Tag: communications

What is PR?

PR is not limited to crisis management or firefighting. PR is an overarching communication strategy that builds brand awareness, establishes valuable relationships and builds trust.

And having trust in an organisation is key. The success of a new service launch or campaign relies heavily on how and when information is communicated to its staff, patients, investors, customers and stakeholders.

I’ve seen throughout my career, how organisations which are transparent and who communicate regularly are (in the main!) trusted, respected and well-treated by the Media. If a ‘situation’ does occur, it’s far easier to manage and any subsequent stories are reported in a balanced way.

You’ll be relieved to hear that the vast majority of reporters aren’t out to ‘do a hatchet job’! They are just doing their job. I should know, I used to be one.

Mastering your message through the effective use of PR will have a positive impact on the success of any projects or campaign.

And well planned communication strategies enable organisations to manage their relationships with all key stakeholders.

PR is about effective communication and every organisation, regardless of size, depends on its reputation for survival and success.

By incorporating a strategic PR approach into everything you deliver, you will increase public understanding of what you are trying to achieve, build support for your project and help to influence the opinion your audience has about you.

In order to deliver a successful campaign or project you first need to master your message and then deliver it effectively. In this post, I’ll outline the three key steps which will help you establish and maintain this mutual understanding and goodwill between your organisation and your key stakeholders.

Master Your Message

• Write your key messages (clear statements of fact)
• Make them interesting and unique
• Be consistent in your messaging – whether it’s a video, Press Release or social media message
• Get clarity on your story – effective PR is about telling a story
• Be clear – define the end benefits of your activity
• Identify your audience and how to reach them
• Be clear from the outset what it is that you are trying to achieve
• To measure PR results, take a snapshot of your current vital statistics – monthly website visitors, social media followers, any media coverage, number of phone and email enquiries, click throughs etc, audiences and brand mentions – then compare at the end of the PR activity.

Planning

Many projects fail or are not as successful as they might have been because they were not communicated clearly or planned properly, with enough lead-in time.

If PR is an afterthought or bolted on at the end of the project planning process, the success and reach of your campaign is going to be limited.

Including a communication strategy at the outset and incorporating it into every stage of the project, shares your key objectives, messages and activities to ensure the whole team understands and ‘buys into it’.

This helps to ensure consistency, reduces duplication and audience misunderstanding, promotes stakeholder buy-in, staff ownership and commitment.

One of the simple steps I’ve always taken is to communicate outside news with staff first so they hear about developments from their employer. That helps to foster a culture of mutual respect and loyalty. Your staff can be your biggest advocates if you treat them properly.

Delivery

Where you deliver your message is a key factor in determining your reach and visibility. Find out where your audience are hanging out?

Are they on social media? Probably. Which platform? Does your news warrant a Press Release?  Do you want local, trade or other media coverage and what would help you in sharing your story?

Are you communicating in the most accessible ways? Can the key stakeholders access the information and understand it? Talk to your patients, customers and target audience to see how they most like to receive information. Adapt your communication style and method to suit the different groups in your audience.

Could you host a conference or an event which would enable you to raise brand awareness and develop partnerships? A great way to increase your reach is through collaboration and leveraging the audience of your partners.

Good PR is the key to delivering any successful campaign. Taking control of the way your story is communicated from the very beginning allows you to manage and influence your reputation and relationships.

Investing in PR for your project increases the likelihood of success and has many long term benefits.

If you want to take control of how your story is told, drop me a message.

P.S – I’m also experienced in blog writing, drafting fresh content for your website, preparing key documents and dealing with media enquiries. When you’re ready, get in touch.