Category: PR Trends

How to Handle a Communications Crisis Like a Pro

On By Megan IrelandIn PR TrendsLeave a comment

A common misconception in today’s business-driven world is that corporations are like superhumans. They are all-powerful, have a treasure trove of resources, and most importantly, they should be perfect. The fact that CEOs in America are paid on average 287 times more than the average rank-and-file employee does not help to debunk this myth.

However, the truth is that corporations are run by ordinary, everyday people. And sometimes, these people make mistakes just like the rest of us. Think about some of the most beloved superheroes, like Clark Kent and Peter Parker: even they are only human at their core.

Being fallible like the rest of us, big corporations often have a tough job of explaining themselves to the public when things go wrong. Constantly under scrutiny and held to high expectations, anything a CEO or other spokesperson says can be used against them. Therefore, it’s important for a company in crisis to consider several things before speaking or acting on the situation:

“What do our stakeholders want from us?”

This is perhaps the most critical question to ask from a public relations perspective, yet often the hardest question for CEOs to address. What the company wants for itself and what the public wants from it do not always line up. It can be difficult for the CEO of a “superhuman” corporation to lay down their pride and take responsibility for a crisis, but it usually must be done. In the International Air Transport Association’s guidebook for crisis management, it is recommended to always acknowledge the reality of the situation, accept an appropriate level of responsibility, and commit to a forward-looking action plan that addresses the needs of those affected by the situation. Making sure your stakeholders believe that you care is the first step towards minimizing any reputational damage an incident may cause.

“How quickly are we expected to respond?”

The answer to this question is almost always “as soon as possible.” But the time a PR team can afford to strategize and plan their messages can vary based on the type of crisis that has occurred. For instance, it is going to be very important for a power company to respond as quickly as possible (even within minutes) to a storm that causes outages across their customer base. By contrast, a corporation whose CEO is involved in a scandal may find itself with more time to release a statement, since less stakeholders are directly affected by the situation. However, it is still incredibly important to respond to crises in a reasonably timely manner no matter what. It has actually been proven that organizations who are the first to share news about a crisis are perceived as more responsible and trustworthy, thus suffering less damage to their reputation. W. Timothy Coombs suggests that this concept is similar to that of “stealing thunder” in law: “a weakness does less harm to a defendant’s case as much when the defense raises the weakness rather than when the prosecution raises the weakness” (para. 6).

“What are the realities of the situation, and how could it evolve into a worst-case scenario?”

Another tendency of CEOs is to downplay the seriousness of a crisis situation and ignore the facts as though to seem more in control. But crises are changeable and complex, and every one is different. It’s important to plan for the worst in order to be maximally prepared, and this involves being realistic about where your company is and what might happen if no preventative actions are taken. Swetha Amaresan at Hubspot writes that “it helps to create an escalation system within your customer service team that can diffuse the issue before it gets out of hand” (para. 13). It may also be a good idea to create mock press releases or data reports that visually demonstrate the potential for damage on the line.

All corporations deal with crisis situations: it’s just a part of business. While publics can be harsh and unforgiving at times, they will always be more likely to look past the mistakes of a brand that is sympathetic, transparent, and owns up to its actions – the good and the bad. As it turns out, it’s not actually too hard for companies to handle crises like a pro. All they have to do is tap into the good part of human nature.

The Secret to Success in a PR Career

On By Megan IrelandIn PR TrendsLeave a comment

Here’s an idea: Imagine your life as a public relations practitioner. That is, if you aren’t already one. Just for a day.

You wake up at 6 am and immediately check your phone to read through the trending news stories of the day. You work for a firm in Los Angeles and have a meeting with a client over coffee at 9 to prepare for. On your morning commute, you respond to messages and email, agreeing to have a press release complete by 5 pm. After your meeting, you begin work on the release before you leave for another meeting with your boss to discuss a new campaign proposal over lunch. And it’s only 12:30 pm.

It’s a crazy world out there, and the globalization and digitization of business have only made the public relations field crazier. But believe it or not, there is a secret to success in a PR career. And it only involves three simple ingredients: flexibility, versatility, and communication.

Flexibility

If I had to choose one word to sum up the PR profession, it would be changeable. That’s why it’s more important than ever for today’s practitioners to maintain flexible attitudes and a readiness to adapt to whatever comes their way. Aimee Carmichael of Carmichael Communications explains that the evolution of the global media landscape now happens on a daily or even hourly basis. It will be essential for upcoming professionals to learn to go with the flow and stay on top of what is going on in the media.

Another part of being flexible is being a quick, strategic thinker. PR is not a good profession for those who become weak and frazzled under pressure. Professionals at the International Career Institute indicate that “it’s now very rare to meet journalists and media buyers face-to-face, so quick strategic thinking will help you get across a client’s brand… and successfully execute campaigns” (para. 7) – two very important aspects of the PR job. With an open mind and an ability to handle change with poise, public relations practitioners will be more likely to navigate the ever-changing media landscape and set themselves up for success.

Versatility

Public relations is no one-track lane. According to Caroline Yodice of PR Daily, “the typical skills of a PR practitioner range from content creation and executive coaching to media relations and research” (para. 3). Therefore, it helps to be multi-skilled in a PR career. As a PR executive, you may be required to do a little bit of everything, including writing press releases, giving presentations, managing social media, building relationships with clients, and even graphic design. Especially in a smaller firm, the job description of someone in public relations can vary extensively and include responsibilities beyond what is traditionally thought of as PR.

Nowadays, it is also a good idea for aspiring PR professionals to get their feet wet in the basic concepts of business. For practitioners to be trusted by top management, they need to be able to communicate the value of PR in terms that a CEO or CFO will understand. Relating public relations activities to the bottom line or other financial metrics is a great way to help senior executives recognize the importance of pouring time and effort into creating strong PR campaigns. But to do so effectively, PR people must first know how to speak the “languages” of the rest of the business world – just one more way that a versatile skill set is necessary for success in a public relations career.

Communication

Knowing how to communicate effectively is a must-have skill for any business profession, but especially for PR practitioners. Because their primary job is literally to build relationships, they need to have strong communication skills – spoken, written, and nonverbally. William Comcowich at Ragan Communications even suggests that PR professionals should learn how to write basic HTML code for posting website content.

Perhaps in today’s increasingly digital world, writing skills are the paramount communication skill to have. It is critical that PR ideas and strategies translate well on paper (or rather, on a computer screen) because of the lack of face-to-face communication that is becoming more common in client-agency relationships. Conveying emotion and generating trust using only words on a screen can be a hard thing to do. However, it is a skill that has always been necessary for success in the PR world, now more so than ever.

It’s important to know what you’re getting yourself into with a career in PR. But it can be a very rewarding job when successfully done. Working to build up versatile skills, keep a resilient attitude in the face of change, and hone your communication capabilities can help you to become the best PR practitioner you can be.

How Important is Media Relations, Really?

On By Megan IrelandIn PR TrendsLeave a comment
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Curiosity: an inherent part of human nature. It drives us to learn and to innovate. If knowledge is indeed power, then perhaps it also functions as a means of elevating our importance. Maybe people like to know what is happening in the world because it gives them some sense of superiority.

Either way, the media feeds this hunger for knowledge – it has always been a powerful information-disseminating force. People all across the country tune into their favorite TV and radio news programs on a daily basis. But with the shift toward digital communication in recent years, will traditional media remain the influence it has been for the past 100+ years?

Several professionals seem to think so. Michael Smart of PRSA affirms that most certified practitioners believe in the ability of media coverage to bring third-party credibility, trust, and a large audience to the stories pitched by PR departments. Others note the fact that public relations is rooted in publicity and attention-getting tactics. But not everybody is so convinced that media relations is an area of high importance for businesses.

Consider the massive impact that the digital realm has made on our world in the last ten or even five years. It has made everything accessible. And I do mean everything. The Internet allows us to connect with people, visit places, and acquire knowledge we may never have dreamed about twenty or thirty years ago. Really, this fact alone is a strong case for the people who claim that media relations no longer has any relevance. People today don’t need traditional media to learn about the news because digitally, they have access to information about nearly anything, anyplace, or anyone. (Talk about feeling superior!)

But of course, there is a good reason as to why 84% of PR practitioners believe that media relations is a worthwhile long-term activity, even as of 2018. Time and again, businesses have been proving that it really does have a measurable impact on company reputation and the bottom line. And it all comes down to transparency, credibility, and sustainability.

PR professionals need to develop strong, transparent, working relationships with journalists. In turn, this will cause audiences to be more trusting of the information they receive about businesses from such news outlets. Marian Salzman of Forbes magazine states that today’s audience has placed a fast-rising importance on knowing the truth, which has led to an increase in bloggers, influencers, and ordinary citizens playing the role of journalist. The need for more transparency that has accompanied the rise of the Internet has provided a great opportunity for PR departments to capitalize and build trust among their stakeholders using smaller, independent journalists in addition to traditional media.

The concept of transparency is directly related to the concept of credibility. Simply put, the more transparent a company is with its information, the more credible people perceive it to be. This is also great news for professionals working in media relations, because consumers often believe that information they receive from a news source is more credible than that which comes directly from a company. Businesses who can get established, credible journalists on their side can reinforce the transparency of the information they release to the public.

Perhaps most importantly, media relations activities help companies to remain sustainable. Traditional news media channels reach vast audiences every day, and PR teams who successfully place stories in the media have the potential to grow both the audience and positive reputation of the clients they work for – massively. Beyond getting its audience to grow, Shanai Bemis of the blog Business 2 Community notes that a business can use media relations to “bolster or supplement… marketing strategy” (para. 23). Forging relationships with journalists is an avenue to help the whole company grow.

It has been established: media relations is important to business, really. Yet, it doesn’t come without new challenges as a result of the coming of the digital age. There have been many recent changes in the media landscape, among them an increased emphasis on transparency and an expanding number of independent journalists and bloggers. But if PR professionals keep abreast of the changes and stay open to adaptation, media relations can truly benefit their businesses in the long run.

CSR and the Great Ethical Divide

On By Megan IrelandIn PR TrendsLeave a comment
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Everyone loves a good Samaritan. Seriously, it’s hard not to smile when you hear a news story about a wealthy person making a donation to fight poverty, or watch strangers volunteering their time and talent doing service work.

Psychological studies suggest that philanthropists are highly selfless, outgoing, and open individuals – three traits that most people strive to emulate. In addition, acts of altruism have been known to enhance the self-esteem of those performing them. Giving hits a certain spot in the human heart – for the giver, receiver, and onlooker alike.

If research has proven the clear psychological benefits of philanthropy, then why don’t more businesses engage in charitable activities? A surprising number of business leaders still believe that this practice, often termed “corporate social responsibility” or CSR, does not truly advance the best interests of companies or American society as a whole. Former American Secretary of Labor Robert B. Reich is among those who argue that corporations engage in CSR only if it will also increase profits, thereby making it “as meaningful as cotton candy” (p. 6). If the ultimate goal is to sell more product, why dance around the bottom line with philanthropic initiatives rather than cut straight to the point?

The air of skepticism surrounding the effectiveness of CSR activities is not limited to business leaders. Consumers too may be wary of a company’s charitable efforts if they don’t seem to be genuine or conducted out of mutual interest. Members of the activist group Wrong Kind of Green attest that “through CSR, companies are trying to appeal to ethical consumers but also to undermine the principle of ethical consumption” (para. 14). Many people are able to see through false pretenses to a company’s real motives behind CSR, especially now that technology has increased the level of transparency businesses are expected to provide to the public. And this only deepens distrust in big business.

It is important to acknowledge that businesses, after all, are in business to make money. However, there are a growing number of people who believe in the power of CSR and in the ability of companies to conduct it in an authentic way. It all stems from having a strong brand and well-communicated core values. When a company matches its values with a community need, it can use CSR activities to “walk the talk” and reflect the principles it claims to stand by. This in turn can provide a massive boost to the reputation of the company, and eventually come back around to affect profits.

It is also worth noting that a 2015 study on Global CSR conducted by Cone Communications found that 84% of consumers say they actively seek to buy products from socially responsible companies whenever possible. Clearly, engaging in CSR is starting to become the expected norm among customers. Though it is never a good idea to establish a CSR initiative merely because everyone else is doing it, it is becoming more and more important for businesses to find ways to give back to their communities. And the consequences for those who give with corrupt motives may be just as detrimental – if not worse – than those who do not give at all.

Unfortunately, as long as there are corporations that misuse the power of CSR to gain profits alone, there will remain skeptics of the practice. Such consumers and business leaders arguably have the right to be so cautious, as the corporate world in general does not have the best track record to show. Yet, companies that see CSR first and foremost as an opportunity to make a positive change in their community have the potential to both make an impact and see a return on investment from a business standpoint.

Looking at it from this perspective, the ethical divide over the implementation of CSR doesn’t have to be a divide at all.

Investor Relations: It’s More than a Financial Investment

On By Megan IrelandIn PR Trends1 Comment
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In business, it’s all about the money.

Of course, there are many other important factors that help lead to revenue and organizational growth, such as good branding, a positive reputation, and engaging in corporate social responsibility. But to be completely honest, no successful company would be where it is without a laser beam focus on the financial bottom line. Most organizational leaders would probably agree that when it comes down to it, profits are the ultimate concern. But amid the hectic ecosystem of business communications, how do corporations keep their financials straight and manage to advance their goals?

Cue the investor relations professionals.

Strategically fusing communications, finance, marketing, and law, IR practitioners drive the relationship between a company and its current and potential financial supporters. Alexander Laskin of the Institute for Public Relations states that “investor relations is the most important specialization among all other sub-functions of public relations, at least based on the salaries investor relations practitioners earn” (para. 2). Perhaps this is a telling reflection of the emphasis placed on profits in the corporate world.

Yet, an important and current question among business professionals is whether or not investor relations is indeed, as Laskin put it, a sub-function of public relations. Some practitioners believe that investor relations is so important that it deserves a team of its own, working independently to meet financial reporting deadlines and respond to investor inquiries. But is this really what is best for a company and its overall marketing strategy?

As with many aspects of public relations work, the answer seems to be “it depends.” A number of factors go into the decision to separate the investor relations function from public relations, including company size and business goals. A larger corporation with many products and employees to keep track of may be better off with separate teams to handle the company’s relationships with various stakeholder groups, including investors, consumers, and government entities. On the flip side, a small business or nonprofit would likely see more success with one overarching PR team assigned to manage reputation and relationships with all of the various publics the organization interacts with. However, regardless of company size, it is vital that the practitioners handling investor relations and public relations for a company work together to help meet business goals.

It may be cliché, but teamwork truly is what makes the dream work. Leigh Salvo, Managing Director of Gilmartin Group, an investor relations firm, comments that “collaboration between IR and PR decreases uncertainty while building credibility and trust through consistent messaging” (para. 10). Investor relations practitioners will be much better equipped to field questions about company products and services or industry trends if public relations experts have given them a run-down on the latest stakeholder concerns. Likewise, PR staff handling inquiries from the media or concerned consumers about their company’s financial situation can feel more confidently prepared with quick, accurate responses if they have been briefed by the IR team.

IR professionals need to start investing in more than just their relationships with financial supporters. The dynamic between IR and PR is essential if either function is to work to its full potential. In short, it’s an investment worth making.

Robots and Data and Skill: AI!

On By Megan IrelandIn PR TrendsLeave a comment
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Robots and data and skill: AI! …or was it “lions and tigers and bears: oh my”…

Regardless of the idiom, the point is that artificial intelligence in the world of communications is trending fast and here to stay. And whether or not your firm or company is using it, as a public relations practitioner it is important to know about how AI is changing the face of the industry.

So, what exactly is AI and what can it do? Contrary to popular belief, which frequently conjures up images of humanesque robots taking over the world, AI is present in our everyday lives (and in a debatably less creepy way). Smart devices like Alexa and Siri all use this new technology to learn about users’ habits and preferences and make recommendations based upon them. The ultimate goal of AI is to make people’s lives easier, and to free up time for organizational management to focus on the creative process of strategic planning – at least, according to Google.

In public relations specifically, AI is beginning to help practitioners target their publics with more directly relevant, tailored messages. It can also monitor audience feedback across digital media channels, filter data to pull out information pertinent to specific campaigns, and manage habitual tasks like calendar upkeep and reporting. To many professionals, these benefits are more than enough to sell them on the idea of AI. But still others remain skeptical of its influence on the PR field.

One major reason for the hesitation to adopt AI processes among public relations firms is the fear of the effect it may have on job availability. In a video for Cision Global, Paul Roetzer, founder of the Marketing Artificial Intelligence Institute, explains, “Replacement of marketing and communications jobs is certainly a potential reality. I’m not gonna sit here and say it’s not going to happen” (3:43). However, many industry-leading societies like the Institute for Public Relations (IPR) mention that although newer technologies like AI and machine learning may replace certain methods of completing tasks, people can always adapt their procedures along with the technology to stay relevant. In other words, though some jobs may be replaced by AI, new jobs will also be created as a result of the ever-evolving nature of tech.

Upon further research, it is clear that the pros of AI in public relations far outweigh the cons. With more and more average people beginning to accept AI as a part of their everyday lives, the level of comfort with talking to online customer service chatbots has gone up. This process not only helps companies to build stronger relationships with consumers, but helps to gather data that may better future campaigns. Machine learning is helping organizations to get to know their publics in a way that is faster, more in-depth, and more efficient than ever before.

AI is not the end-all solution to making the public relations process easier. It still takes a lot of hard work, intuition, and experience to make effective PR, and ultimately, AI cannot replace the creative strategic planning done by the human brain. However, it is a good way for PR professionals to save time, enabling them to devote more energy and brain power to creativity and idea building. Robots and data and skill: oh my, indeed.

Managing the Managers: A New Role for PR

On By Megan IrelandIn PR TrendsLeave a comment
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Ever wondered what it’s like to tell your boss what to do? Had a great idea and found yourself thinking, “If only I were in charge?” Well, I have the perfect solution for you: get a job in public relations.

Of course, I’m sort of kidding. If the job of PR practitioners was to run around upending their bosses everyday, no one would get anything done (in fact, I might even go so far as to say there would be anarchy). But there is a reason why I say “sort of” instead of totally, fully, 100% kidding.

PR in today’s day and age is a strategic management function. This means, quite simply, that it weighs in on the strategy formation and decision-making that goes on at the “big kids’ table” of C-suite leaders. By this definition, the job of public relations personnel in an organization should be to advise and assist top management in ethically building and maintaining relationships with various stakeholder groups. And after decades of misguided opinions about the role of PR in business, more and more senior executives are finally beginning to realize this.

Public relations can and should be keyed in to communications decisions made at every level of an organization. Playing a strategic management role helps them to improve organizational relationships not only with consumers but with employees too. Employees are all too often forgotten in the process of organization-public relationship (OPR) building, but it is important to remember that they constitute a stakeholder group too – perhaps one of the most important ones. Allen Mireles of Cision Communications tells us that “smart organizations understand the value in maintaining an ongoing dialogue with their employees… these dialogues can yield valuable feedback from employees and can help foster a sense of belonging and investment in the company” (para. 5). While the CEO and management team are ultimately responsible for starting these dialogues, public relations plays a key role in listening, gathering feedback, and establishing a strategy for communicating with employees in the most effective way possible.

Unfortunately, some leaders can still be quick to dismiss PR as a mere communications tactic, or a means to achieve a greater marketing goal. To this end, it is important that business education programs throughout the world begin to teach students about public relations, ethics, and their vital contribution to the business “bottom line.” It is important too for public relations programs to teach the basics of business lingo. To truly be accepted in a management role by executives, PR practitioners need to be able to explain how their input and advice is affecting business goals below the surface.

The good news is that many C-suite leaders of successful companies are now setting examples for the rest of the industry by allowing public relations to head discussions about strategy and ethics. Among the list of Ethisphere’s World’s Most Ethical Companies 2019 was IBM, whose new CCO Ray Day launched an integrated communications plan back in 2018 to take a serious look at the role of PR in improving the company’s brand favorability, reputation, and communications capability. Researchers Bowen, Hung-Baesecke, and Chen have also found that “although CEOs are key in leading the ethical values of an organization, they cannot do so in a vacuum” (p. 4-5). They and other scholars are joining the voices calling for PR to play a greater role in organizational decision-making.

Ultimately, if executives are to continue to realize the essential role of PR in the strategic management process, a joint effort must be made by current practitioners and educators alike. Internal communication is just as important (if not more important) as external communication when building and maintaining OPRs. Only when PR practitioners and C-suite leaders learn to effectively communicate, trust one another, and get on the same page will an organization truly be able to work to its full potential.

To Outsource or Not to Outsource?

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To outsource or not to outsource? That is indeed the question.

At least, it’s a question. And though it may not be the one Shakespeare would ask, it’s very relevant if you are the CEO of an emerging company looking to enlist the aid of public relations professionals to help your business gain a reputation.

So how do companies decide whether to call on an external firm or build an in-house team for their PR efforts? The answer is, it depends. With a growing number of options for companies in terms of the level of involvement and services offered by outside agencies, an organization must consider several factors before making a decision. And while these factors will always depend on the organization’s individual situation, vision, and personnel, the following four points of consideration are often a good place to start.

Size

It’s important to consider the size of your company when looking at whether or not to outsource in order to maximize the productivity of your staff. Smaller companies with fewer employees may need more help from external agencies so that they do not become overrun with additional tasks and responsibilities that do not lie within their area of expertise. As Kelly Gardner of KCD Public Relations mentions, you can run your business smarter by outsourcing marketing and PR projects, because it allows your employees to hone in on their strengths and on the core focus of the business.

Marketing Experience

The skills and experiences of current organizational personnel is typically a crucial factor in determining if PR activities can be conducted in-house. If you have several employees with a strong background in PR or communications, it is wise to think critically about creating an internal department for your public relations efforts. It’s also important to consider your company’s marketing strategy and how complex it is. Bennett Conlin of Business News Daily notes that sometimes, using an outsourced marketing agency makes the process of creating an effective strategy easier. However, other times, a company may already have an established creative strategy and not want to risk placing it in the hands of an outside agency.

Available Funds

Of course, offloading PR work to a firm can be a costly undertaking. Start-up companies that are still in their early stages may shy away from hiring an agency simply because they don’t have the funds for it. Even large, established corporations sometimes choose not to outsource in an effort to cut down on costs. Yet, organizations must also consider the potential long-term benefits of outsourcing PR activities, despite the initial cost factor. Gardner reminds us that “in an age where employee salaries are skyrocketing, it’s crucial to consider what will get you the most bang for your buck” (para. 6). Starting a long-term, mutually-beneficial relationship with a firm of specialized public relations practitioners could be the best choice for your company in the long run.

Business Goals/Priorities

Last but certainly not least, you’ll need to keep your business goals in the forefront of your mind when assessing how best to allocate PR funds. If your company is still growing and a top priority is to make connections and build awareness about your brand, then it could be a good idea to reach out to a firm. After all, Agility PR asserts on their blog that “high-quality public relations professionals will ensure that your business gets noticed for all the right reasons, connecting you with influencers in your field” (para. 4). On the other hand, if your business already has an established positive reputation, your current goal might instead be to maintain those relationships through the reinforcement of company values. In this case, it may be a better idea to maintain control over PR messaging by keeping the function in-house.

These four elements certainly aren’t the only things to consider while making the decision to outsource your PR and marketing functions (or on the flip side, bring them in-house). But they are significant points that can and should be used to get the ball rolling and start a conversation. There is no definitive answer as to whether it’s better to outsource or keep PR in-house. It is a choice that takes research, careful consideration, and oftentimes, trust. Yet, when the thought and effort is put into this choice, it can really pay off in the long run.

What is Public Relations? Revisited

On By Megan IrelandIn CAP 220, PR TrendsLeave a comment
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It’s hard to know exactly what a career entails with no direct experience in the field. And walking into the third advertising & public relations class I’d ever taken four months ago, I had little clue what I was getting myself into.

In my first post on this blog, I mentioned that PR is a dynamic and creative profession that requires a commitment to relationship-building. While I still stand by these points, I think that I failed to attest to the tedious process of research and evaluation that goes hand in hand with any PR activity.

After completing a full campaign planbook of my own in CAP 220 across the past semester, I have come to more fully appreciate the amount of meticulous research and planning that goes into every PR campaign. You could have the most creative idea in the world, or be the best communicator around. However, for a campaign to be truly successful, it must be backed up by research that proves the logic of the idea. Even though it takes a lot of time and concentration to comb through secondary sources, conduct surveys, and hold focus groups, the data that these methods reveal make writing actual tactics that much easier. When there is an issue to be addressed, good research can almost solve the problem for you by showing you exactly what your target population wants and needs.

In my own research for the campaign plan I prepared for the Grand Valley State University Division of Inclusion and Equity, I had no idea how long it would take me to synthesize the materials I found. Finding the research was one thing, and extracting meaning from it was quite another. I also learned that it was extremely important (and harder than I expected) not to let preconceived notions or biases creep into my research report. Many times throughout the process, I found myself wanting to prescribe action based on a simple feeling I had about the atmosphere on GVSU’s campus, or on a complaint I had heard from one or two friends. But I now know that a key part of the PR planning process is thorough, well-developed research. And it takes time to do that well.

Evaluation too is a step that I discounted in my initial overview of public relations back in August. It can be really hard to evaluate the outcomes of some public relations campaigns, because there just isn’t a standard measurement system put in place for brand awareness or public attitudes (and truly how can there be?). When something is difficult to calculate or gauge, it’s easy to cast it aside as unimportant. And sadly, many business leaders fail to recognize the value of quality evaluation in public relations just as I did.

While working on my campaign, I came to understand exactly how crucial quality evaluation is when I went to recommend steps for how to evaluate the objectives, strategies, and tactics I suggested for my client to carry out. I needed a clearly defined starting place if my client was to assess how well my proposed ideas helped meet the overall goals and objectives. The only problem? There was no data for me to start with! Because the Division of Inclusion and Equity had failed to keep good records about student awareness of their services, it made it much more difficult to determine how my campaign plan would be evaluated. Consequently, it taught me that consistent and quality evaluation is a crucial part in helping the PR machine to run smoothly.

Coming into CAP 220, I knew that PR was changeable and multifaceted. I knew that it involved strategic thinking and a willingness to “think outside the box” when coming up with solutions. But with the knowledge I gained through the class and especially through working on the campaign book for the GVSU Division of Inclusion and Equity, I’d like to amend my prior assessment of the public relations field. Public relations is a cycle and a process. It is often a messy process. And within it, careful research, creative and strategic planning, and continual evaluation and improvement serve as the best way to drive effective communication and relationship-building.

Considering Stakeholders in the Measurement of PR Campaigns

On By Megan IrelandIn CAP 220, PR TrendsLeave a comment
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There is something about measurement that the human brain inherently connects to numbers. If you want to measure the length or height of a table, you pull out a ruler. If you want to measure your weight, you pull out a scale. If you want to measure how many trees are in a forest, you count using numbers. But when measuring the results of a public relations campaign, it’s not always so straightforward.

PR campaigns can have a multitude of different goals, not all of which can be easily met with numbers. For instance, how do you measure a change in awareness among a target public surrounding your company’s products? Or how do you measure a shift in attitude towards your brand? Certainly not with a scale, a ruler, or an algebraic equation.

To accurately measure the outcome of a public relations campaign, a lot of thought, planning, and sometimes even cost is required. And the unfortunate truth is that the quality evaluation of public relations strategies is often turned aside in favor of procedures that more directly benefit a company’s bottom line: sales. PR staff and senior executives live in very different worlds, and the world of management revolves around ROI – return on investment. As professors Anne Gregory and Jim Macnamara point out, without a clear demonstration of the business or organizational value that a public relations activity adds, senior leaders will only focus on the costs of the activity. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Public relations practitioners must find a middle ground between proving the business value of their strategies, being cost-effective, and still performing a meaningful evaluation that allows them to move forward in some way. This may sound like a difficult thing to do, but there is a simple solution that can help them achieve all three points: placing focus on their stakeholders.

There is no better reason for a brand to take PR action than if its stakeholders – the people who hold interest or weight in the business – will benefit from it. If your stakeholders are happy then they will continue to invest in your business, and as a result, your business will thrive. Bhattacharyya and Cummings even suggest that inviting stakeholders to participate in some level of corporate decision-making may help legitimate public relations activity. Usually, stakeholders love to share their input and will even do so at no cost, if they know that their voice is being heard and considered by your brand. This can gain you valuable insights that you can use to evaluate your PR efforts in a cost-effective way.

By considering the expectations of stakeholders through the entire public relations process, PR staff may also improve the effectiveness of their campaigns. Of course, it is important to focus on internal business goals. But if the external expectations of society leaders, customers, donors, service partners, or other stakeholders are not also considered, it’s unlikely that a public relations strategy will reach its full potential.

The members of the Public Relations Society of America stress that public relations “has real, measurable impact on the achievement of strategic organizational goals” (para. 2). But it is the act of showing that impact to business leaders that matters the most. Ultimately, it’s up to senior management members to endorse the value of evaluation of the public relations activities in their company. But the involvement of stakeholders in the process can certainly help prove to them its worth.