Leaders Who Recognize the Benefits of Public Relations

Managers in for-profit, non-profit, and association settings report high levels of job satisfaction when they successfully influence the actions of the external audiences who have the most impact on their organizations. And especially when they convince those essential outside people to see things their way and then inspire them to take actions that help their department, division, or subsidiary succeed, they have delivered the kind of behavior change that directly contributes to attaining their managerial objectives.

Or, if this doesn’t sound all that familiar, is the money you spend on public relations pretty much committed to buying people mentions in the newspaper and product plugs on radio talk shows?

In search of some basic public relations advantages?

Get back to public relations' roots by making sure your strategy never deviates from the basics. Here, take a quick read: people act on their own assessment of the information before them, which leads to predictable behaviors about which something can be done. The goal of public relations is reached when the people whose actions have the most impact on the company are the ones who are reached, persuaded, and moved to take action.

Consider the potential outcomes. An increase in membership applications, a rise in the number of people visiting your store, recognition from local authorities, new leads interested in doing business with you, offers of funding or contracting, new strategic partnerships, more frequent purchases from existing customers, new suggestions for partnerships, etc. are all positive signs.

To begin, here are two pointers for getting the most out of your public relations budget.List those outside audiences who act in ways that help or hinder you in achieving your goals, then rank them in order of effect severity.Let’s work on the number one target audience on that list.

Given the frailties of the human mind, it's likely that you haven't put in much work to learn the general opinion of your organization's most important external audience. However, if you had been routinely sampling the opinions of your target audience, you would have these statistics on hand, ensuring that you have the crucial numbers at your disposal when you need them.

Unfortunately, if you don't have the funds to hire a professional survey team, you and your staff will have to keep an eye on how your company is perceived by customers and the public. And it includes meeting with members of that outside audience and communicating with them by asking questions like, "Have you ever met somebody from our organization?" What did you think of it? How well-versed are you in our offerings?

Watch out for anything that could be construed as negative, such as silence or hesitating responses. And be on the lookout for harmful rumors, assumptions, misinformation, and mischaracterizations. If you notice any, you need to fix them because they will likely lead to undesirable actions.

You must now choose the most severe negative perception to correct such anomalies before they develop into harmful behaviors. Your public relations objective shifts to getting this fixed.

A public relations objective without a plan to achieve it is, of course, like roast pork without the garlic. That's why there are a trio of tactics for doing everything from establishing a new point of view to altering or reinforcing an existing one. Make certain that your new goal and strategy are mutually compatible.It would be counterproductive to go with the "change existing perspective" option if the present view were optimal and could be strengthened with the reinforcement technique.

Put your finest writer to work crafting a message that will persuade your target audience to see things your way, as required by your public relations objective.

Including the clarification as part of a larger announcement or in a presentation that stands on its own may increase its credibility while drawing less attention to the fact that a correction is being made.

However, the message itself must be very clear about what misconception needs to be addressed and why. If you want to keep the attention of the people you're trying to persuade and actually change their minds, you'll need to make sure your facts are correct and your argument is compelling and believable.

The simplest thing you'll have to do is choose the "beasts of burden" (what I call the tools you'll rely on to spread your innovative, persuading ideas to the world).

Mathematicians describe it best: communication strategies are always complex. There are many different types of communications that can be used to spread information, such as letters to the editor, pamphlets, press releases, speeches, radio and newspaper interviews, personal contacts, newsletters, group briefings, and many more. However, you should exercise caution when deciding on a strategy.

Check for indicators that the people they reach are similar to your so-called target stakeholders.

Your coworkers will be curious as to the status of the project. You may anticipate these kinds of questions by keeping an eye on how your intended readers feel about your work. The second time around, though, things are different in this respect. You'll ask similar questions to the ones you asked during the first round of monitoring, and keep an eye out for any signs that the public's opinion is shifting in your favor. That’s the kind of progress you’re looking for.

As public relations professionals, we have the freedom to step on the gas at any time by utilizing a wider variety of communication strategies and amplifying their use.

The following are two lifesaving guidelines: Keep your eyes on your most important external stakeholders—the very groups of outside people who have such a big say in your success as a manager.

The next step is to implement a strategy to influence key stakeholders to see things your way and act in ways that benefit your organization's sub-unit or division.