Some brief advice
I have spent the majority of my 25 years in PR and communications on the consultancy side of the business so I have seen more than my fair share of briefs. From the clear and concise to the rambling and vague I’ve seen them all.
The brief is an important document if for no other reason than it helps you order your thoughts. There is little or no point in negotiating with a PR consultant if you don’t have a clear idea about what you want to achieve.
Your brief should include some key information:
The context
What’s your strategy? What are your ambitions? Are you launching new products or services, moving into new areas? What are your competitors up to? What’s happening in the industry?
Your goals
Focus on outcomes not outputs. By this I mean think about what you want to happen as a result of your efforts. You want more than the piece of coverage, the publication of a newsletter or Likes on your Facebook page. You want engaged customers buying your products and services. Everything else is vanity.
Your customers
Who are they? What motivates them? What worries them? Where can you find them?
Your messages
What makes you different and how does this match with the worries, concerns and interests of your customers?
The timescale
How long have you got? When do you want results by?
The budget
Be honest and realistic. There is nothing more frustrating than being told you have to say what you think they should spend. It makes the whole process meaningless. Instead of devising a programme aligned to your commercial goals and resources they’re trying to second-guess your budget.
Measuring success
How will you judge if the programme is a success. And again, be honest. People often have a particular thing in mind at the start, like the number of delegates to an event or coverage in a specific newspaper or magazine. Tell us; then we can make sure we tick this box.
And finally …
I’ve had people refuse to answer questions to supplement the brief. At a push this is okay if you all you are doing at this stage if picking between providers (presuming you have clear criteria against which you’ll measure their performance). But it’s a little weird to do it like this when you think that the communication programme will only really work if there is a good relationship between you and your consultant.
To get more information from an independent source contact the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR).
Say It Once, Say It Twice, Keep On Saying it!
People will buy if you get the product, price and service right. But only if they know about you, like the sound of what you have to offer and can find you!
A strategically sound PR campaign rooted in your commercial strategy will address all these issues.
The first step is to understand exactly what you have to offer, whether it’s a commodity or high value service. What makes it different? What makes it interesting? Why do you think people will engage with it?
You need to understand who you’re targeting
Then you need to understand who you’re targeting. Get under their skin. What motivates them? What pressures do they face? What do they need? How do they make their purchase decisions?
Overlaying the interests and preferences of your targets with your points of difference will shine a light on the elements to focus on; your key messages. Everything else becomes secondary.
Use different ways to embody your messages
Now you know what to say, you have to find ways to say it again and again without boring the audience. This means you need to do more than just state it repeatedly using slightly different words each time. You need many and different ways to embody your messages and then use multiple channels to communicate.
If your targets are seeking expertise and knowledge is one of your points of difference then don’t just say you’re an expert. Write an insightful and incisive article and place it in the right media platform, share it on social media and give a relevant talk at a key trade exhibition.
Once you have reached the point you think you’ll scream if you hear the message one more time then it’s just about getting through to your target audience.
Contact Cathy Connan of Communication Strategy on 07976 669089 or email cathy@cathyconnan.com.
To Achieve Your Goals You Need To Keep Things Simple
I am a freelance communication consultant with over 20 years experience who believes in keeping things simple.
To achieve your goals you need your target audiences to behave in a particular way. Presuming you have the right products and services in place I can help you by developing an effective communication strategy, rooted in a sound understanding of the context.
I’ll then roll my sleeves up and deliver the results.
The first step is to get the messages right. While the essence of what you say must be consistent and reflect reality, you need to change the emphasis depending on who you are talking with.
The explosion of new technology has changed the way people engage. They want a dialogue, to be heard; if they feel talked at, at best they’ll switch off and at worst they’ll turn against you.
So getting the tone right is just as important as using the best channel, be it Facebook, the media or a public meeting.
My Services
- Communication strategy
- Media relations
- Crisis management
- Copywriting
- Internal communication
- Project management
By working with me you will have a natural problem solver on your side; someone who has developed and run communication programmes in a variety of sectors, managed crises and provided a sounding board for senior executives.
Your Communications Resolution
Every January we make resolutions, tempted by the potential of a fresh new year. Last January I said I would do the Two Castles Run. Not being a natural runner I quickly doubted the sense of my decision but having made it publicly I couldn’t turn back.
If you’re in the mood for resolutions there is one I urge every business leader to make and stand by throughout 2015; commit to effective communication.
Commit to effective communication
Attracting potential new customers with appealing marketing boosts sales while an engaged and motivated workforce will drive up productivity. So getting internal and external communication right makes good commercial sense.
But too often each is considered in isolation, the coherence and consistency of the messages never being part of the planning process. This might seem okay but it doesn’t maximize the potential and there is a real risk of undermining your own efforts.
Trust is key to every good working relationship
But an employee contradicting an external message to a customer, however lightly, will damage that customer’s trust and if employees see you tell half-truths to customers they can’t be confident you’re being straightforward with them. And re-building trust is a great deal harder than making sure you don’t lose it in the first place.
Be consistent, coherent and straightforward in your communication
This doesn’t mean you have to gush the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth all the time! But it does mean you need to be consistent, coherent and straightforward in your communication.
A simple audit of your internal and external messages and processes will make sure that what you are saying resonates internally and externally and so is driving forward your top and bottom lines.
If you would like a communication audit, contact Cathy Connan of Communication Strategy on 07976 669089 or email cathy@cathyconnan.com.