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 970 including guidelines and resource box. Robert A. Kelly © 2003. Hey, Mr/Ms Manager!
Does it really make sense to bet your PR budget on results like newspaper mentions and zippy brochures while your all-important outside audience behaviors are probably receiving much less attention than they need?
I mean,
concern is valid. What your most important external audiences believe about your organization, and then to what behaviors those perceptions lead, has a lot to do with whether it – and you – succeed.
Ignore that reality and you invite a lot of pain and suffering. But, bite bullet now and you can begin seeing results like growing repeat purchases, higher levels of membership applications, new engineering firm specifications of your components, a boost in capital contributions or brand new community support.
Public relations isn’t that different from any other professional discipline you employ on job – you need a plan to succeed. And plan must be based on a foundation that makes sense.
Try on this fundamental premise for a moment and see if you can live with it: 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.
Because if you CAN live with it, you’ll soon be working with a blueprint that helps persuade those important stakeholders to your way of thinking. And that should move them to take actions that lead to your success as a business, non-profit or association manager.
Give it a try. Sit down with public relations folks assigned to your department, division or subsidiary and tell them you’re going to find out what those external audiences whose behaviors affect you most, REALLY think about organization, then list them in priority order – i.e., which audience behaviors have greatest impact on your organization – so that we can work on one you assign first place.
Because this approach to public relations may be unfamiliar to those PR folks assigned to your unit, you must take a personal role in getting it off ground, as well as inputting each major decision point. Your incentive to do so lies in fact that dealing effectively with key stakeholder behaviors, talks directly to your own success on job.
First big question? How do members of your key target audience actually perceive your unit, that is, your department, division or subsidiary? You can commit a large portion of your budget to professional survey counsel or you and PR folks assigned to your unit can do it grass roots way and interact with members of your target audience, and ask a number of questions.
