I love hiking. I love the woods, and tents and rivers and fires. Not everyone does. Some people would rather never go hiking or camping ever, and that is okay. Our differences are what make us all so interesting. We are a world of consumers; all with different personalities and only a finite number of similarities.
We are all so different that it is, at times, hard to believe that there are a few ideas or messages that can bring enough people together to get mass attention. And that is exactly the business all of us PR people are in. We are the people with the ideas. We send out that golden message.
-How can we make sure that OUR message appeals to many people when there are so many demographics to appeal to?
I was reading a great piece at The Future Buzz (everyone should check it out) and that article contained yet another “golden nugget” of PR expertise: “If your content gets a positive response, go with it.”
That is absolutely true, and I feel that being ready to run with anything that gets a bit of traction is important, also I feel there is a second concept that will need to go with that idea. If we run with whatever gets attention, how can we maintain our roots, and the image that we intended for ourselves?
Well I found the answer to that question in chapter 12 of the book Engage by Brian Solis. When discussing the establishment of “Online Brand Persona” Mr. Solis states that many companies have a “ready, fire!” approach that is not thought through (Solis, pg 98). He explains that you need to identify your company, your image, and your message and stick to it!
In order to maintain your image, and still have the flexibility to run with whatever gets attention you need to do two things.
1) Don’t put out anything that would deviate from your message with further exploration. You never know what may become popular.
2) Decide ahead of time what your message/image is, and the parameters in which you can move around when reaching out on the internet.
Accepting that what you have to say is important will take you far in the PR world. We need to make sure that, as we set ourselves in the online community, we are not afraid to show our personality. We also need to be sure that we emphasize our core values and not deviate from them, this will create the public relationships we are looking for.
pmartell 