The image many people have of public relations people is
of champagne-swilling party organisers, who practice the 'twin cheek air
kiss' and call everyone 'darling'.
While this might be true of a few practitioners, contemporary
public relations practice is more sophisticated, and encompasses a broader
range of activities than just organising the cocktail parties that are
reported in the social pages.
Managing Communication
Nearly all businesses, large or small, practice public relations to some
extent. Some do it without realising it or without giving it a label.
PR is essentially about communication management. It's about communicating
effectively with all those people, organisations, and audiences who can
influence your business.
The methods used to communicate with these audiences are
very broad and can include such tactics as media relations, written communications,
government lobbying, events, publicity stunts, speaking engagements and
good old-fashioned face to face meetings, among others.
How do you incorporate PR activities into your current
business?
So how do you incorporate PR activities into your current business? The
first step is to know what outcomes you are seeking, and then setting
measurable objectives to ensure that any activities you undertake have
a specific business purpose.
Too many businesses engage in activities that they think
are 'good PR exercises' without thinking about the results they want to
achieve. To make PR work for you, you must plan it well - and the best
way to do this is to decide what results you want. This will save you
from wasting valuable time, money and energy on activities that do not
produce results.
For example, if you decide that you would like to engage
in a media relations campaign, first think about what results you want
as a result of your picture and story appearing in the press. Are you
seeking new business? Is it to position yourself and reinforce your reputation
with existing clients? Do you want to increase sales of your product?
Understand who you are communicating with
The next step is to understand who you are communicating with. If your
potential client base is mothers with young children being profiled in
The Australian Financial Review will probably not help you very much.
However, it may help you if you are seeking equity finance for your specialised
children's clothing business.
Once you have accurately defined those audiences that you
need to communicate with (and think laterally about this don't just limit
it to potential customers), you are in a position to determine what tactics
or methods you will use to reach them. It may be that media coverage is
not the best method for you - you may be better off communicating directly,
e.g. through a regular newsletter or an exclusive preview invitation or
a seminar workshop.
Finally, go back to your original objectives and evaluate
the outcomes. Did the activity achieve what you set out to do? Why or
why not? How should it be changed or refined to make it more effective?
Think strategically about your public relations and communication
efforts and you will easily maximise their value ten-fold.
Kris Madden can be reached at krismadden@ompr.com.au
