Building Credibility

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on February 19th, 2009

Our friends and colleagues over at Beaupre recently posted an interesting piece on what PR isn’t. They hit it right on target – and the article is worth a read.

One of the reasons that social/online media is so interesting and exciting to us is that it provides the opportunity for conversation and discussion. Great PR is and has always been about two-way communication.

One of the points made in this article is that good PR can bring credibility – as opposed to just creating awareness. There is huge value in awareness, don’t get me wrong. And there is huge value in credibility. The social media world is based on credibility – and building relationships with stakeholders is at the core of this. I sometimes think the term public relations is a little “old school” and we describe ourselves as communicators, but I think there is some value in remembering that what we do is assist organizations in building relationships with their public(s). And like any good relationship, it’s not just what you say that counts, it’s what you do. It’s that you live up to your promises and when you don’t, you acknowledge it and explain how you are going to make it right. Social media demands this – and as a communicator, I am excited about this.

Great organizations have huge opportunities online and not-so-great organizations have the chance to hear what their communities think about them and create positive change to become better and grow.

Read the article, it’s good.