The time has come

Another term -- the final term -- has run its course. I hope this is not my last entry on this blog, but I will most likely not maintain such a regular schedule going forward. I hope readers have found the information enlightening, engaging and interesting. The value of effective, strategic communication should not be ignored; yet most people and companies take it for granted. I hope to help change that perspective.

I am thankful for the experience and opportunity I have received in retail merchandising execution field, but I am more than ready to return to the communications field. That being said, if there happen to be any companies in need of a professional communicator who has two decades of experiences to complement a Master's of Science degree in Strategic Communication, please feel free to leave me a note. I will respond quickly. Very quickly.

What have you done for me lately?

A fundamental mistake. It is a mistake a lot of people make, especially in the business world. Well-meaning, hard-working people do it all the time. I am guilty of it, especially in the past with regards to my professional communications experience.

People do not seek the credit for their work as much as they should. “My work speaks for itself.” “They know what I do/contribute/add to the business.”

While the importance was not as obvious when I started out in the communications field, I see it much clearer today in the retail world. If you want people to acknowledge your contributions or give yourself ammunition for a pay raise/promotion, you have to make sure they know what you have done and how that contribution benefits the entire company.

You cannot just let your work speak for itself.

In the communications field, that means making use of research and evaluation tools to not only show the impact of a particular program, but to also put it into context of the overall goal/mission of the organization you are working for – justify the resources you have used and the ones you will need in the future.

Before you start a communications campaign of any kind, you need to understand where you currently stand. What is the perception of your company? Who are the people or audiences you are trying to reach? If you cannot clearly identify your starting point, you will be unable to determine how far you have “moved the needle” toward your overall goal. How do you increase favorable impressions of customers by 25% if you do not have any idea where you stand at the beginning of your campaign?

It may seem obvious and pure common sense to establish a starting point, but there is always pressure to begin delivering results as soon as you can – in any job. Any practitioner is going to want to demonstrate their worth and justify the faith their employer has shown by giving them a job. But there needs to be a measured, methodical process through which not only is a starting point identified, but a means of measuring the impact of any effort made as part of a strategic communication program.

While most of what I have covered to this point is in reference to hard, tangible numbers, a strategic communicator needs to weave in the intangible aspects, too. You can tell a pretty straightforward story with hard numbers, but identifying the intangibles helps to flesh out the context of overall environment in which these hard numbers were achieved. An increase of new donors to a foundation by X% is great, but the ability to achieve that during an economic downturn while closing 15% your company’s manufacturing facilities puts it into a slightly more impressive context.

I noted in one of my course assignments that as communicators, we are essentially storytellers. We weave a particular tale (hopefully nonfiction!) for particular audiences with a desired outcome as a goal. If our story is told to the wrong group, we fail. If our story is boring and no one cares, we fail. If our story is just the bare bones facts, we will not be as successful as the storyteller who can paint a rich, full, vibrant story that not only captures the imaginations of those we are hoping to influence (sales, regulators, etc.) but also inspires others who hear our story to reach further/try more/invest themselves (employees, supporters, etc.).

Have I lost you yet? What I’m saying is that we – as strategic communicators – need to use formative research to define the scope and goals of any communication program or campaign. We need to include process research to gauge the implementation success of any campaign or program. And finally, we need to use summaritive research to measure the outcomes of a program/campaign.

The final step is to put that information in the hands of our employers/supervisors as a means of demonstrating what the impact of a strategic communications program has been able to achieve: celebrate the runaway wins, identify the opportunities to improve, and make recommendations for new efforts in the future or new directions to pursue with additional resources.

Some will recognize your work. Most are too busy trying to achieve their own goals, they may not fully understand the contributions you or your team has made unless you clearly point it out to them. This is the step people fail to make. Pride may be one of the Seven Deadly Sins, it is not just “pride” when you are announce the contributions your efforts as a communicator have made toward the overall success of your organization is not a sin – it’s a necessity in a business environment that takes more of “what have you done for me lately” view of those who consume resources.

About the Author: David is a dedicated husband and proud father of a strapping almost fifteen year-old son and twin five and a half year-old daughters. He has twenty years of professional communication experience, working in the public relations field and six years of professional merchandising experience with the world's largest home improvement retailer. He has worked for public relations firms in Metro Detroit, hospitals and a state-wide faith-based social service organization helping at-risk children and their families. He holds a Bachelor degree from Michigan State University and has just completed his Masters program in Strategic Communication at Troy University. He grew up on a mid-sized Michigan blueberry farm, spent two years in Texas and now resides with his family outside Tampa, Florida. An avid reader and photographer, David also enjoys building furniture using recycled/upcycled wooden pallets.

Social Media: Double-edged sword for communicators during a crisis

Twit1: My brother is a cop in Atlanta. Just busted Home Depot CEO. DUI

Twit2: Just made huge donation to MADD, right?

Twit1: Man of the Year #HomeDepot

Twit3: Sister works there. Big on values and do the right thing

Twit2: Only applies to the little people

Twit1: Even used handcuffs #resisted

Twit4: Handcuffs? Resisted arrest? #HomeDepot

Twit 5: Home depot CEO resisted arrest for DUI? #HomeDepot

Twit1: My bad-busted someone in front of Home Depot CEO’s house #doublecheck

While the exchange above is completely fictitious and created only for the purposes of this blog entry, it demonstrates how a story can begin on social media and become a public relations practitioner’s worst nightmare in less than 90 seconds.

While television is still the top source for people finding out about breaking news stories, social media has become the third top source of breaking news, virtually tied with newspapers and surpassing radio and all other print publications.

The article touches on, and the exchange above demonstrates, that while social media has become a major source of breaking news information, the accuracy is not always as good as it could be. A number of people were wrongly identified after the Boston Marathon bombing, initially identified on social media and then broadcast to an even wider audience via traditional broadcast media.

In his 2011 thesis paper, Daniel A. Landau noted:

“Partly due to social media’s constant news cycle, this study found that nonstories can become big stories very easily and these stories can last longer then (sic) they would without social media. This finding is indicative of how social media has made crisis communication more difficult for organizations. At the same time though, in some instances, organizations can bypass traditional media entirely and manage a crisis completely with social media. Thus social media has also made crisis communication somewhat easier for crisis communicators.” (pg. 60)

Social media networks – depending on the strategic planning and implementation of a comprehensive communication plan – can be a huge help or an amazing thorn in the side of public relations practitioners.

Stories can appear from nowhere and go viral, completely beyond the control of the PR practitioner(s) if there is no system or process of monitoring various social media platforms. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, Foursquare, Pheed, Tumblr, are just a few of the many social media networks connected to the internet. Citizen journalist blogs, activists’ blogs, websites – the list goes on and on. How can one practitioner or a even two hope to successfully monitor and build those relationships and connections via social media?

The opportunity lies in leveraging one of the biggest assets any company already has: its own workforce. A strategic communication professional knows one of the biggest and influential audience a company can have is it’s own employees. Their ability to spread information via word-of-mouth and “the grapevine” has only been enhanced by recent communication technology and the internet. Why not use that to the advantage of the company?

One of the goals of any strategic communication program is to improve and enhance the internal communication systems among the primary stakeholders: employees, shareholders and retirees. How is that accomplished? By keeping them informed, part of the planning process and engaged. They can serve as de-facto watchdogs among the various social media networks.

Encourage employees to participate on the company’s Facebook page, for example, is a great way to keep them not only engaged, but they will can also serve as a early warning system for communicators if there is an issue that pops up on the page. They may be able to actually address issues in real-time before a communicator even gets involved. The key is to keep employees aware and informed about new initiatives, how their role figures into the overall vision and mission of the company, etc., which is the goal of any internal communication program.

The same can be done with all the major social media networks, utilizing an existing network of stakeholders to ensure issues are identified early, addressed and resolved quickly, hopefully without damage to the company’s name, reputation or bottom line.

As Mr. Landau noted in his thesis, the internet and social media may have made control of a crisis situation impossible, but it has the potential for making it easier to manage providing the strategic communicator makes use of all the tools available to him or her.

About the Author: David is a dedicated husband and proud father of a strapping fourteen year-old son and twin five year-old daughters. He has twenty years of professional communication experience, working in the public relations field. He has worked for public relations firms in Metro Detroit, hospitals and a state-wide faith-based social service organization helping at-risk children and their families. He grew up on a mid-sized Michigan blueberry farm, spent two years in Texas and now resides with his family outside Tampa, Florida. An avid reader and photographer, David also enjoys building furniture using recycled/upcycled wooden pallets.