One of the most powerful tools that we have used to help educate and engage stakeholders is an article. We often write articles for our clients – about their organization, about successes and challenges (and how they overcome the challenges to achieve success), and even about new products and services. We distribute the piece to traditional and online media for use – free of charge. We use it on the organization’s website, in industry association or other relevant newsletters, and we often share links to the article with a range of stakeholders. We’ve had great success in this area.
One of our key assets is that we have several people on our crew that come from the journalism world. Another is that we write the articles in an editorial style. It is researched, balanced and well written.
As simple as it sounds, there are times when we have to explain why we take an editorial approach and why it matters. When organizations are used to using marketing or sales copy, it can be a challenge for them to embrace a more balanced, authentic way of telling their story. They just aren’t used to it. For some organizations it is a culture shift.
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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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There is always something new in the world of social media. Google+ is a new opportunity (or challenge, depending on your perspective) in this arena. At AHA, we are in the middle of checking out Google+ and what it will mean for our clients and for us, as a PR agency.
I was thrilled to come across this piece by Shel Holtz on the implications of Google+ for public relations and marketing. It’s definitely worth a read.
At AHA, we are working with a new client that is dealing with a serious issue within its organization. This particular issue had a great deal of misinformation, miscommunication and speculation around it. One of the challenges that this organization faces is that for quite some time, it has had an internal culture of little or no authentic communication. Not because the senior executive team is uncaring or doesn’t want to communicate, but it is a busy, successful business that has seen rapid growth in the past decade. For many people, there just didn’t seem to be the time to reach out and connect.
Unfortunately that neglect has come back to create internal issues. There are human resource challenges, inefficiencies between departments and some information circulating is just plain wrong – and it is creating concern and anxiety among employees. In the past, this organization had not considered communication a priority. That has changed. There is a new Chief Operating Officer (COO) who is committed to creating open, two-way communication opportunities. He is also ready to work with staff to identify and improve the blocks to communication.
In beginning to create a strategic plan for internal communications, we quickly realized that it is going to take more than an inspiring speech and a promise to respond from the new COO. Credibility and trust need to be rebuilt and the employees are a little skeptical about whether honest, open and two-way communication will become their day-to-day reality. This is going to take a culture change and for that to happen, the shift has to come from a range of areas within the organization. We’re still working this through and will blog more about the innovative ways we’re working with this company to move forward in this area.
For this post, we’re focused on the importance of an organization to quickly and thoughtfully respond to an issue. One of the challenges that most organizations now face is that it is crucial to respond quickly when a potential issue, challenge or opportunity comes up. Gone are the days when you had days or weeks to think about things, to develop the right messaging and positioning. Our world is now fast paced. There is an expectation of a quick response for both internal and external stakeholders. At best, you have 24 hours – and I have to admit, even that seems like a long, drawn-out response time to me. Journalists update their online articles and post new articles throughout the day and night. There is no more news cycle tied to print production and broadcast times. Many people connect with their BlackBerry or iPhone and very few people don’t check their inbox, Facebook, Twitter or other social networking accounts on a daily basis.
Each organization is different, but there seems to be a gap when it comes to providing information to stakeholders in a timely fashion. Approval processes are outdated and cumbersome. Creating a streamlined process is crucial.
Could your organization turn around a response within 24 hours? Within 12 hours? How about eight hours or in four? If it was urgent and a crisis hit, could you have a written document, a video or other form of communication developed, approved and distributed in an hour? These are important questions to ask yourself and your colleagues.
We recently did a communications audit for a client. The results were surprising to them. When we undertake a communications audit, depending on the objective, we usually review everything being done that focuses on communication – e-newsletters, staff memos, meetings, town halls, intranet, external website, news releases, media pitches and, of course, social media interaction.
This particular client wanted to know what they were doing well and what they could do better. Social media was something that had just kind of happened at their company – with great intentions. Staff had taken it upon themselves and started a Facebook page and Twitter account and the CEO had taken to Foursquare. To their credit, they updated quite regularly. The challenge was that the communication coming from this company was all push out – and this wasn’t just through social media channels. The tone and style of communication was outdated throughout the organization because it was a top-down, “we want you to know this” style. Facebook and Twitter were used to send out information about what the CEO was doing – board meetings, business events, etc. and on Foursquare, we could learn at any given time where the CEO was having coffee, drinks or dinner. And there was no interactivity. It was all about what they wanted you to know.
There were solid intentions from the people of this organization; it’s just that the execution fell short because their approach wasn’t based on any kind of strategy. (Do most people care where company’s CEO gets his/her coffee or have dinner?)
If you want to improve your organization’s outreach on social media or through any communications vehicle, it’s important to identify how people want to get the information (e-newsletter, blog, website update, Facebook, etc.) and this means doing your research. Don’t make assumptions. It is crucial to define what your audience or stakeholders are interested in hearing; don’t assume you know what they need to hear. And, last but not least, don’t make it all about you. It’s about them and the value you can bring to them. Create opportunities to interact. Ask questions. Ask for feedback and comments.
While you are developing a communications strategy, take a moment and think about that time you were at a party and the most boring person in the room cornered you and talked about themselves for half an hour. Do you want people to feel that way about your organization? (The fact is, if you are boring them, they don’t have to be polite and stick around for half an hour. They have a delete button.)
Have you taken a realistic look lately at how you reach out – what did you find?
