AHA





It might seem archaic to those of us living in a social media world, but not everyone sees the benefit or value. We often hear from communications professionals that they want to incorporate social media into their overall communications strategy, but they can’t get buy in from their senior executive team. It’s not as unusual an occurrence as you might think. And if it’s happening to you – you aren’t alone.



When we work with clients that have this challenge, we focus on what the senior team needs to hear. While every team has its own idiosyncrasies, there are some key points that work for most.

Show the business case for social media use.

Depending on the industry, this can mean anything from explaining what it could mean for sales and customer service to providing the rationale on how participating in the social media world is a component of reputation management. A well-thought-out, concise business case can put the use of social media into perspective.



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AHA Creative Strategies is a public relations agency. We’re communicators. We’re social media participants. We’re brand journalists. We use video, video news releases, b-roll, podcasts, photography, articles, news releases, media and blogger pitches, news conferences, media tours, speaking tours, speeches, special events, trade shows, community meetings, annual reports, newsletters and so much more to assist our clients in communicating with their stakeholder groups. (Notice I said “with” – not “to” – that’s very important.) We are in the business of informing, educating and creating conversation. As importantly, we’re in the business of listening and responding.



I mentioned in Monday’s blog post that I would focus on some of the tools we, at AHA, provide to clients and why they are of value. I think before I do that, I should take a step back and define what good public relations is – to us. (I don’t want this blog post to be too long, so next Wednesday I will focus on the specific tactics. Although, I have to warn you, I got a bit carried away – today’s post is a little long!)



Good public relations is working in partnership with clients. Even when it is challenging, we tell them what they need to hear – rather than just take orders and deliver what they want us to. We identify what they need (which isn’t always the same) and we approach what we do with optimistic realism. Timelines, deadlines, client resources and budgets also have to be taken into consideration.



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We’ve been talking a great deal about the power of video lately. At AHA, we believe that video can be a valuable tool to help tell an organization’s story – but it is just one component. In Wednesday’s blog post, I am going to talk about other tools that are important when it comes to telling your organization’s story.



For today, I want to focus a little bit on how we, at AHA, approach public relations using video. Prior to opening our PR agency, I worked for both a larger PR agency and in-house as a director of communications and had many opportunities to work with videographers. One of the challenges that I often found was that the videographer showed up on the day of the shoot and asked: “What am I shooting?” It felt disconnected to me.



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Whether it’s a speech, a news release, a white paper, an article for your website or to send to media, a video news release, a video series or any other communications vehicle – it is all about the story. It is one of the opportunities and one of the challenges of public relations. An organization needs to really dig deep and build a credible story to interest stakeholders.



To help determine your story’s news value, ask yourself the questions below.



Is the story timely and relevant? It’s surprising how many things are put forward as great ideas and when we dig a little deeper, we realize that it’s not timely. With few exceptions, there is a time element attached that makes the story “old” before you realize it.



Does the story have significance to a trend, a cultural standard or shift? What does the story mean in the bigger context of your organization, industry or the world? Does it show a shift in how things are done? Is it a part of a growing trend or does it buck a trend that most people are starting to see as a standard?



Who will care about this story? We have had clients with “news” that makes their team jump and down with excitement, but outside of their organization, it means nothing. Understand that what might be of interest within your industry, may have no value to the larger business community. It’s still may be worth telling a story to a specific audience, but it’s important to know who that audience is.



What is the best way to tell this story? This is all relevant to the specific story and the audience you want to connect with. Sometimes video is the right medium, other times, an editorial style article or a white paper provides a more relevant way to share the information. Deciding how to tell your story first starts with finding out what stakeholder group you want to tell it to, then identifying how this specific group likes to receive information, and then determining the best way to tell the story. All of these elements have to come together and create a compelling “package” for the story. If you create a video for a demographic that doesn’t watch video, you likely won’t get many viewers. However, it may be that you have multiple stakeholder groups and need to tell the story through several mediums – a video, an article and a Q&A with experts.



How can you expand and extend the reach of this story? It may be as straightforward as telling the story through different mediums. It can also be telling the story from different angles through those mediums – the technical aspect, the human resources aspect, the collaboration and teamwork, or the business outcomes. Once you have defined the story and the primary audience and mediums(s), take another good look and search for additional opportunities. Is there a complementary approach that would let you create something that can be shared with your board of directors, with government, or used in sales meetings or speaking engagements?

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