Public Relations & Communications blog

While I believe that Do-it-Yourslef PR (DIY PR) is as safe and effective as DIY surgery, I think I should still offer some guidelines to avoid tarnishing the PR profession even further. Already, we in the PR Profession are seen as flacks and spin doctors when the truth is that when PR is applied properly, you’ll find that there is so much more to it than the tools we use to communicate i.e. media relations, employee relations, social media, etc.

Let us first define this profession called public relations. In it’s long form, public relations is the strategic management of relationships between an organization and its diverse publics, through the use of communication, to achieve mutual understanding, realize organizational goals, and serve the public interest. (Flynn, Gregory & Valin, 2008). In simple form (and this is derived by defining both “public” and “relations” separately) public relations is the mutual dealings or connections or communications among persons or groups or a body of people sharing some common interest. So with these definitions, let’s make it clear that public relations is more than our dealings with the media and writing press releases. The foundation of any PR plan is always about who we want to build relationships with and how we are going to build that relationship and what will the relationship look like or how will it function in the long-term.

There’s one more thing that should be made clear and that is the difference between a publicist and a public relations professional. A publicist deals specifically with the placement of stories in the media; they are also known as press agents and work mainly with celebrities and entertainers whereas the public relations professional is involved with the research, analysis, policy formation, programming, communications and feedback from numerous publics. We operate as advisers to clients or the senior management of an organization and we are also technicians who produce and disseminate messages through multiple mediums. (Public Relations Strategies & Tactics, Wilcox et. al. 2003).

So now that we’ve made a few things clear, here are some things to keep in mind when attempting to DIY PR:

1. Be careful about what you say In your attempt to be as transparent as possible, one little slip could mean the beginning of your PR nightmare. Develop, define and refine your message to avoid inconsistencies and to assure that your message is properly reinforced. Once you define a message that both you and your public can believe in, you should stick to it as much as possible; live it and breath it and only step outside the box when your spontaneous thought can still be applied in the same context of your message.
2. Give the media what THEY want Having a relationship with the media is more than having them as a contact and telling them your story. Remember in PR, the relationship has to be mutual, so don’t think of it only in terms of what they can do for you, but also think about what you can do for them. Provide them with as much information as possible: photos, videos, quotes and comments, various sources to support your story; you’ll get even more points if you provide a source that does not support your story, this way you are giving them all the angles and reducing the amount of background checking that they have to do and it increases your credibility with them. But of course, you want to make sure that you can give your rebuttal to the non-supporting source, and the more you can be available as a source to them, the better your chances of creating that mutually beneficial relationship.
3. Do your research Don’t use PR tools because they seem like a good idea, use them because you know they will work. If your public or stakeholders consist of over 65 retirees that spend 90% of their time on the road traveling, it’s not likely that you will reach them through the multitude of social media vehicles available to us. While social media offers the opportunity to reach hundreds and sometimes thousands of people at one time (and for free), if your audience is not a part of those forums, they will never see or hear your message, let alone respond to it. Get to know the people you want to build a relationship with and find out how best to communicate with them.
4. Consider all audiences I can’t reinforce enough that PR is more than media relations and with this being  said, you should think of all the groups in your stakeholder network. That would include employees, government, industry, the community, shareholders, clients/customers and more. This way, when you roll out your PR plan, you not only know what you want to communicate, but you know who you want to communicate with and because you’ve done your research, you also know how to communicate with them and your message is consistent across the board.
5. Measure the outcomes and not just the outputs. It’s great to be able to say that you had 1,000 new visitors to your website or that you handed out 100 brochures and business cards in any given month, but did it change anything? Do your stakeholders have a different attitude, opinion or behaviour towards you? Are more people buying from you now than from your competition? Or have more people begun to accept you as a leader in your industry? Do you realize the tremendous effect that these outcomes could have on your overall market capitalization? It is as important to know the outcomes of your PR plan as it is to know the outputs and so processes should be put in place to assure the measurement and evaluation of your PR efforts.

While I do not endorse DIY PR, most people are going to do it anyway. I only ask that you do it properly and not just according to my guidelines, but any and all and as much guidelines as possible. A PR plan based on what may seem like a good idea (without any research) does not a PR plan make.