A PR person saying there’s too much talk around? Are you reading correctly?
Well in fairness, the role of the PR has long been to work to cut through all the noise that’s out there in order to communicate a message clearly, and so impart influence.
Yes, PR is changing. But is has always been changing, it’s just that the pace has accelerated. As a child of the 80s (born in the early half of the 70s, but grew up chomping on 80s media) I was as dazzled at the rest of the country when Channel 4 launched. FOUR TERRESTRIAL TV CHANNELS! Where will we look for news and information? Will our heads explode?
It was an era that brought with it mass expansion of trade, business and consumer media. Then along came satellite and, later, cable TV. In less than a generation we’ve gone from not really having much to look at to needing 20,000 eyeballs to keep up with it all.
So we play an important role in filtering the good stuff and fighting the white noise. But now that the internet has made everyone a potential publisher, and the world is overbrimming with ‘talk’, is just talking louder or smarter the way to get the message through effectively?
Of course not. Most PRs realised that quite a while ago. Even so though, we do too much communicating by talking about things, rather than trying to do things that get talked about.
What am I ‘talking’ about? Well, it’s this simple: people MAY believe what you say, but they WILL believe what you do. If they read that you’ve done something or think something, they may well take the information on board and form an opinion about you. But show them what you’ve done or why you think something and they’re far more likely to understand, appreciate and endorse you to others, providing they believe in it.
In years gone by, PR managers would scrutinise the value of activities by assessing how many people would be reached by an activity. Want us to talk at seminar when only 50 people will be there? Not enough reach, even if the 50 people are relevant. Profile piece in a magazine? The bought circulation is quite low, let’s try something else.
Now with the internet, something that engages a relatively small number of people can quickly see influence spreading to a far wider audience. Because those who’ve experienced something, enjoyed it and been inspired by it can be set loose as ambassadors. Dialogue is more powerful than monologue, but charge it with feverish enthusiasm and it becomes a weapon.
Expect to see more on this from Speed soon. We’ve organised several campaigns in the past year that have seen the word spread like wildfire from a relatively small group on the ground to a far bigger audience online.
It’s a question of doing what you say to accelerate the impact of saying what you do.
