Kelly Davis, APR, spoke at the Upstate's monthly
SCPRSA luncheon with an informative presentation titled "Communicating on
a Shoestring Budget." Kelly is a 15-year SCPRSA member and is also
President & CEO of Davis Public Relations. One of the key takeaways from
the presentation was that, despite the growing number of communication tools and
outlets, we must go back to the basics of public relations and focus on
relationships. Beyond that, here are some main points from today's
luncheon:
1. Determine what you want the stakeholders to
do.
Whether you work for a non-for-profit, small
company or major corporation, figure out exactly what action you want your
audience to take. From there you can craft the public relations strategy and
plan to maximize your budget. In addition to determining that desired action,
have specific, measurable, time-sensitive metrics in place to measure
success.
2. Define your message.
No matter what the message is, it must be clear,
concise, consistent and compelling. In today's world, there is so much noise
that a message must be able to break through the clutter and be relevant to the
target audience.
3. Utilize the PR toolkit.
Do not forget all of the tools that are
available: news articles, letter to the editor, editorials, op-eds, media
interviews, events, etc. There are also many new ways to communicate beyond the
typical news release, such as video, infographics, mobile messaging and social
media. Determine what tools make the most sense by thinking about what your
audience uses to communicate. However, even with all of these tools at our
disposal, we must never forget that nothing can replace face-to-face
communication.
4. Be mindful of timing; It is everything.
Be aware of what is going on in the world and
the schedule that the media operates on. Yesterday's news is old news, so do
not be caught pitching a journalist an irrelevant story or one that was already
covered.
So remember: Focus on the audience, define the
message, be timely and utilize the tools at hand to maximize your shoestring
budget. A big thank you to Kelly for helping us remember these key tips and get
back to the basics in PR!
For more information about Kelly, visit her
website at: www.davispublicrelations.com
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