Public Relations (PR) can sometimes seem quite complicated. If you don’t know what you are doing then it’s easy to waste time and money but still get little in the way of results. That can be quite disheartening. A bit of planning can help to make it much easier as well as more effective, including:
* Devising a plan – it’s easy to do your PR activity as and when but it will be much more effective to do it as part of a plan and ensure that it fits with your overall business and marketing objectives. This will ensure that each activity is focused on achieving the impact you want. Your plan needs to include your analysis and ideas with regard to audit, aspiration, aims, audiences, attention, activity and application, and assessment.
* Identifying the skills you need to achieve your PR objectives. PR includes many different activities – from writing press releases, event management and sponsorship to securing speaker opportunities and co-ordinating the production of promotional literature. Each activity requires a specific set of skills. It is much better to identify this early and secure the support of expert help where necessary.
* Setting a budget – give yourself a budget and stick to it. Some elements of PR are free but never forget that your time inputs are a valuable aspect of this type of activity. You may also need to set aside budgets for photography and event management to support your PR ideas.
* Carrying out research – you need to be clear about what your audiences think about your organisation now. Your task is to identify those perceptions and decide whether they need enhancing, building or whether you need to create a perception because one does not already exist.
PR is not out of reach for the small business but success is less likely without a planned and methodical approach. It need not be complicated or expensive but does need time, effort and creativity to get the results you want.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Charity and Not-For-Profit PR - Making The Most of Celebrities
It can be difficult for charities and not-for-profit organisations to maintain their respective profiles in the minds of those audiences that are important to them. Securing the support of celebrities is a tried and tested way to raise profile as well as encourage the support of donors and key stakeholders. So, how do you get celebrities interested and how can you avoid paying them big bucks for their involvement? The key lies in taking a strategic approach and doing a bit of research, in particular:
* Devising a plan – you need to be clear about what you want to achieve and why. It is not good enough just to get a celebrity on board – you also need to have a clear plan about how you will continue to engage them after any initial support. Budgets are tight so you need to ensure that your time is as effective as possible. If you are going to make the effort to secure celebrity support then try to hook that celebrity into supporting you on an ongoing basis rather than as a one-off.
* Making it easy for the celebrity – you will get your best response by encouraging the celebrity to support you in a way that does not require huge time commitments. In my experience this is key – you will get much more response if what you ask is not onerous. After any initial support you can then build your relationship with the celebrity to see whether more commitment would be forthcoming.
* Be realistic – you may need to approach many celebrities to get responses. Do not get disheartened – you just have to keep at it. Remember too that ‘A’ list celebrities and well-known personalities are being approached all the time, you need to be targeted but also realistic in your approach.
* Research your target celebrities – a bit of research can go a long way. There are a number of directories available online as well as in libraries giving you the details for agents for celebrities and well-known personalities. These are helpful tools. It is also worth doing a bit of desk research to devise a listing of those people you want to target – find out the interests they have, the causes and charities they support. You need to know if they are already connected with an organisation that has similar interests to your own or one that would suggest a natural link.
It is good for celebrities to be liked to worthwhile causes but the competition for their attention is fierce. Devising a plan, including your creative idea, and a listing of your target celebrities is the first stage – you then need to ensure that your approach presses all the right buttons with them.
* Devising a plan – you need to be clear about what you want to achieve and why. It is not good enough just to get a celebrity on board – you also need to have a clear plan about how you will continue to engage them after any initial support. Budgets are tight so you need to ensure that your time is as effective as possible. If you are going to make the effort to secure celebrity support then try to hook that celebrity into supporting you on an ongoing basis rather than as a one-off.
* Making it easy for the celebrity – you will get your best response by encouraging the celebrity to support you in a way that does not require huge time commitments. In my experience this is key – you will get much more response if what you ask is not onerous. After any initial support you can then build your relationship with the celebrity to see whether more commitment would be forthcoming.
* Be realistic – you may need to approach many celebrities to get responses. Do not get disheartened – you just have to keep at it. Remember too that ‘A’ list celebrities and well-known personalities are being approached all the time, you need to be targeted but also realistic in your approach.
* Research your target celebrities – a bit of research can go a long way. There are a number of directories available online as well as in libraries giving you the details for agents for celebrities and well-known personalities. These are helpful tools. It is also worth doing a bit of desk research to devise a listing of those people you want to target – find out the interests they have, the causes and charities they support. You need to know if they are already connected with an organisation that has similar interests to your own or one that would suggest a natural link.
It is good for celebrities to be liked to worthwhile causes but the competition for their attention is fierce. Devising a plan, including your creative idea, and a listing of your target celebrities is the first stage – you then need to ensure that your approach presses all the right buttons with them.
PR Planning - How Do You Create A PR Plan?
Your Public Relations (PR) plan might be one page or many. It does not really matter - the key is to have one. Ad hoc PR will get you some results but will not be as successful, or cost effective, as a sustained campaign. Often, people just focus on activity in relation to PR. This can have its uses but will not achieve the perception ‘shift’ you are looking for. There are vital steps you need to take in devising a PR plan.
* Audit – you need to have a clear idea of where your organisation is in terms of the perceptions of the audiences that are important to you. PR is all about perception – creating, enhancing or changing it. You should not embark on any PR until you know exactly what your key audiences think, feel and believe about your organisation. This also gives you a helpful benchmark against which you can measure any activity.
* Aspiration – this is key. Where exactly do you want your organisation to be in terms of perception. Put everything aside that could stand in your way – this is about the big picture and how you want your organisation to be perceived and known.
* Aims – you need to get into the detail and spell out exactly what you want to achieve. ‘More profile’ is not enough – you need to define your objectives in a way in which they can be measured – they need to be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound.
* Audiences – it is essential that you identify the audiences that are important to you. Achieving national press and media coverage may be good for the ego but does it really help you get the messages across to your key audiences?
* Attention – any campaign needs robust and specific key messages. They underpin your communication and help you in assessing your campaign’s success.
* Activity and Application – this is where the fun starts. By now you will have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and who you are targeting. The key is now to come up with the creative ideas that will provide you with the opportunity to get your messages across as effectively as possible. That could involve many different activities – from events and competitions to research, celebrity involvement and online forums.
* Assessment – if you have done your job properly with regard to carrying out your audit and setting your objectives then assessment should fall neatly into place.
* Audit – you need to have a clear idea of where your organisation is in terms of the perceptions of the audiences that are important to you. PR is all about perception – creating, enhancing or changing it. You should not embark on any PR until you know exactly what your key audiences think, feel and believe about your organisation. This also gives you a helpful benchmark against which you can measure any activity.
* Aspiration – this is key. Where exactly do you want your organisation to be in terms of perception. Put everything aside that could stand in your way – this is about the big picture and how you want your organisation to be perceived and known.
* Aims – you need to get into the detail and spell out exactly what you want to achieve. ‘More profile’ is not enough – you need to define your objectives in a way in which they can be measured – they need to be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound.
* Audiences – it is essential that you identify the audiences that are important to you. Achieving national press and media coverage may be good for the ego but does it really help you get the messages across to your key audiences?
* Attention – any campaign needs robust and specific key messages. They underpin your communication and help you in assessing your campaign’s success.
* Activity and Application – this is where the fun starts. By now you will have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and who you are targeting. The key is now to come up with the creative ideas that will provide you with the opportunity to get your messages across as effectively as possible. That could involve many different activities – from events and competitions to research, celebrity involvement and online forums.
* Assessment – if you have done your job properly with regard to carrying out your audit and setting your objectives then assessment should fall neatly into place.
Crisis PR - The Questions To Ask When A Crisis Hits
When a crisis hits that could damage your reputation it is essential to act quickly and responsibly. Effective handling of a crisis can enhance your reputation but where do you start? Ideally you will have some sort of crisis plan in place – this will save you considerable time and effort when something hits. Whether this is the case, or not, each crisis is different. There are, however, a number of questions you need to get the answers to manage the communications around the crisis. Those include:
What exactly has happened?
Why has this happened?
Is this an isolated incident?
How can we be sure this is an isolated incident?
Have the relevant facts been recorded?
Who is involved in this incident?
How was the incident reported?
When was the incident reported?
What checks and processes were in place to highlight this incident?
What checks and processes were in place to prevent this incident?
Does this incident show any breech of law, professional codes of conduct, association membership?
Who knows about this?
Who is to blame?
How does this impact on customers?
How does this impact on staff?
Are there health and safety implications?
Does any service or supply or products need to be suspended?
Does this impact on marketing activity?
Should any marketing activity be halted?
Is there a need to recall products?
There are, of course, many other questions specific to the incident. If you do not have a plan in place then there are a whole host of logistical questions and issues you need to tackle too. Handling communication with regard to a crisis needs attention to detail, accurate understanding of the facts and a clear head. You’ll need to act speedily to contain rumour and misunderstanding. Getting the answers to these questions is the first step in putting yourself onto the front foot for any communication activity.
What exactly has happened?
Why has this happened?
Is this an isolated incident?
How can we be sure this is an isolated incident?
Have the relevant facts been recorded?
Who is involved in this incident?
How was the incident reported?
When was the incident reported?
What checks and processes were in place to highlight this incident?
What checks and processes were in place to prevent this incident?
Does this incident show any breech of law, professional codes of conduct, association membership?
Who knows about this?
Who is to blame?
How does this impact on customers?
How does this impact on staff?
Are there health and safety implications?
Does any service or supply or products need to be suspended?
Does this impact on marketing activity?
Should any marketing activity be halted?
Is there a need to recall products?
There are, of course, many other questions specific to the incident. If you do not have a plan in place then there are a whole host of logistical questions and issues you need to tackle too. Handling communication with regard to a crisis needs attention to detail, accurate understanding of the facts and a clear head. You’ll need to act speedily to contain rumour and misunderstanding. Getting the answers to these questions is the first step in putting yourself onto the front foot for any communication activity.
Media Interview Success
The first thing you should do when asked to do a radio or television interview is say, yes, then control the panic that may set in.
A lot of people unfamiliar with doing an on-air interview are daunted by the prospect and get very nervous. This fear can stop us moving ahead and saying no to the chance of promoting our businesses. You need to put this fear into its right perspective – what is the worst thing that is going to happen to you?
You might think you are going to die or pass out and faint once a microphone is put in front of you but it is highly unlikely. The knocking knees and shaky voice you might think will give you away but generally nerves are pretty normal and not noticed so much by other people even though you may be feeling it strongly.
Nerves can be used as a source of enthusiasm to show your commitment to the subject you are talking about. So let's look at how we might eliminate unnecessary fears from an interview situation.
Prepare
You only have one chance to get it right with live radio or television. You know your subject better than anyone else so think about some possible questions they may ask and prepare your answers. Ask your partner or a friend to ask you a few questions and have a rehearsal – practice. Find out as much as you can about the program on which you're being asked to appear – is it live or pre-recorded? What angle are they taking? What are they expecting from you – what are the question areas? Is the audience completely general, or is targeted at housewives or business people? Think about the points you could make which are most interesting, useful and relevant to the appropriate audience.
Stick to the Point
What's really useful is to prepare three or four main points which you wish to convey. Write them down on a sticky note and refer to it. Most radio interviews are less than four minutes long so always keep to the point and avoid being drawn into side issues. Always try and take control and use every opportunity to get your message across. Don't wait to be asked the appropriate question.
Give Yourself Time To Think About It
The phone rings, and out of the blue a journalist is on the line asking you some tricky questions about your company's activities. How do you handle it? Your company's reputation may depend on the answers you give. Don't be afraid to call the journalist back rather than talking straight away off the top of your head – but find out when their deadline is and don't leave it too late. Use the time to think through what you should be putting across, particularly in response to any controversial issues that are likely to be raised.
Have Something To Say
If there are controversial issues in your area of expertise, work out where you stand, and what you should say. It is better to respond rather than say "no comment". Don't be afraid to put your point of view across.
Make It Interesting and Relevant
Make your message more memorable by using real stories and examples. Use word pictures. Cut through the clutter with words that paint a picture in the mind of the listener. When you have facts and specifics to back yourself up, you will come over as more authoritative. Remember to stress the points that are likely to interest the listeners or viewers rather than just your own internal messages.
Make it Personable
Use the interviewer's name to make it more personable when answering questions. If you're doing an interview face-to-face use eye contact and try and interest the interviewer in what you're talking about rather than thinking – do I sound OK – do I look alright on TV. If your eyes flicker around during a TV interview, you look uncomfortable, and possibly a bit shifty. If you keep your eye-line focused on the interviewer, you will come over as being in command of your subject. Focus on getting those main points across.
Be Buoyant & Enthusiastic
Be bright and buoyant in your answers – boring answers will probably be edited out and boring interviews will be dropped altogether. You need to be slightly more animated and larger than life. Pep up your delivery so that it is bright and enthusiastic, rather than dull and low-key. Remember broadcasting is a performance! If you do not hold the audience's attention, there are plenty of rival channels people can switch over to.
Mind Your Language
Think about the way you talk in your work life – is your conversation peppered with abbreviations, technical terms and other jargon? For the outside world, this will just not do. Imagine instead that you are chatting to someone who is perfectly intelligent, but who simply doesn't know anything about the subject. People often make the mistake of addressing their remarks to the interviewer (who may be well informed) rather than the audience.
Keep Your Comments Concise
Catchy short answers work best in the media especially for television news. They're known as "grabs" and can be slotted in to a news story. If you watch the news, or listen to radio news, you'll notice that the grabs or "sound bites" are about 5-7 seconds long. If you don't give enough information the journalist will simply ask a follow-up question.
Be Available
Always make yourself available for radio interviews. Be available to go into the studio for better quality than over the phone. If you're on talkback radio use a landline not a mobile phone and be aware of external noise. When you do radio interviews make sure the background is as quiet as possible.
Warm Up Your Voice
Always take time to warm up your voice so you sound more articulate, intelligent and authoritative. This will give you more confidence.
Call to Action
Most people will remember the opening and closing of a radio interview. Always have a strong closing with a call to action, something you want listeners to do i.e. attend the event or buy the product. And finally remember to smile – when you smile you feel and sound much friendlier – and enjoy it!
A lot of people unfamiliar with doing an on-air interview are daunted by the prospect and get very nervous. This fear can stop us moving ahead and saying no to the chance of promoting our businesses. You need to put this fear into its right perspective – what is the worst thing that is going to happen to you?
You might think you are going to die or pass out and faint once a microphone is put in front of you but it is highly unlikely. The knocking knees and shaky voice you might think will give you away but generally nerves are pretty normal and not noticed so much by other people even though you may be feeling it strongly.
Nerves can be used as a source of enthusiasm to show your commitment to the subject you are talking about. So let's look at how we might eliminate unnecessary fears from an interview situation.
Prepare
You only have one chance to get it right with live radio or television. You know your subject better than anyone else so think about some possible questions they may ask and prepare your answers. Ask your partner or a friend to ask you a few questions and have a rehearsal – practice. Find out as much as you can about the program on which you're being asked to appear – is it live or pre-recorded? What angle are they taking? What are they expecting from you – what are the question areas? Is the audience completely general, or is targeted at housewives or business people? Think about the points you could make which are most interesting, useful and relevant to the appropriate audience.
Stick to the Point
What's really useful is to prepare three or four main points which you wish to convey. Write them down on a sticky note and refer to it. Most radio interviews are less than four minutes long so always keep to the point and avoid being drawn into side issues. Always try and take control and use every opportunity to get your message across. Don't wait to be asked the appropriate question.
Give Yourself Time To Think About It
The phone rings, and out of the blue a journalist is on the line asking you some tricky questions about your company's activities. How do you handle it? Your company's reputation may depend on the answers you give. Don't be afraid to call the journalist back rather than talking straight away off the top of your head – but find out when their deadline is and don't leave it too late. Use the time to think through what you should be putting across, particularly in response to any controversial issues that are likely to be raised.
Have Something To Say
If there are controversial issues in your area of expertise, work out where you stand, and what you should say. It is better to respond rather than say "no comment". Don't be afraid to put your point of view across.
Make It Interesting and Relevant
Make your message more memorable by using real stories and examples. Use word pictures. Cut through the clutter with words that paint a picture in the mind of the listener. When you have facts and specifics to back yourself up, you will come over as more authoritative. Remember to stress the points that are likely to interest the listeners or viewers rather than just your own internal messages.
Make it Personable
Use the interviewer's name to make it more personable when answering questions. If you're doing an interview face-to-face use eye contact and try and interest the interviewer in what you're talking about rather than thinking – do I sound OK – do I look alright on TV. If your eyes flicker around during a TV interview, you look uncomfortable, and possibly a bit shifty. If you keep your eye-line focused on the interviewer, you will come over as being in command of your subject. Focus on getting those main points across.
Be Buoyant & Enthusiastic
Be bright and buoyant in your answers – boring answers will probably be edited out and boring interviews will be dropped altogether. You need to be slightly more animated and larger than life. Pep up your delivery so that it is bright and enthusiastic, rather than dull and low-key. Remember broadcasting is a performance! If you do not hold the audience's attention, there are plenty of rival channels people can switch over to.
Mind Your Language
Think about the way you talk in your work life – is your conversation peppered with abbreviations, technical terms and other jargon? For the outside world, this will just not do. Imagine instead that you are chatting to someone who is perfectly intelligent, but who simply doesn't know anything about the subject. People often make the mistake of addressing their remarks to the interviewer (who may be well informed) rather than the audience.
Keep Your Comments Concise
Catchy short answers work best in the media especially for television news. They're known as "grabs" and can be slotted in to a news story. If you watch the news, or listen to radio news, you'll notice that the grabs or "sound bites" are about 5-7 seconds long. If you don't give enough information the journalist will simply ask a follow-up question.
Be Available
Always make yourself available for radio interviews. Be available to go into the studio for better quality than over the phone. If you're on talkback radio use a landline not a mobile phone and be aware of external noise. When you do radio interviews make sure the background is as quiet as possible.
Warm Up Your Voice
Always take time to warm up your voice so you sound more articulate, intelligent and authoritative. This will give you more confidence.
Call to Action
Most people will remember the opening and closing of a radio interview. Always have a strong closing with a call to action, something you want listeners to do i.e. attend the event or buy the product. And finally remember to smile – when you smile you feel and sound much friendlier – and enjoy it!
Definition of Strategy and Strategic Planning, Part 1
Any definition of strategy and strategic planning should include taking a proactive approach that evaluates all activities based on how well the activity moves the business toward its core goal. Specifically, strategies are plans for reaching objectives and goals.
The core goal is the major long-term destination planned for the businesses. Objectives are short-term steps in moving the business toward that destination. All activities or tactics should support an objective, and all objectives should support the goal.
This type of strategic planning insures that activities for which the business spends its resources all contribute to goal and objectives. But strategic planning involves much more than this. It involves planning a campaign to reach each objective to assure that the business progresses toward its goal.
Each strategy should:• relate to a specific objective,• involve an integrated program of specific tactics to accomplish the objective,• be specific for the target public,• be integrated and mutually reinforcing in the overall campaign,• develop an action and communication plan for the target public.
Strategic planning requires continuous and systematic research from business records and from industry statistics, the market situation and current trends. It also requires a situation analysis at each step or objective leading to the goal. This analysis includes qualitative and quantitative assessments of the current situation, the business problem, potential difficulties if the problem persists and other difficulties related to the problem.
A good situation analysis will answer the following questions:
What is the source of the concern?What is the background of the problem?Where is this a problem?When is it a problem?What are the potential difficulties:-in solving the problem?-if the problem is not resolved?
The answers to these questions should be written in a problem statement.
Next, the target public should be defined and segmented. This includes developing a list of potential publics, including those affected by the problem and those who need to be motivated to aid in the problem resolution.
Then identify the target public for the campaign from the list and note other publics who have an influence on the target public. These are called intervening publics or intermediate publics for the campaign.
Finally identify all known facts (demographics) about the target public and infer from those facts personality (psychographic) and behavioral characteristics. This is accomplished through segmenting and if done correctly reveals a small list of characteristics that will be most effective in communication with and relating to the public.
The core goal is the major long-term destination planned for the businesses. Objectives are short-term steps in moving the business toward that destination. All activities or tactics should support an objective, and all objectives should support the goal.
This type of strategic planning insures that activities for which the business spends its resources all contribute to goal and objectives. But strategic planning involves much more than this. It involves planning a campaign to reach each objective to assure that the business progresses toward its goal.
Each strategy should:• relate to a specific objective,• involve an integrated program of specific tactics to accomplish the objective,• be specific for the target public,• be integrated and mutually reinforcing in the overall campaign,• develop an action and communication plan for the target public.
Strategic planning requires continuous and systematic research from business records and from industry statistics, the market situation and current trends. It also requires a situation analysis at each step or objective leading to the goal. This analysis includes qualitative and quantitative assessments of the current situation, the business problem, potential difficulties if the problem persists and other difficulties related to the problem.
A good situation analysis will answer the following questions:
What is the source of the concern?What is the background of the problem?Where is this a problem?When is it a problem?What are the potential difficulties:-in solving the problem?-if the problem is not resolved?
The answers to these questions should be written in a problem statement.
Next, the target public should be defined and segmented. This includes developing a list of potential publics, including those affected by the problem and those who need to be motivated to aid in the problem resolution.
Then identify the target public for the campaign from the list and note other publics who have an influence on the target public. These are called intervening publics or intermediate publics for the campaign.
Finally identify all known facts (demographics) about the target public and infer from those facts personality (psychographic) and behavioral characteristics. This is accomplished through segmenting and if done correctly reveals a small list of characteristics that will be most effective in communication with and relating to the public.
Why Public Relations is so Vitally Important
This is what online public relations can do for you: it can make you the right one. Unlike marketing or advertising, which are essential activities and. Public relations is about messages and their delivery, but that is not all PR is. Unlike marketing or advertising, which are essential activities and correlation with Branding, the goal of public relations must always be to create. Indeed, there is little anyone can do about it, especially with the Union, Corporation infighting and the over regulation and insane number of lawsuits in the US.Public relations is important no matter what type of business you are in. Public Relations is a pretty unforgiving field to participate in.
Marketing
Like any service and or product, marketing is the key. First, try to be a regular speaker in your marketing area. Many writers and authors fall into a fantasy world that once their book is printed and binded all will flock to it. Like any service and or product, marketing is the key. So efforts made by companies to create goodwill through advertising and marketing are effective. So efforts made by Marketing is the life blood of any business.
Well, they need a new spokesperson because their current leader is in hiding in fear for his life. Public relations is communicating who you are, what you do and how you make a difference. The difference between Public Relations PR and Advertising is simple, you pay for Advertising. Public Relations is generally an indefinite discipline and somehow quite an underestimate resource. The practice of public relations is typically a method of promotion. Many experts on Branding espouse the opinion that public relations are a vital part if not the most vital part of the unlike marketing or advertising, which are essential activities and in other words, public relations is meant to generate news coverage. Making your business more public friendly can mean gaining the confidence and trust of the people. Public relations are a cheap and a more effective way to do it.
Marketing
Like any service and or product, marketing is the key. First, try to be a regular speaker in your marketing area. Many writers and authors fall into a fantasy world that once their book is printed and binded all will flock to it. Like any service and or product, marketing is the key. So efforts made by companies to create goodwill through advertising and marketing are effective. So efforts made by Marketing is the life blood of any business.
Well, they need a new spokesperson because their current leader is in hiding in fear for his life. Public relations is communicating who you are, what you do and how you make a difference. The difference between Public Relations PR and Advertising is simple, you pay for Advertising. Public Relations is generally an indefinite discipline and somehow quite an underestimate resource. The practice of public relations is typically a method of promotion. Many experts on Branding espouse the opinion that public relations are a vital part if not the most vital part of the unlike marketing or advertising, which are essential activities and in other words, public relations is meant to generate news coverage. Making your business more public friendly can mean gaining the confidence and trust of the people. Public relations are a cheap and a more effective way to do it.
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