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Visibility, Credibility, and Growth.
From media strategy to reputation management, we explore the trends shaping public perception and share the approaches that drive measurable results for growing brands.
Recently, I stumbled across an article in The New York Times that I thought would be helpful to those of us with a commitment to continuous improvement. The article is titled, “How to Spot and Overcome Your Hidden Weaknesses,” and focuses on how challenging it is for people to truly assess their strengths and weaknesses when it comes to skill and abilities.
Surprisingly, the less experienced people are at something, the greater the probability that they will overestimate their abilities. This is because when you are not skilled at something, you don’t see your shortcomings and mistakes. 
Consider my endeavor to write a novel. I’m a novice at creative writing, and when I wrote my first chapter I thought it was good. However, my classmates at the Hugo House have had plenty of feedback for me. They’ve had suggestions around the balance between in-scene action and summarized information, thoughts about dialogue, and suggestions about how to increase the stakes for my protagonist – and these are just a few of the examples.
I’ve been working on my book for 18 months and the more I learn, the more I realize how hard the process can be. Apparently, this is not uncommon. The more skills and knowledge people develop, the more likely they are to underestimate their abilities and talent.
Worse yet, when you’re skilled at something, it is often easy to assume that others also are skilled at it too. For instance, maybe you’re an expert skier and find yourself skiing with a friend who is less experienced who you end up taking on a double-black diamond run. You’re not showing off, you’ve simply assumed your friend can do it as well. No problem, right?
Wrong. Not everyone shares the same skill level. Fortunately, in his article Tim Herrera points out that there are two steps we can take to obtain more accurate perceptions of our abilities.
Tim writes, “First, ask for feedback. It’s not easy, and it can sometimes be tough to hear, but outside input is crucial to shining a light on your blind spots.” In his article he includes a link for tips to getting and giving better feedback.
His second suggestion is to keep learning and building skills. The more experience you have doing something, the better you’ll be at assessing problem areas. For more on learning, I’d encourage you to read these posts about learning how to learn as well.
• Learning How to Learn: The Chunking Puzzle
• Master Your Mental Toolbox 2018
I found Tim’s article to be inspiring and helpful. I am going to continue to apply these best practices in both my professional and personal lives.
Last week at our Communiqué PR brownbag, Melissa Cafiero, a past Communiqué employee and current senior communications manager at Projectline for Microsoft Windows NEXT, took time out of her week to share insight about her experience managing internal communications. As an experienced PR and corporate communications executive, Melissa is passionate about helping organizations uncover the most meaningful way to interact with its audiences.
It was great to have Melissa in our office and learn about the types of situations she navigates as a senior consult and especially the differences (and similarities) she sees between public relations and internal communications. We all had an “aha” moment when she shared that one of the biggest nuances of internal communications is that you are developing messages for an audience to which you belong.
Internal 
To provide a quick refresher, internal, or often referred to as corporate, communications takes place when the members of an organization communicate with each other. These messages can range from company announcements, staffing updates, emergency alerts, or other internal matters that directly impact members of the team. Typically only larger organizations (more than 100 employees) will have dedicated corporate communications teams or representatives.
External
External communications, which we exercise in public relations, is the exchange of messages to an outside audience such as the media, customers, potential employees and customers, competitors and more. These messages vary, but are often similar to the updates shared in internal communications (i.e., company announcements, executive changes, etc.), but are tailored specifically to an external audience.
Somewhere in the middle
In addition to the receiver, a large differentiator between internal and external communications is the cadence and medium in which messages are shared. Mastering these two elements (both in external and internal communications) is critical to have success with these efforts. For example, employees’ preferences for receiving updates will vary, just as the different types of news journalists want to receive.
Cadence
Melissa shared the example of some employees preferring updates from a CEO once a year, while others would opt to receive an update every month. Finding the happy middle and rhythm can be difficult. For internal communications, the answer can usually be found in understanding company culture; whereas for external, it’s especially important to determine the objectives of your audience (i.e., whether or not a reporter or their readers will care about the news, etc.), which can be difficult to decipher if you are not a member of the audience. In addition, pitching a journalist or sending employees emails too often or not often enough can be distracting, ineffective and even take away from their perception of yourself or your company’s brand.
Medium
In public relations, the communication medium is pretty standard and does not change too frequently. We interact with media via email, phone and through company messages (i.e., press releases, blogs, social media, etc.).
However, for corporate communications the way the executive team decides to communicate with its employees can change drastically and will vary depending on the subject of the news. The answer to selecting the correct medium for a specific message again boils down to understanding company culture. Take for example a crisis situation or prominent executive announcement: Most employees would prefer to hear about this news before it is released to the public. To make matters more complicated, not all employees will agree on how the message is shared (i.e., email, text or via a company’s private intranet page, etc.).
Corporate communications teams have to strategically navigate employees’ preferences, taking into account their own inclinations and direction from upper management. One way corporate communications teams can find this balance is through issuing corporate surveys to determine shared preferences and dislikes among the employees.
Our time with Melissa was limited, but we could have gone on for hours asking questions about how her experience in PR has shaped her strategy and perspective in her new corporate communications role. One last tip she left us with is to always consider how an employee may react to a specific piece of news or headline. Applying this level of detail and putting ourselves in the employees’ shoes will help build and enforce a strong company culture for our clients, as well as allow us to practice and inform more strategic council.
We’re thankful for the insight Melissa shared and look forward to applying it into our work.
One of my professional goals for 2018 is to hone my business-development skills, and multiple people have recommended the book, “The New Strategic Selling,” by Robert B. Miller and Stephen E. Heiman, as an excellent foundation with which to begin.
As I read the book in the weeks ahead, I’ll share some of my key takeaways in a three-part blog series. This post will address part one, which focuses on selling strategically.
At its highest level, The New Strategic Selling focuses on how to manage sales processes in a “complex sales cycle,” which is defined as “one in which several people must give th
eir approval before the sale can take place.” This seems straightforward enough, but it was valuable for me to understand the various elements involved with that complex sales cycle, including:
• The buying organization has multiple options;
• The selling organization has multiple options;
• In both organizations, numerous levels of responsibility are involved;
• The buying organizations decision-making process is complex – meaning, it is seldom self-evident to an outsider.
The reality is that there is never a single way to enter into a complex sales or buying process, and there is never a single decision-maker when it comes to complex sales situations. Recognizing that the process is multi-faceted and complex is the first step in determining how you then build out your sales strategy.
Miller and Heiman then lay out the key roles involved with a complex sale: 1) the economic buyer, 2) the user buyer, 3) the technical buyer, and 4) the coach.
In order for a sales campaign to be effective, it has to resonate with every one of these buyers – not just one – and connect with their motivations and responsibilities. The economic buyer, for example, will likely be focused on the return-on-investment and overall value provided by the seller. In comparison, the user buyer will be more involved with the product on a day-to-day basis and will likely care more about its ease-of-use and performance, or its ability to help them in their current role.
What’s enjoyable about this book is that its lessons apply not just directly to sales and business development, but to how we as PR and communications professionals counsel our clients about their businesses. In our case, when an organization decides to bring on a PR and communications agency, there are often several stakeholders involved with the decision-making process. These can range from the CEO, CFO, marketing and PR managers and other business unit managers.
Recognizing that our clients have multiple stakeholders involved as they sell and promote their products has also been valuable for me to understand, in that the PR and communications programs and tactics that I recommend need to align with the needs and priorities of my clients’ stakeholders (my colleague Colleen Moffitt recently posted about ways to secure stakeholder buy-in here).
The New Strategic Selling also lays out multiple premises of strategic selling, including this: “In the complex sale, a good tactical plan is only as good as the strategy that led up to it.” This echoes much of the business model we employ at Communiqué PR, in that all of our activities – every press release, every media pitch, and so on – must align with our clients’ business and communications objectives. At the end of the day, our activities must help our clients to move their businesses forward. Which is similar to the messages in The New Strategic Selling: “Strategy is a pre-requisite for tactical success. … Strategy is, in fact, the single most neglected element in selling today.”
Too often PR becomes associated with simply pushing out the next press release versus taking the time to pause and evaluate how the news (if there is, indeed, a hard news element) will impact the business on a strategic level. Do the activities being recommended address the needs of all the key stakeholders involved?
Beginning to think in this way will have far-reaching benefits not just for business development purposes but for client counsel and account management.
I look forward to continuing this book, and to sharing my findings in my next blog post. The next portion I’ll be discussing will be around how to “Lay the Foundation of Strategic Analysis” and creating uncommon solutions to common solutions.
One of the many tasks that public relations (PR) agencies perform on a regular basis is tracking editorial coverage. In most cases, we track coverage that is expected, such as a story based on a press release, or a by-lined article placement. On other occasions, we may be looking for unexpected coverage, for instance from a crisis. Whatever the scenario, coverage tracking is important and can take significant time.
Luckily, there are quite are a few tips and tools to make coverage tracking and analysis more manageable. For those starting out in PR, here are some of my tips:
- Set up Google Alerts. Google alerts are a terrific way to track coverage. To set these up, I recommend brainstorming key words on the topic you want to track. For instance, say you are interested in following breakthroughs around treatments for Glioblastomas. In this case, in addition to setting up alerts for “Glioblastoma-Treatment,” you may want to create an alert for the name of the doctors or institutions working on finding a cure.
The next step is to consider how frequently you want to the receive the alert. Google allows you the option of choosing when to receive the alerts: as they happen or at a specific time. When following a breaking news story or crisis, it may be best to have them delivered as they happen. For less serious matters, having all coverage appear in your inbox at a specific time may be more convenient. Google allows you to choose how many times you receive the alert as well: at least once a day or at least once a week.
- Create a coverage tracker. Once you have flagged the coverage, you’ll want to keep track of it in an Excel workbook or Smartsheet. I recommend when you set this up that you consider the information you’ll want to review and analyze over time. For instance, I like to track the article headline, date, the name of the journalist who wrote it and the publication’s domain authority. According to Moz, domain authority is “a
search engine ranking score that predicts how well a website will rank on search engine result pages (SERPs).” I like tracking domain authority because it provides me with a way to easily evaluate the strength of the publication relative to other news outlets. I can then see, for instance, if my client is receiving coverage in news outlets with the higher domain authorities. It’s always nice when we can show a client that they’re securing positive coverage in tier-one publications. - Double check your links. When sharing coverage with others on your team or with clients, it is important to double check that all links are accurate and working. The client expects us to do the work in a timely and accurate fashion. Any inconsistences in accuracy may hurt our credibility and diminish a client’s trust in us. Taking the extra step to double, and even triple check work before it is sent out is a safety net that eliminates most mistakes.
- Identify themes. While tracking editorial coverage is good, you also will want to review each article to ensure it is accurate and to gain an understanding of the information contained in it. Some questions to ask yourself as you read the articles include: What information is presented? Are there any biases around the presentation of the information? If so, what are they? Finally, if multiple news outlets have covered the same announcement or event, you may want to describe the range of narrative themes explored across all the news outlets.
Being aware of coverage is important to a client on many levels. A lack of awareness of editorial coverage could catch a company and its spokespeople off guard. Being ahead of the media storm can potentially make or break the public perception in a crisis. Tracking coverage for clients can be a very helpful task, which allows them to focus on other internal activity. Feel free to drop a comment and let us know how you and your team tracks/monitors editorial coverage.
The last few months Facebook has been the center of the media’s attention. In case you haven’t sifted through the articles, the gist of the story is this: Cambridge Analytica, a political data firm hired by President Trump’s 2016 election campaign, gained access to private information from millions of Facebook users. The backlash has been extensive and this week, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been testifying in front of Congress to explain how this happened.
As I was reading about the latest developments, I came across a Wall Street Journal video that looks back at how Facebook’s messages have changed over the years. As a young but powerful company with significant reach, it is interesting to see how Facebook’s messaging has evolved to adapt to the changing services the company offers to its users. The video pulls directly from a variety of interviews and speeches Mark Zuckerberg has given over the years about Facebook’s mission and vision.
Below is an overview of the messaging at each stage.
Connecting with People. In 2005, shortly after Facebook was founded, Zuckerberg said, “Facebook was about connecting people.” This could mean you’re connecting with old friends, such as friends from middle school that you haven’t seen in awhile, Zuckerberg noted. He also shared that it was a useful tool to look people up because “people feel comfortable sharing.” Note, at this point, Facebook had only been launched at Harvard and several other college campuses.
Sharing Information. Three years later, the social media platform made itself available to anyone over the age of 13. The message was no longer about connecting people, it was about “helping people share information and share themselves.” The company had been focused on building different services that enabled people to “share parts of their personality.”
The Social Platform. Facebook was working to become the underlying social media platform for the internet. After some criticism, Zuckerberg altered his message a month later, emphasizing the importance of people maintaining control over their information. He stated, “When people have control over what they share, they are comfortable sharing more.”
Making the World More Open and Connected. At Facebook’s 2012 IPO, Zuckerberg noted that the company’s mission was not to be a public company, but that it was to make the world more open and connected.
More than Social Media. In 2013, Facebook explained that it could have a role in politics, but it was all positive. At this point, Facebook was used regularly to facilitate communication and share news, but Zuckerberg thought it could go beyond that. He saw Facebook as a potential tool that people would use to choose their government and sign up for healthcare.
Responsibility. Following the 2016 presidential election, Facebook realized how the platform could be used to spread misinformation and that organizations, political parties, or other groups could use the platform in ways they hadn’t intended it to be used. Facebook recognized that with its reach to billions across the globe, the company had a responsibility “to make sure [its] tools were used to create the most benefit for people around the world.”
A New Mission. In December 2017, Facebook officially changed its mission to “bring the world closer together.” Zuckerberg noted a divided society and that he wanted Facebook to be used to help people join communities.
Under a global spotlight, Zuckerberg is currently testifying in front of Congress, addressing their inquiries about Cambridge Analytica’s use of Facebook member’s data. Undoubtedly, in a crisis of this magnitude, he would have developed messages to address the questions he knows will come. However, what will be interesting to watch is how Facebook’s message continues to evolve following the testimonies. Facebook cannot simply focus on the idealistic mission it has laid out. The company and Zuckerberg will need to focus on rebuilding trust with Facebook users and assure them their data and information is safe and secure.
Whether it’s an strategic PR plan, an important customer announcement or a new message to reach your audiences, obtaining buy-in from key stakeholders ensures that everyone understands and supports the recommended approach. Securing consensus also provides the opportunity to obtain additional ideas and perspectives, and to understand objections that may not have been apparent to you at the outset.
As well, building consensus for PR and communication programs can be helpful in developing relationships with key stakeholders in the organization. Stakeholders that are included often feel empowered knowing that their opinion and insight is valued. By building consensus, key decision makers will also likely feel more responsibility for the success of the program.
Failing to secure agreement on the approach, however, can create significant challenges in the short- and the long-term. Without consensus, stakeholders may make decisions or operate in a manner that is contradictory to your approach, or undermine your program’s success. Consider the following shared in the Forbes article, “How To Get Real Buy-In For Your Idea,” by Harvard Business School Professor John Kotter: “Our research has shown that 70 percent of all organizational change efforts fail, and one reason for this is executives simply don’t get enou
gh buy-in, from enough people, for their initiatives and ideas.”
When you have shared buy-in, you will find that everyone is more likely to be communicating the same messages and have shared expectations.
Below are some tips on how to obtain buy-in, which we included in our book, “Strategic Public Relations.”
- Identify all key stakeholders – The first step is to identify the key stakeholders in the organization. Oftentimes the key stakeholders are the individuals who control the company’s strategic direction and its financial resources. Additionally individuals who are required to execute the program are important stakeholders.
Another way to evaluate and identify key stakeholders is outlined in the book “The New Strategic Selling.” The authors define stakeholders or buying influencers in “four buying roles.” These include the economic buyer, user buyer, technical buyer and coach. Identifying the individuals in your organization who fit into these various roles is important and will help clarify from whom you need to secure buy-in.
- Understand the stakeholders’ interests – Understanding each stakeholder’s interests will enable you to sell your program and, long-term, develop a stronger plan. Take the time to understand each stakeholder’s perspectives, objectives and any biases. This will inform the development of your plan and how you position the plan in order to secure their buy-in.
- Frame your pitch/talking points for each specific audience – Once you understand the stakeholders’ interests, tailor your pitch to address the issues and interests they care about. Demonstrate how your program, plan or campaign will accomplish those objectives. As you frame your pitch, remember that it is important to focus on interests, not your position.
The authors of the book “Getting to Yes” share, “When negotiators bargain over positions, they lock themselves into these positions. The more you clarify your position and defend against attack, the more committed you become to it. The more you try to convince the other side of the impossibility of changing your opening position, the more difficult it becomes to do so.”
Rather than digging in and taking a fixed position about your program or plan, you will be more successful if you listen openly to understand the interests of the stakeholders, map their interests back to the goals the program/plan will achieve, and focus on mutual gain.
- Update stakeholders regularly – Building consensus is not a one-time effort. To be effective it should be a continual effort. If you are asking stakeholders early on for their buy-in and support, you’ll want to circle back to them to provide updates, to demonstrate that soliciting their buy-in was not a token gesture, and that you valued and respected their input. In the absence of any updates, stakeholders may assume nothing has happened. Similarly, it is important to reset expectations as factors change. This can help mitigate any surprises or disappointments.
We hope this provides some helpful guidelines for securing buy-in from the key stakeholders in your PR or communication program. As stated above, it’s a continual, ongoing effort to make sure that the right stakeholders are involved throughout the process, each and every time.
Do you have a good example of when you were able to secure buy-in for a PR campaign or activity? What worked well? What did you learn from the experience? Tell us here, in the comments.