The ABC’s of Setting Goals and Objectives

by Monica Faulkenbery, APR

Recently I was asked to judge a national awards program. My category for judging was communication plans. 

It was disheartening to view so many plans, submitted by seasoned public relation professionals, who did not understand the difference between goals and objectives, or strategies and tactics. Many of them wrote tactics as objectives.

So the purpose of this post is to serve as a primer for understanding the difference. It’s not that I’m an expert, but I do understand that you cannot measure the success of a project without setting a measurable objective. Maybe because I have taught it for so long in our APR sessions, but it just seems so simple and reasonable to me, so here’s my version of the 411 on understanding the difference.

Goals.
First of all, goals are not objectives. Goals are longer-term, broad, and more global future statements of “being.”  Probably unbeknownst to him, Shakespeare was well on his way to writing a goal statement with his famous line of “to be or not to be.” An example of a goal statement is “to become the recognized leader, foster continuing public support, etc.” Consider using action verbs when writing goal statements, such as “to maintain, to continue, to create, to enhance, to increase/decrease, or to promote/prevent.”

Objectives.
Objectives should be specific, measurable, attainable, audience specific, relevant, results (outcome) oriented, and time-specific. You should also think short-term and long-term when writing objectives. An easy way to think of it is to remember: who, what, when, and how much? For example, “within six months, 40% of employees will contact the benefits office to inquire about setting up a 401K account.” Or, “by the end of 12 months, 65% of the residents living within one mile of the plant will be aware of at least two anti-pollution projects undertaken by the company.” 

Strategies.
Strategies serve as a road map or approach to reach objectives. This is the planning process of how you will approach the challenge to reach your objective. You probably will have several strategies for each objective. Examples include media relations, third party endorsements, and public engagement.

Tactics.
And finally, tactics serve as specific elements of a strategy. They are how you plan to use your resources to carry out your strategies and work toward your objectives. Examples include meetings, publications, community events, news releases, etc. These are probably what many of us are most familiar with doing; the hands-on activities that get the job done.

So you can see, it is definitely not rocket science or even earth shattering. But it is important and should be something that you pull out of your toolbox and understand how to use. 

Monica Faulkenbery, APR, is the assistant PR Director for the Northside Independent School District and serves on the board of the San Antonio chapter of PRSA.

Survey Says?

Public relations practitioners, and others, received a reminder last week not to put too much faith in surveys. In the Wisconsin recall, pre-vote polls benchmarked the election as extremely close with a 50-47 margin in favor of Gov. Scott Walker – within the margin of assumed error.

The actual result? Walker won easily by a 9-point margin. The surveys missed it – big time. So is something wicked in Waukesha? Hardly.  Some thoughts:

* Whom did you ask? To be accurate, a truly random sample has to be built very carefully. Even such assumptions as using only respondents who have landline telephones skew accuracy.

* As surely as chemistry or physics, there is an observer effect in surveying. Respondents may feel an obligation to give a certain answer, or may give an unexpected or incorrect answer just to be perverse. My daughter participated for a year in a nationally recognized television rating service. She admits that box on the TV made her want to skip Entertainment Tonight and watch PBS instead.

* Burnout. I heard a piece on radio a few days ago with workers who had done exit polling at Wisconsin precincts. One made the comment that it became obvious some voters were “avoiding people with clipboards” as they got in their cars. My hunch is Badger State voters may have already endured endless surveys and were just surveyed-out by the time they made it into voting booths. I live in a Texas state senate district that had a very intense Republican primary in May and I received daily phone calls, plus at least one visitor to my front door and mail, all asking my opinion. It became tiresome and I started hanging up on people, thereby skewing their results.

So are surveys worthwhile? Yes, but only if used properly. And always ask yourself if the results provided are prophecy or puffery.

Content Rules Should Be On Your Bookshelf

 

Book Review of Content Rules by Ann Handley & CC Chapman

                     

This book, while not new, has the best subtitle: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars and more that Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business.  Published in 2011, it's a resource that should be on every PR practitioners' shelf. 

Back in 2008, when David Meerman Scott Published "The New Rules of Marketing and PR," his main takeaway was that organizations need to think like publishers instead of marketers. Now that we are seeing the effects of the attention economy, "Content Rules" is the next step to help PR teams visualize what being a publishing organization requires.

And it's written in a style that is easily digestible, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, yet it is PACKED with actionable ideas.  Right from the start, in a chapter titled "Big Fat Overview" (as opposed to "introduction), you know that these two authors will lead you into new concepts with an element of fun.

There's so much here for PR teams to embrace and best of all, it perfectly aligns with our industry's skill set.

The book is organized into three sections.

The first makes the case for why content should be created and shared.  This section establishes the rules of the road for public relations pros to successfully create content.  Here's a few key takeaways:

• Avoid one and done -- integrate everything.
• Leave stuff alone -- don't be so perfect that there's no room for your audience to participate.
• Get rid of that jargon-- business speak can kill your content.
• Storytelling can be used in any organization.

The second section is a how-to for different types of content like blogs, ebooks and photographs.  There are tons of ideas and checklists for each type of content, which goes a long way to deciding what approach will work for your organization. The most refreshing thing about this section-- it is a Facebook-free zone!

The last section features 10 case studies from a wide variety of organizations that will be worth referring to over and over again. This is one of the most generous business books I have read in awhile and the authors offer even more resources online and on their Facebook page for the book.    

PRSA Advocates for the Profession Among U.S. Senators

It’s been a decade since PRSA set up its Advocacy Advisory Board in response to a member survey. The board is charged with helping to advance the profession by being PRSA’s consistent voice on key issues. One of the most recent issues has been PRSA’s actions to urge the U.S. Senate not to restrict government use of PR firms. Two U.S. senators are conducting an investigation into the government’s use of PR and advertising contracts. PRSA’s concern is that the investigation will “disregard” the central value of public relations to the federal government.

In a letter to Roll Call, PRSA Chair and CEO Gerard F. Corbett, APR, Fellow PRSA, stated: “Whether educating the public about government services, providing information on public health and safety, explaining the tax code, attracting businesses to an economic enterprise zone, or any of dozens of other areas, governments have a clear role in communicating effectively and efficiently to the public.”

We have no problem with investigating potential flaws in contracting procedures. But it is critical that PR not be characterized as a whole-scale misuse of funding.

You can read more on the PRSA website, including the letter from PRSA to the Senate Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight and the Roll Call op ed.

You can also listen to an interview with Gerry Corbet conducted by Shel Holtz.

The Power of Free Tools

The soft economy the last few years have made free tools more important than ever for public relations practitioners who are trying to stretch their budgets.  Three speakers at the April Professional Development Luncheon demonstrated the power of free tools and explained how to do more with less. 

Debi Pfitzenmaier, blogger and chief bottle washer at Pfitz PR, looked at tools in several categories, including some for organization, online business and PR and some photo tools, too.   

You can see her presentation here.   

       

In true social media fashion, Pfitzenmaier curated an online list of favorites from the assembled group.  Review and bookmark the list from here.  

Ronee Andersen, reference librarian, gave a live demo to the group on using some of the free databases at the San Antonio Public Library.  Two are worth noting.  

Business Decision is a consumer market database which offers users competitive intelligence, including something called tapestry segmentation, which is similar to developing buyer personas.  

Reference USA is another market research tool which can reveal competitors’ strength, credit ratings, home ownership, home building trends and more for zip codes in Bexar County.

“The old days of having to visit a library are gone,” says Anderson. “You can visit the library from the comfort of your home.”  Both databases are available to all San Antonio Public Library cardholders.   

The library also offers a Jobs and Small Business Center, according to Beth Graham, public relations manager for the San Antonio Public Library. 

Agency vs. Corporate PR? Which is Better?

Both, according to a presentation given to the PRSSA chapter at UTSA by two local PR professionals.

Kathy Hill, principal of KHILL PR and me, Fran Stephenson, Principal of Step In Communication, offered students a different look at these two areas of public relations practice. While both of us have worked in agency and corporate communication settings, Hill’s experience is rich with local agencies, while my focus has been corporate communications.

We focused on three key areas to share with a dozen students from the student chapter.

The Way We Work

Corporate communicators often work with longer time lines and create strategic plans for more continuity. They have established teams, goals and ways of working together.

Agencies have more fluid teams as groups are convened and disbanded based on the immediate client workload. They are often called in to help with short term planning and project management and serve on more than one team at a time.

The Relationships We Build

On the agency side, PR practitioners often have excellent external relationships, particularly with members of the media. Their corporate counterparts, on the other hand, have deeper internal relationships and a deeper knowledge of their company “subject.”

The Lifestyle We Lead

Corporate communicators have a more stable income, but can be resource challenged in their company. They usually have benefits including the standard stuff like health, 401K, etc, but also a predictable work environment.

Agencies, on the other hand, often turn over projects quickly, so you have to get up to speed on a client’s business quickly, help solve their problem and move onto the next project. Longevity in an agency can be less predictable because it’s client driven, but the rewards are learning about multiple industries and clients.

The students who attended the presentation were surprised at the similarities and differences to these two types of public relations careers and got a glimpse of what they might do in the future.

Hello, I Must Be Going

There’s been a lot recently within the PR business about the
impact of social media on crisis communications. Mostly, this speculation
projects social media as a bad thing. Companies and organizations can be
blind-sided by crises that tend to come out of nowhere, mounted by strangers.
Control becomes hard when sources are unknown or unexpected.

Perhaps there might be some good to dealing with a social
media-driven crisis situation, as Wall Street Journal editor Francesco Guerrera
noted this week in an opinion
column. “In a socially-networked world where investors, customers and
employees are judge, jury and news editors, companies may be able to survive
foul-ups better than in the old days of ‘traditional’ news and corporate spin,”
he notes.

This could be due to a couple of things: First, social media-related
incidents tend to be much shorter in duration and reach a comparatively smaller
audience than when the traditional media become involved. Second, the
traditional media often tend to become “obsessive-compulsive,” as one
commentator put it, and linger over an incident far longer than the story
merits. My hunch is that with shrinking news budgets, it’s easier for an editor
to just squeeze one more story out of a reporter, rather than moving on to
something else.

So what does all this mean to public relations
practitioners? Speed is of the essence, Guerrera reports. Also, reputation
management remains key, as it does with any crisis. Loyal customers, employees and
a supportive public will move on quicker than when there are thousands who will
gladly add their own tales of woe to a troubling post.

When the Trouble Shooters Come Calling!

March’s luncheon presentation featured WOAI TV’s Trouble Shooter team Brian Collister on “Trouble Shooting Your PR Approach.” Collister has been an investigative reporter for WOAI for years and has fine-tuned his advice to public relations practitioners on the do’s and don’t’s of working with a reporter on the investigative side of the news house.

Here are his top five tips.

1. Don’t try to defend the indefensible. If your company has made a mistake, admit it. But first, he also suggested you pay attention to the next four tips.
2. Do NOT downplay the dollar amount. Particularly in the public sphere and especially in this economy.
3. DO prepare your interview subject. That’s your job as the PR person and Collister expects that when he requests an interview. Surprisingly, though, Collister’s experience shows that far too many of his interview subjects are ill prepared.
4. Seek forgiveness from the beginning and the process will be so much smoother for all involved.
5. Poor Public Relations strategies are obvious to all. Think through your objectives and their consequences and remember that in the public eye, perception is reality.

Collister used two key analogies during his presentation that really sum up the way investigative reporters think.

The first was the analogy of three doors. If two doors are open to him and one is closed, he will always attempt to take the closed door. If you're in PR, you want to make sure your door to reporters is at least ajar!

He also used the analogy of ripping off an old bandage. It's far less painless if you do it quickly, than slowly. In other words, for PR people, get on the issue and resolve it fast.

Here's a short video from Brian Collister with tips on working with investigative reporters.

PRSA Announces New Definition of Public Relations

In an effort to modernize the 1982 definition of public relations (the last one was developed on 1982), PRSA created an interesting crowdsourcing process using social media. Professionals were invited to submit comments to the “Public Relations Defined” blog. PRSA then created a word cloud to see which key words appeared most often. From that, three definitions were developed for professionals to vote on, again through social media.

So here’s the winning definition:

“Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.”

See the announcement, “A Modern Definition of Public Relations,” to see the other two finalists and related discussions. There is also some reflection about why the word ethics doesn’t appear in the definition.

The whole initiative is not PRSA’s alone, by the way. It was developed out of a collaboration among several PR related organizations. 

So what do you think? Will this definition stand for decades to come?

The Crisis at TCU

Texas Christian University has an outstanding reputation for integrity, both in the classroom and on the athletic field. That’s as it should be for an elite institution with religious roots.

Its excellent image has been sorely tested by this week’s arrest of 18 students, including four players on the Horned Frog football team, for drug dealing. The arrests threw TCU into a classic crisis communications scenario.

Nefarious doings on campus, involving athletes in particular, have been an all-too-common stories in recent years. And in many cases, the respective scholastic institutions have done a poor job responding when things went bad.

TCU may be different. It’s receiving “deserved praise” from the media for getting in front of the story and explaining what it has done, and what it will do, to assure this won’t happen again. An early-on press conference allowed college officials to answer questions, not just read canned statements blessed in advance by the lawyers. Now, football Coach Gary Patterson’s personally on the phone with parents and other interested parties.

It ain’t over 'til it's over for the Horned Frogs, but TCU may come out of this crisis with its reputation intact. The school’s been responsive and transparent – vital points in making a crisis response successful.

Nora Frost's Top Ten List

At Last Thursday's PRSA February Luncheon, comedian and PR professional Nora Frost shared her take on the top ten list. Here it is for you to enjoy.

Top Ten Signs You're in PR

10. You enjoy yelling, "IT'S IN THE PRESS RELEASE! READ THE PRESS RELEASE!" internally... several times a day.

9. Well... what does the client want no. 9 to say?

8. You are very loyal to your job... pretty much because you can't get one anywhere else.

7. You start a fantasy press conference league.

6. Your family still doesn't understand what you do.

5. You still don't understand what you do.

4. You'd be more of a people person if you didn't have to relate to them so much.

3. You've told a journalist, "Eh... ethics is for politicians."

2. One man's tchotchke is another man's door prize.

1. You used to be a journalist.

What's in your top ten list?

Nora Frost is the principal of Dos Culturas, a bilingual, multicultural public relations firm. She has often been seen doing stand-up comedy in San Antonio, too. She can be reached at nora@dosculturas.com.

Creating an Award-Winning Campaign - Resources

During today's chapter luncheon, Debbie, Randy & I shared some tips for creating an award-winning campaign. Here are some sample award entry summaries that we referred to.

• WONKA Arte Brings Life to Day of the Dead
• LULAC Brings Presidential Contenders Center Stage to Latino Voters
• IDRA study - sample objectives

Another great place to look is the PRSA national website where there are tons of winning case studies (It's in the section of the site that's for PRSA members only.).

Also, the National School Public Relations Association website has the summaries of award winners.

There are some webinars coming up on measurement and evaluation. Remember that these webinars are now free to PRSA members!

I mentioned that Angela Sinickas is a great resource (she happens to be leading a couple of the webinars). Another expert is Katie Delahaye Paine. Both are top experts in PR measurement and evaluation. And they both have free email newsletters with lots of great info.

PRSA's Tactics publication recently had a couple of articles on measurement (May 2011; free online for members).

• "The Strategic Approach: Writing Measurable Objectives."
• "Deliverable Objectives: Considerations for Creating Measurement Plans."

PRSA's Srategist had a great article, "Confessions of a Silver Anvil Judge," that I've referred to several times (Winter 1998).

Upcoming Award Compeitions

• PRSA San Antonio Del Oro Awards
• PRSA Bronze Anvil Awards 
• PRSA Silver Anvil Awards
• Texas School Public Relations Association Awards
• Association for Women in Communications San Antonio
• IABC San Antonio

 Finally, here is my silly look at the four parts of an objective.

Editing by Ear

The year 2011 soon slips away so it’s worth a pause during the holidays to mark a celebration that occurred this year – the 400th anniversary of the Authorized, or King James Version of the Bible.

Regardless of religious persuasion, most agree the KJV marks one of the greatest writing achievements in English. National Geographic featured the KJV in a cover story for its December issue, which opines “You don't have to be a Christian to hear the power of those words – simple in vocabulary, cosmic in scale, stately in their rhythms, deeply emotional in their impact.” The article provides insights we forget:

First, the KJV represents one time a committee got it right. It is the product of 54 scholars, not of all of whom were particularly religious, nor were all with the Church of England. They produced their masterwork in a time of political upheaval with bitter divides over religious belief, and every faction already had a translation. But the “most high and mighty Prince James,” as the preface calls its sponsor, saw a new translation as one way to bring his squabbling subjects together.

How did the committee do it? Second, the KJV was intended to be read – aloud – in church and home. The committee’s goal was “that it may bee understood even of the very vulgar,” the preface adds. Yeah, they really talked that way back then. The committee divided into teams and read their draft translations of the original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek aloud to each other, knowing the ear serves as an excellent editor and tends to find the perfect written phrase.

Modern writers and editors improve their product when they lean back in the chairs and speak the words just typed on a screen, as surely as reading words written with a quill on parchment.

Sic Transit: American Airlines in Chapter XI

My dad came home from World War II and took a job with American Airlines. It was opportune for him, the airlines boomed in the late 1940s as passengers flocked aboard the new four-engine piston planes that made flight both comfortable and fast. It was an exciting and romantic business, something ABC tries to capture, unsuccessfully, with its potboiler Pan Am.

This was a carriage trade back then. Fares were steep and coach class as we know it didn’t exist. That changed with deregulation. Fares fell off a cliff and airlines had to change. I recall gasps when Braniff announced a $299 roundtrip, DFW-London fare in 1980. That price stunned people, although in today’s money it would be a ho-hum $800. You can easily beat that. Some airlines, like American, adjusted. Some, like Braniff, didn’t.

Flying today is less romantic than riding the bus, although commercials by American and its competitors try to remind passengers of the glory days. Tiny seats so close together you can’t cross your legs prove more compelling.

My experience with American goes from vacations on my dad’s pass – getting up on my knees in the window seat to look at the big propellers on the wings – to enough business travel to earn gold-level AAdvantage status. That offered first-class upgrades, where there’s a whiff of romance left. At least I could cross my legs. And reading my dad’s copies of Flagship News years ago provided my introduction to internal communications.

This sea change naturally impacted airline public relations. I interviewed for a PR job with American several years ago. Romance tugged at my heart but reality pointed to the rows of cubicles emptied by multiple layoffs. I didn’t get the job. It might be just as well. PR becomes increasingly optional to a firm fighting to make a profit.

Having been through a corporate bankruptcy, I’m numb thinking about the challenge American’s PR staff faces. But the initial result seems good. I wish them well and every success in whatever the future may be.

Trust

A new survey finds the public perceives low-level employees as more trustworthy within most organizations. I find these results interesting as they dovetail with what I’ve seen informally in my public relations work over the years.

If true, this trend has multiple implications for practitioners focused on a number of important roles – community relations, internal communications, media relations, etc. For example, it may be more effective in crisis situations to have a well-trained local employee handle the media questions or meet with the mayor than to jet the big guy out from headquarters. Or, perhaps a service project featuring a group of blue-collar employees may have a more positive impact than a vice president handing over a check while the TV cameras roll.

Deciding who delivers the message can be as important as deciding what the message is.

Why PR Practitioners Should Care About Content Marketing

Michael Pranikoff, global director of emerging media at PR Newswire was the featured speaker at the PRSA Luncheon and Professional Development seminar in October. His luncheon presentation addressed the alignment of PR and Social Media because they both focus on storytelling. His focus on content marketing came from this statistic: 27 million pieces of content are shared daily. Here’s a brief video interview with Michael. You can follow him on Twitter or see some of his many presentations on Slide Share.