as needed.
Here comes fun part – deciding which communications tactics will best carry that super message of yours to right eyes and ears among your target audience.
There are scores of such tactics available to you including, for example, newspaper interviews, face-to-face meetings, press releases, special events, speeches and many, many more. This is where we hear groans when we point out that you must once again monitor what members of your key target audience are perceiving about your organization. The reason, of course, is to determine if your public relations program is making any progress.
Same questions second time around. But now, you want to see if all those communications tactics succeeded in moving key audience perception in your direction.
If not far enough, you may have to increase frequency and mix of your tactics. And you may need to take another look at your message reassessing its content for believability and impact.
The test for public relations success will turn on whether you actually altered enough perceptions, and their follow on behaviors, in your direction.
In which case, you will have insured that your most important outside audiences understand who and what you are. And that strongly suggests that your organization is well on its way to achieving its operating objectives.
end
Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks about the fundamental premise of public relations. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, 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 Visit: http://www.prcommentary.com
