DIY Public Relations Dilutes the Message
"If I was down to my last dollar, I'd spend it on public relations." Bill Gates
The world is getting increasingly louder. How do you stand up and shout out! amplified enough to have your brand or message heard effectively? If your organizational clarion call is enhanced by a PR professional or a communication specialist, you agree with Bill Gates. You may argue his last dollar is further down the unforeseeable horizon than yours but I would counter that you may be losing a multifaceted nugget of opportunity if you do not invest in public relations.
Roadblocks to Investing in PR
Roadblocks to Investing in PR
"If you keep your mind sufficiently open, people will throw a lot of rubbish into it.” William A. Orton
Your organization maybe too preoccupied or unable to afford a Public Relations outreach team. You are a diminutive business stretching your ten employees from the foothills to the hilltops; a corporation facing marketing budget cuts that forces a team of Jedi ad-warriors to slash their squad; or a nonprofit tottering between relief work in Haiti while hosting a fundraiser in Last Chance, Colorado (yes that is a real town).
These are just some of the roadblocks that lead to DIY PRing, so prevalent today due to quick access of online tools and the augmentation of social media. This has led to an over amplification of amateurish messaging, over communicating via social media and maladroit online content. In a competitive and increasingly sophisticated promotional world, such messaging can actually do more harm than good. DIY messaging may reflect poorly on your product, brand or company.
Nonprofits--fearful of spending donor money on what is deemed unnecessary-- are the least likely to invest in PR. This is an unfortunate as the ROI is high for charities when they invest in PR publicity and advertising. Investment in marketing for charities leads to higher revenues--key for developing the all-important program funds. Dan Pallotta points out in a Harvard Review article that nonprofits should spend more on advertising. As in any industry, funds are built by "demand for the idea on a massive scale" he explains.
Nonprofits--fearful of spending donor money on what is deemed unnecessary-- are the least likely to invest in PR. This is an unfortunate as the ROI is high for charities when they invest in PR publicity and advertising. Investment in marketing for charities leads to higher revenues--key for developing the all-important program funds. Dan Pallotta points out in a Harvard Review article that nonprofits should spend more on advertising. As in any industry, funds are built by "demand for the idea on a massive scale" he explains.
"..Charitable giving in the U.S. has remained constant at about 2% of GDP since we've been measuring it. Charity is not taking market share from the for profit sector. How can it if it is never allowed to market?"
The Merits of PR
"It is not enough that a man has clearness of vision, and reliance on sincerity, he must also have the art of expression, or he will remain obscure." George H. Lewes
As the PR profession expands, so does its finite worth. A brand-loyal PR professional can launch campaigns, track information, report outcomes, perform research metrics, enhance databases, build a consumer-based communications plan and provide free publicity with the right media placement.
The U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics states, there are 7,000 public relations firms in the United States, as reported by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) in their summary of the PR industry size and growth. This does not include the individuals or teams employed by corporations, medical establishments, media companies, military divisions, government branches, nonprofits and other enterprises.
DIY Uncle Bob Mattress Ads
"Hastiness and superficiality are the psychic diseases of the twentieth century..." Alexander Solzhenitsyn
DIY marketing and promotion is explicable if there is not enough moola to justify PR or communication expenditure. Yet, thousands of organizations with sizable budgets still pass off blogs, company newsletters, online content, press releases, end-of-year reports, media placement and ad development as “superfluous work” to employees that are unqualified. If this wasn't a verity, local TV and digital advertisements— touting mattresses and cars hosted by salesman uncle Bob shouting and foggily staring at the camera through cheesy graphics— would not exist.
Adjust Tone not Volume
"Wit is the salt of conversation, not the food." William Hazlitt
Though the PR and communications industry has grown exponentially in the last decade, we continue to get emails with slapdash newsletters, websites replete with structural errors (no it was not inverted syntax!) or receive reports jigsaw-puzzle-glued together due to end-of-year urgency.
An organization’s spokesperson or communication expert cannot be the accountant or the engineer dabbling in double and ineffective duty. That scenario is the source of crisis communications, which I have experienced firsthand. Daily, thousands of media pitches and press releases with immense report-worthy potential are buried under bland and feeble prose written by employees doubling up as PR relation liaison.
Successful PR it is not about WHAT but HOW. This HOW makes a story press worthy and appealing online content. And it is in adjusting TONE not the VOLUME you reach out in an increasingly loud world to ShoutOut! your message.
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