CLARITY
STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS
PO Box 522 Bethel, VT 05032 (802) 234-6785
Columns
Use publications to control your messaging When someone talks a lot, meandering from one subject to the next without any real point, they might be accused of talking “just to hear their own voice.” As a business person, if you start slinging press releases, radio ads, and brochures around without a solid communications plan, then you could be accused of the same thing. And on top of that, you’d be wasting a lot of money. So let’s think about this strategically. The overriding concern in successful public relations planning is how to get your messaging to the folks who should receive it. It’s no use sending press releases to the Burlington Free Press if your primary target audience is in Rutland, and it’s a waste of money to sponsor an off-Broadway production if your target audience tends to prefer gun-and-knife shows. As with all PR planning, your starting point is a business objective: expanding market share, improving your image in the community, breaking into a new demographic for your goods or services, introducing your new business or organization and its offerings. As I’ve pointed out in previous columns, once you have your objective figured out and have delineated your target audiences, you’ll come up with two or three key messages to convey, and a whole host of “proof points” that back up your messages. The pivotal question then becomes how to connect messages to audiences. Providing the information to the news media in various ways is a great option — it combines the credibility of third-party reporting with your own messaging. But for that to work, you have to provide reporters and editors with just what they need: timely, relevant information for their readers. But what if your messaging doesn’t lend itself to news articles, because it’s not necessarily “new.” And what if you’re concerned that the information is too complex, too sensitive, or simply too much for the news to accommodate? Then you should consider investing in your own publication, or a suite of complementary publications. The advantage of publishing your own messaging is that you have complete control over how it is presented — the text, the images, the layout, and who you give it to. The down-side is that everyone knows you have a vested interest in making yourself look good, so the credibility is not as high as if a third party provided the information. But if you stick to facts that have real impact on your target audiences, your publications can be extremely effective contributors to a PR strategy. Annual reports: These don’t have to be full of balance sheets and dollar signs to be considered true annual reports. Some of the most effective annual reports are an accounting of your accomplishments for the year, and can be used to reinforce your image and reputation among clients, customers, members of the community, employees and other stakeholders. For example, let’s say one of the five-year goals of your insurance company is to double its life insurance product-offerings during that period and increase the number of people buying those products by 120 percent. You can trumpet your progress in the annual report, and also take the opportunity to mention how much more thoroughly you serve your clients with these products, and even include testimonials from clients who were able to find a product that fit their unique needs precisely. jamal.kheiry@clarity-stratcomms.com
www.clarity-stratcomms.com