COMM 3520 Final

Action Planning: Strategies

what a public must do to fulfill an objective and channels through which messages will be sent to motivate that action, multiple may be required for each public

Action Planning: Key Publics

• Objectives accomplished by key publics • Demographics and psychographics • Relationshipwithorganizationor issue • Opinion leaders • Motivating self-interests • Viablecommunicationchannels Include description of each group Need specific strategy, tactic, objectives for EACH public

Marketshare and Competition

• Share of the market in terms of dollars, units, clients, donors, services, etc. • Market potential. • Competitors and their potential. • Competing attitudes, ideas and lifestyles.

Informational strategy

(also known as awareness or educational strategies) lay a significant foundation of information for the motivational strategies, always include some information to justify the action, if there is a significant lack of knowledge and understanding, you probably need an informational strategy to lay a foundation before you can implement strategies to motivate behavior, others may have enough to be included in the motivation

Research: Step 3 Core Problem/ Opportunity

1 sentence statement of main difficulty or prospect including likely consequences if not resolved or realized

Research: Step 2 Situation Analysis

2 Paragraphs 1st statement of current situation and challenge or opportunity 2nd difficulties/ challenges that could impede success

Public

A specific group of people who share a common interest.

8 Step Strategic Matrix: Evaluation Steps

Criteria and Tools

Social Media Communities CH. 4

External Environment Have a stake in the problem

Planning, Goals, and Objectives

PLANNING The process of using research to chart the step-by-step course to solve a problem, take advantage of an opportunity or meet a challenge. GOAL The result or desired outcome that solves a problem, takes advantage of an opportunity or meets a challenge. OBJECTIVES Specific, measurable statements of what needs to be accomplished to reach the goal.

Strategy components: channel

The channel stipulated in a strategy should be the best way to get the message to the public for the outlined purpose (e.g., health fair, workplace communication or opinion leaders). To be sufficiently planned, each strategy requires the development of specific tactics within the channel (communication tools like signage and T-shirts at staged events, brochures and personalized emails in the workplace and meetings with printed collateral material or tablet presentations for opinion leaders)

Self=Interests

The fundamental motivation for an individual's behavior.

Motivational strategy

that ask the key public to act in some way, motivate behavior,

Product or Service

• Product or service development, quality, design, packaging, pricing policies and structure, sales and profit history, market share, demand, trends, distribution. • Product or service sales features (exclusive, nonexclusive, differentiating qualities, competitive position in pub-lic's mind). • Sales force or service providers (size, scope, ability, cost/sale). • Product or service research and planned improvement

Action Planning: Step 1 Goal and Objectives

1 sentence overall result needed to resolve problem or seize opportunity not quantified Statements of specific results that lead to achieving the goal must be: specific, written, measurable, attainable, time-bound, cost conscious, efficient and mission-driven. Key public's become obvious if these are clear.

5 Societal Trends

1. is increasingly segmented publics requiring alternatives to traditional media channels for the dissemination of messages. TV provides a clear example. 2. dramatically escalating social problems that no longer affect only fringe or marginalized groups in society 3. an increased reliance on organizational communicators to establish relationships with publics to mediate issues. 4.leading us to a relationship-based approach to business management and communications is that business entities in the U.S. now face a more knowledgeable and business-savvy public that demands corporate commitment of resources to solve the problems affecting the community as well as employees and their families. 5. requiring mutually beneficial relationships with our publics is their previously mentioned control over access to information.

Strategy component: tactics

1. specify the communication tools within the channel more precisely 2. focusing tactics within a specific channel, you ensure that members of the key public will receive the message at least once, but likely more than once. 3. overlap makes it more certain the message will be selected to be perceived, retained, and acted upon. always need to be approached in the context of your research and the problem/opportunity you're tackling. 4. developing tactics only after your objectives, publics, messages, and strategies have been determined will ensure they are aligned to help you accomplish your goal 5. creativity required of good tactics must be carefully channeled to ensure the strategic alignment of your campaign. 6. the tools — the hammer, nails, lumber, and paint — you need to build a successful campaign 7. Tasks 8. activities you undertake to implement your campaign 9. everything that costs money, aside from research and measurement 10. calendar and in your budget 11. the success of your campaign will ultimately rest on the implementation of them 12. fail when they do not support strategies or are poorly executed 13. diversity is key increases creativity and results 14. the more the better 15. detail the creative tools designed to convey your messages and solicit action from your key publics 16. specific tasks that are the implementation of the campaign

Stake Holders

A broad group of individuals that has a vested interest, or "stake," in an organization. evaluate in forming their per-ceptions of reputation and relationship • Stakeholders affected by the problem, issue, challenge or opportunity. • Current attitudes, opinions and values of stakeholders pertaining to the problem, issue, challenge or opportunity. • Active or aware publics that may have formed in response to the problem, issue, challenge or opportunity. • Demographic and psychographic data (beliefs, values, attitudes, lifestyles and decision-making process). • Relationship quality between stakeholders, publics and the organization. • Social media conversations about the issue, challenge or opportunity, including hashtags, search terms, key words, volume, sentiment, trends, engagement, macro and micro influencers, content authors and publishers. • Motivating self-interests. • Intervening publics and opinion leaders. • Information sources and preferred media channel Enabling stakeholders have some degree of authority or control over your organization. They restrict organizations from or enable them to acquire resources and pursue their goals. Examples include shareholders, lawmakers and government regulators. Functionalstakeholders are essential to make your organization function prop-erly. Theyprovide the labor (employees or subcontractors)andresources (e.g., suppliers) your organization needs to produce and deliver products and ser-vices. They are also consumers ofyour organization's products and services. Normative stakeholders share a common interest, have similar values, seek relatedgoalsandexperience similarproblemsasyourorganization.Examples include competitors and industry associations. Diffused stakeholders have infrequent interactions with your organization. Usually, these interactions are caused by your organization's actions or deci-sions. They often get involved during a crisis. Examples include the mediaand activist groups.

Motivational strategy example

A motivational strategy would be to persuade parents of disabled children to sign up for one or more of the state's free health services through one-on-one consultations with health care professionals. Tactics for this strategy might include email invitations to meet, referrals from health care professionals and a sign-up at the health fair for an in-home consultation

Components of a strategy Ch. 8 (use reading schedule at top of Home Page to find chapters)

Action verb the key public through communications channel(s) that the objective will satisfy the key public's self-interests. Informational vs. Motivational. Tactics. Carefully planned strategies and tactics will ensure not only that your messages reach your target publics but also that they motivate a desired action or behavior. Strategies determine which channels are most appropriate to reach key publics.

Intervening Public

An influential individual or small group of people used to carry a message to a key public.

Strategies vs. Tactics

Approach vs. task Need many tasks to accomplish approach Tasks can't be broken down even more events could be a task or approach depending on breakdown (depend on size)

Edelman trust barometer and from text/ SLIDES also!

By 2014, research showed that business held the trust advantage over governmentandwas expected to lead thewayin helping government establish and maintain an appropriate regulatory environment (Edelman, 2018). By 2016, trust in all four institutions measured — business, government, nongovern-mental organizations (NGOs) and media — reached its highest level since the Great Recession of 2008. Trust in business had the largest jump in trust, putting it in a prime position to lead in cementing public trust in society's institutions. But by 2018, trust in the four institutions did not just erode, it imploded, partic-ularly in the U.S., which garnered the lowest trust level among the 28 international markets measured. According to CEO Richard Edelman, we are now in "an unprece-dented crisis oftrust" in the U.S., and in many other global markets. Edelman, one of the world's largest public relations firms, has conducted an annual global survey ofpublic trust in institutions. In 2018, overall trust among the informed public in the U.S. plunged 23 points to 45 percent, led by a decline in trust in government of 30 points to 33 percent — the largest trust decline in the history of the Edelman Trust Barometer (see Figure 1.1). Respondents said that government is the most broken institution in the U.S. (59 per-cent). Trust in business, media and NGOs in the U.S. also had significant decreases. At the same time, trust in China soared, led by an increase oftrust in government to 89 percent of the informed public. The strengthened trust level in China puts it at the top of the global trust index, accompanied by India, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates and Singapore. South Korea also scored higher trust levels underscoring the trend of strengthened Asian markets. The 2018 survey also shows a reversal in the declining credibility of CEOs. CEO credibility rose seven points to 44 percent. Business is now expected to be a change agent, as publics say building trust is now the primary responsibility of CEOs, even more important than producing high-quality products and services.

Communication: Project Management

Campaign calendar is used to direct whole campaign implements task list and helps you track them to completion budget helps measure costs vs projections

Communication: Quality Control

Checklists remind creators and editors of commmon mistakes Strategy briefs help to assure tactics are aligned with strategies

Action Planning: Big Idea

Creative strategy on which to build your entire campaign, appeals across all publics, 1 sentence, include bullets for strategy, visual representation, slogan/ hash tag

Types of Management

Crisis, Issue, Strategic Crisis - The process of anticipating and preparing to mediate problems that could affect an organization's environment and success. Issue - A long-term approach to identifying and resolving issues before they become problems or crises. Strategic - The process of evaluating all proposed actions by focusing on organizational goals, usually defined in short-term contributions to the bottom line.

External Environment

Economic, political and social developments that occur outside an organization but have an influence on it. The source of opportunities, challenges, and risks. Economic, political and social environment within which the organization operates and the problem or challenge has occurred along with any underlying issues. • History, evolution and future direction of the problem, issue, challenge or opportunity. • Pressures on the organization and the impact of current events on its operation and the maintenance of key relationships

Build Trust

Edelman Trust Building Mandate Foundation of Honesty and Openness Top - Down Business • Protect privacy • Drive economic prosperity • Provide jobs and training Nongovernmentalorganizations • Protect the poor • Call out abuses ofpower • Create a sense ofcommunity Government • Drive economic prosperity • Investigate corruption • Protect the poor Media • Guard information quality • Educate, inform and entertain • Protect privacy

Internal Environment

Events or conditions inside an organization that influence how it operates. Factors that influence internal environment can be categorized as strengths or weaknesses. • Purpose: Mission, values, character, history. • Management and leadership: Scope of business, corporate governance, senior leaders, size, growth, financial performance, social responsibility, environmental responsibility, ethical standards. • Workplace environment: Personnel, structure, culture, employee engagement, diversity and inclusion. • Reputation: Visibility, distinctiveness, authenticity, transparency, consistency, responsiveness. • Impact of the problem, issue, challenge or opportunity on the organization

Types of Research

FORMAL RESEARCH Data gathering structured according to accepted rules of research. INFORMAL RESEARCH Less-structured exploratory information gathering. QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH Using research methods that yield reliable statistical data. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH Using research methods that provide deeper insight into attitudes and motivations but don't provide statistical significance.

Informational and motivational strategy Example

For example, many people still do not understand that many mental illnesses — like depression — have a physiological cause that must be addressed with medication. Any effort to motivate people with mental illness to see a doctor would require creating a better informed public environment. But to motivate people to give blood, you may only need to tell them where and when to show up. Virtually everyone understands the need and the process.

Research

Gathering and using information to clarify an issue and solve a problem.

8 Step Strategic Matrix: Action Planning Steps

Goal and Objectives; Big Idea, Key Publics, Messages, Strategies, and Tactics; Calendar and Budget

Strategy Tactics: Interactivity Level

High, medium, low Less to more in each level High is an individual appeal, low is mass appeal Examples: High Email, Low Movie The higher it is the more response can be seen from action The more interactive the better your campaign tactics will be examples email, Social Media Middle combines high and low they don't get an immediate response but they can get a dealy response examples website Keep in mind more today have access and control over information Low Mass Media while not as used has it's purpose example: newspaper articles

Disinformation

Information that is intentionally inaccurate or misleading

Misinformation

Information that is unintentionally inaccurate or misleading

Demographic Data

Information used to segment publics according to tangible characteristics such as age, gender and socioeconomic status.

Psychographic Data

Information used to segment publics according to values, attitudes, lifestyles and decision-making processes. VALS

Evaluation: Tools

Methodologies you use to gather the data. Included in calendar and budget.

Calendar must include

Objectives, Strategies, Tactics for each public

Strategic Function

One that contributes significantly to the accomplishment of an organization's mission and goals

Build Relationship

Organizations build relationships with all their publics based on mutual respect, trust and human dignity — not just on self-interested gain. These relationships engender an environment in which community members seek solutions where all participants win. The community begins to look out for the best interests of the organization because it is in the community's best interest for the organization to thrive. Relationships with an organization's publics are based on critical values that have little to do with profit motivation. The values of service, respect and concern for community are at the base of the relationships we establish with people.

Industry

Organizations, companies, sales, distribution patterns, control and regulation, promotional activity, geographic characteristics, profit patterns, strengths, challenges. • Industry growth patterns, primary demand curve, per capita consumption, potential. • History, technological advances, trends. • Impact of the problem, issue, challenge or opportunity on the industry.

Research Sampling

Our environment has changed. CEOs require "big data" to make decisions, and they expect our recommendations to be logically based on reliable information. SAMPLING ERROR Measured as margin of error, it indicates the possible percentage variation of the sample data from the whole population. CONFIDENCE LEVEL The percentage of certainty that the results of a survey would be the same if replicated with a different sample. NONSAMPLING ERROR Mistakes made in designing and implementing a questionnaire that may include definitional differences, misunderstandings and misrepresentations as well as coding errors and/ or problems that negatively influence response rate. Stratified sampling. Truly random sampling should yield a cross-section of the population representative of the characteristics within the population (i.e., proportionate numbers of women and men and so on). Purposive sampling. Based on Katz and Lazarsfeld's two-step flow theory, purposive sampling identifies and surveys opinion leaders to determine attitudes and behaviors.

Primary and Secondary Research

PRIMARY RESEARCH Firsthand information gathered specifically for your current purpose. SECONDARY RESEARCH Information previously assimilated for other purposes that can be adapted for your needs.

Issues

Problems or disputes that arise between organizations and publics. Issues can evolve over time changing from emergent to current to crisis to dormant.

8 Step Strategic Matrix: Communication Steps

Project Management, Quality Control

Promotions and Resources

Promotions • Successes and failures of past policy, sales force, advertising, publicity. • Expenditures, budget emphasis, relation to trends. • Ad/PR/marketing strategies, themes, campaigns. • Promotions of competitors and like organizations. 8. Resources • Intervening publics and opinion leaders. • Attitudes and opinions toward product, issue or organization. • Physical facilities, budgets, personnel, client support

VALS Values, Attitudes, Lifestyles (where they fit and what they are)

Psychographic data of public attitudes, beliefs, lifestyles and decision-making pro-cesses achievers, survivors, sustainers, belongers both the original and the more recently revised segmentations, and understand the motivations tied to the differences in attitudes and lifestyles

Sections in 8 Step Strategic Matrix

Research, Action Planning, Communication, Evaluation

8 Step Strategic Matrix: Research Steps

Research, Situation Analysis, Core Problem/ Opportunity

Research helps

Save time and money. • Understand our publics. • Make sound decisions. • Avoid mistakes. • Discover new ideas. • Identify potential publics. • Identify communication channels.

Key Public

Segmented group of people whose support and cooperation is essential to the long-term survival of an organization or the short-term accomplishment of specific objectives

Action Planning: Calendar and Budget

Show when each tactic begins and ends relationship of publics and tactics organized by public and strategy Gantt Chart Projects the cost of each tactic Where costs will be offset by donations subtotals for each

Message Design

Start with your goals. "Stop thinking like a news bureau; your job is to change behavior, not report news." Simplify messages. "It doesn't matter how great your message points are if nobody can understand [or remember] them." Keep them short and simple. Makemessages credible. Ifthe public doesn't believe yourmessages, they won't act on them. Substantiate messages with factual evidence. Focus on the audience. People care about themselves, not about your organi-zation. Segment your audience, think like your audience and focus message points on your audience. Let the messages drive your content. If a tactic — a news story, photo or even a caption—doesn't help communicate one ofyour key messages, don't use it. Repeat messages. Research shows a message repeated or reinforced seven times over 30 days yields 90 percent retention. Relevance is equally import-ant. Ifinformation is personally relevant to the audience, fewer exposures are needed to make an impression

SWOT, Internal, External (know these and what effects what

Strengths and Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats Internal and External Factors Create on the Problem or Opportunity to Learn about your Public A way to analyze a company's or a department's position in the market in rela-tion to its competitors. The goal is to identify all the major factors affecting competitiveness before crafting a business strategy.

Research: Step 1 Background

Synthesis of primary and secondary research. Provides background on industry, external environment, organization, product, service or issue. Also stakeholder analysis and segmentation study of current trends in opinions, attitudes, and behaviors.

Organizational Relationships

The global community is in a crisis of trust. The crisis was precipitated by societal institutions — business, government, NGOs and media — neglecting the relationships that are key to our success. A staggering decline in trust of government has affected trust in the other three institutions leaving business and CEOs to act as change agents to regain public trust across the board. Strong, trust-based relationships are crucial to long-term survival. In the past 25 to 30 years, public relations scholars and communication professionals have been struggling to return the practice of the organization's communication to its strategic role and function. Recognizing that we evolved away from, rather than toward, the strategic counseling role we should be serving, we have examined our roots in communication as well as current trends in business, society and technology. Essentially, we are now in a better position than ever in terms of driving relationship building within organizations. We must systematically track the status of those relationships to ensure appropriate allocation of resources over the long term. Within the context of those relationships, we can more effectively use traditional analytical and strategic planning to solve organizational problems. The Strategic Communications Matrix provides one of the best tools available to approach all communications challenges and opportunities within the trust-based relationship framework of today's successful organizations

Relationships

Trust Barometer Example: Note 7 not on flight 2002 Fall of the CEO 2012 Fall of Government 2018 The Battle for Truth Fake News

Strategy components: tactics example

Using the health fair as a channel. One of your tactics might be to create an app for parents of disabled children that explains the services available to them. Other tactics could be social media posts, an infographic, video, or printed brochure. Perhaps a follow-up tactic would also be helpful, such as an email survey following the fair to see how beneficial it was and what parents learned

Action Planning: Tactics

creative elements and tools used to deliver messages through specific channels. Several are required to support each strategy. Examples are story placements, YouTube videos, Twitter posts, special events, infographics, websites or blogs.

Evaluation: Criteria

desired results established by and included in the objectives

Action Planning: Messages

public specific and self-interest small number of primary large number of secondary primary - short summary statement (sound bites) Secondary - bulleted statement with faqs, quotes, give credibility, provide ethos, pathos, logos of persuassion

Opinion Leaders

stakeholder research should also tell you who influences different publics. Who are the opinion leaders regarding the particular issue or challenge to be addressed? How do you identify who a public's opinion leaders are? Formal opinion leaders are relatively easy to determine. We see them every day (e.g., political officials) or know who they are by the issue or influence involved (e.g., religious leaders). Nevertheless, just because someone may hold a position of authority does not mean they can actually sway the opinion of our public. We ask them. Part of research is asking people whose advice they trust when making decisions. Focus groups and surveys are particularly useful in this process. We can also observe behaviors — watching how people react when they receive messages from different sources or analyzing who they follow on social media channels. Opinion leaders are best used to persuade and motivate Nevertheless, their credibility is based upon our publics' assessment of their character and judgment. Opinion leaders lose influence if they are perceived to be manipulated or manipulative.