Please feel free to publish this article and resource box in your ezine, newsletter, offline publication or website. A copy would be appreciated at bobkelly@TNI.net. Word count is 815 including guidelines and resource box. Robert A. Kelly © 2003. The Ultimate PR “Scam”
It happens to business, non-profit and association managers when their public relations budget fails to deliver
crucial external audience behaviors they need to achieve their department, division or subsidiary objectives.
Behaviors they should have received leading directly to boosts in repeat purchases; growing community support; more tech firms specifying manager’s components; increased capital donations; stronger employee retention rates; new waves of prospects, or healthy membership increases.
If that rings your bell, you need to take two actions.
First, insist that your public relations activity is based on a fundamental premise like this: People act on their own perception of 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 very people whose behaviors affect organization most, public relations mission is accomplished.
Second, as manager for whom they labor, get personally involved with professionals managing your PR effort. Tell those specialists that you must list, then prioritize those key external audiences whose behaviors effect your unit most.
Identify that outside audience sitting at top of your slate, and we’ll work on it right now.
Nothing happens, of course, until you gather some pithy information. Namely, how do members of that key target audience, whose behaviors affect your unit’s success or failure, actually perceive you?
You and/or your PR team must interact with members of that audience and monitor their perceptions by asking a number of questions: Do you know anything about us? What have you heard about our services or products? Have you ever had contact with our organization? Was it satisfactory?
The trick here is to stay vigilant for negative signs, in particular, untruths, exaggerations, inaccuracies, rumors or misconceptions.
By time you complete this exercise, you will have gathered raw material you need to establish a corrective public relations goal. It might aim to fix an inaccuracy, clear up a misconception or lay that rumor to rest.
