Did you know there’s debate on who actually said it? It’s attributed to everyone from Mae West to P.T. Barnum to George M. Cohan. Some have said it was Mark Twain or Oscar Wilde. Personally, I always thought it was Bette Davis, but I’ve been known to be wrong occasionally. Regardless of who originally said it, I’m here to say NO! While that may be a useful ploy for celebrities (though I’m sure Mel Gibson might disagree), it’s certainly not a good ongoing PR strategy. Consider these examples:
These incidents, which I randomly chose from ongoing discussions on Twitter, illustrates the point. These issues gave the company a black eye, the CEO a headache and (I expect) the PR person an ulcer. I’m sure at some point in all the fallout, they probably wished some newspaper would misspell their name!
For many, these “outside” conversations are intimidating and ominous, like that unnerving feeling of being watched. But as a business leader, knowledge is power (and takes away the fear), so consider these five significant points:
1. You want people talking about you. In business, if people are not talking about you, you’re in trouble. These outside conversations are an essential goal of successful PR efforts. You want folks to know your name. You certainly want them telling their friends, family and co-workers about your business, your organization, your services, your product. (i.e., referrals).
2. You want them saying good (right) things about you. No one goes into business, begins a nonprofit organization or organizes a charity with the express purpose of having people criticize the efforts, products or services. You think you have something to offer. You hire the best folks and train them well to provide quality service to make your customers happy--so they’ll return, so they’ll buy again and so they’ll be complimentary when talking to others.
3. You need to tell them good things about you. That’s the ultimate goal of advertising, marketing and even public relations. Consider Starbuck, one the country’s most well-known businesses, with a name almost synonymous with coffee these days. (Trust me, I’m not getting a fee for this commercial.) And though it seems there’s one on every corner, do they rest on that familiarity? No, because they recognize the need to keep their name in front of people, regardless of their leadership position in their market.
In bad economic times, there’s always a need to cut back and historically (regrettably) one of the areas where companies initially look is the External Communication departments—Marketing, Advertising, PR. (Fortunately, some companies that have cut their staff/department will still continue the efforts using consultants and freelancers.) But if your company is not regularly and consistently sending out positive information, another company could easily come in and capture your market. They will become the topic of conversation and you could quickly become a memory.
4. You need to know what’s being said about you. Unless you’re a reclusive multi-gazillionaire philanthropist who doesn’t want folks to know about all the good things you are doing and you don’t care what other people think, you need to be listening in on what’s being said. (BTW, if you are that multi-gazillionaire who just wants to anonymously spend lots of money doing good, please contact me immediately. I can help with that and I won’t tell anyone!) You want to know what your clients think of your customer service, how they use your product, why they give to your charity, etc. You need to know what’s being said—the good things and the bad. (‘Cause you’ll want to fix the bad, of course!)
There was a time when it was only possible to wonder what was being said by our customers/clients or spend lots of money on market research. However, with the rise of social media and networking (Twitter, Facebook, blogs), these outside conversations are not only visible to us, they are emblazoned for all to see as well. Which leads to the another essential aspect of this process.
5. You must get involved in the conversation. For years, the messaging from an organization to their client-base was mostly one-sided. We talked, they listened. (e.g., advertising, marketing, direct mail) But with the Internet came a method of two-way communication. Instant communication at that. And if your organization is not involved, you’re missing a vital dimension of customer relations. This is your opportunity to move the conversation from talking about you to talking with you! That’s interaction.
Back to our example of Starbucks. (Still no fee for the plugs) In addition to their commitment to advertising, marketing and public relations, they were recently ranked as the #1 restaurant to utilize social media in their promotions. Apparently they not only recognize the importance of these outside conversations, they’re willing to jump in with something to say!
Note: The entire subject of social media, networking and interaction is too broad to consider at this point. We will cover it in more detail in later blogs. Suffice it to say: you need to be involved.
Are people talking about you? Let’s hope so. If they aren’t, make it priority to find out why…and fix it! Likewise, if they are saying the wrong things about you, or if they are unhappy, you certainly want to know that, too. Get involved with you clients! Get in dialogue with them. It’s about engagement, interaction….and relationships.
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