The Delta Media P.R. Clinic
A test of your PR Strength
By Bernard Gauthier, MA
Managing Partner
By now, most of you have come across the SWOT acronym: Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities and Threats. These four pillars of strategic planning help
you make sense of the organization (its strengths and weaknesses) and the
environment (its opportunities and threats) as you prepare to make strategic
decisions.
SWOT analysis can be an important part of a strategic communications planning
exercise as well. Too often, however, the tendency is to focus on
what’s
going on outside the organization. After all, the role of PR is to be an “ear
to the ground” for the organization, forging dialogue with the “publics” who
are out there. Next time you set out to plan a strategic communications
campaign, be sure to start with a thorough review of what’s going
on inside the organization. By testing your PR strengths, you can
find powerful resources for your efforts and weaknesses to address. Some
questions to ask yourself as you look inside include the following:
- What PR troops do I have at my disposal? When
someone calls “all PR hands on deck,” how many show
up? Is your team deep enough to get the work done? Is it skilled
and motivated? If so, you’ve got a strength you can leverage.
If not, how can you add to the depth of your team in a hurry? New
hires? An agency? Volunteers?
- What PR budget do I have to spend? Let’s
face it, a well funded campaign opens up all kinds of avenues that
otherwise remain blocked off. If your campaign is properly funded,
you’ve got a strength to build on. If not, you’ll need
to find strategies to overcome the weakness or go back to management
and make a case for more.
- How much time do I have? Time is a valuable
commodity indeed. If you’ve got months or even years to work
in, you’ve got a powerful resource that allows you to work
in small steps and continually monitor your progress. Not enough
time is a weakness you’ll have to minimize by carefully selecting
certain vehicles and accelerating every step of the PR process.
- What PR tools do I have at my disposal? Do you
have effective communications vehicles you can draw upon – Websites,
newsletters, journals or upcoming special events at which your
audience will gather? Strong vehicles are those that are trusted
and consulted regularly by the audience. Remember that a skilled
and credible spokesperson is an often overlooked but vitally important
resource. To make the most of these strengths, put them to full
use in your campaign. If your organization is weak in this regard,
it may be time to develop new vehicles or train your spokespeople.
- What “good will” or reputation can we draw
upon? It’s an intangible resource to be sure – good
will, reputation, relationships – but it’s one even
accountants will include on a balance sheet. For communicators,
good will is a powerful resource that allows you to get the attention
of your audience and expect a little more of them in terms of
their belief in and response to what you have to say. Lack of
good will, on the other hand, means your campaign has to start
from well behind the starting line and work much harder to engage
and motivate the audience.
Good strategy starts with a comprehensive look inside and outside your
organization, backed by the right questions to ask as you assess what you
find. Here’s hoping these questions help you truly test the PR strength
of your organization and allow to make the very most of it.
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