Welcome to the blog of Wendy McWilliams , Managing Director of WMC Public Relations, which is located in Melbourne, Australia.

Through this site, I will provide insights into how businesses can utilise the PR tools employed by professionals to help their business grow. Using public relations can help to develop customer relationships, shape market perceptions and build valued brands. 

Please click the link below to visit WMC PR's new website:

www.wmcpr.com.au

PR blog : latest entry

Wednesday, 19 October 2011

Producing a newsletter

Before you think about producing a newsletter (for external audiences), you need to determine what its purpose is and whether the effort will justify the reward.

Believe me, there is considerable effort in publishing a professional newsletter that is interesting, attractive, error-free, is actually read, and works on all levels.

While e-newsletters are more typical these days, there is still a place for hard copy newsletters.

As part of the planning process, some important questions that you need answers to are:

1. Do you have a database of customers, prospects and other stakeholders or can you create one?
2. Could you buy an opt-in mailing list to add to this list?
3. Do you have someone to manage its production?
4. Can you source enough new information - and photos - for every issue?
5. How often do you want it come out?
6. Have you got a budget for it?
7. Is the web infrastructure in place to allow for feedback?
8. What statistics are required to check its success and is management supporting it?

If all these answers were positive and the reward for a successful newsletter will be beneficial, then you are probably ready to make further investigations.

Other aspects to be part of the planning process include:

* A name of the newsletter.
* A template that complements corporate graphics.
* Someone to research and write articles and edit others.
* Is this person good at catchy subject lines and keyword placement for SEO.
* Sourcing a photo, graph or illustration to go with each story.
* Appointing someone responsible for its production and meeting deadlines.
* Who will do the graphic design/web uploads/hosting?
* What web analytics software will you use?
* Who will be responsible for list hygiene?

I realise there are a lot of questions to be answered, but producing a monthly newsletter is not easy unless you have a reasonable budget and staff with time on their hands. If this isn't the case you could consider a bi-monthly or quarterly newsletter, which still requires staff time and a financial commitment.

Having hard copy newsletters are great for handing out to customers and prospects, suppliers, new staff, attendees at workshops or seminars, the media and any other stakeholders.

There is a lot more that has to be covered before a newsletter can get off the ground, but these are the basics that need to be addressed first.

Extra Tip.
Wondering what stories could be included in the newsletter? Here are some ideas:
* new products
* product enhancements/upgrades
* interesting end user applications
* special offers
* exhibitions & trade show participation
* new orders/contracts
* profiles of relevant people/companies
* videos
* export successes
* new applications
* tips
* survey results

Newsletters and e-newsletters are bread and butter for WMC Public Relations. Check out our services at http://www.wmcpr.com.au

Saturday, 3 August 2011

Employee Communication

Within an organisation there are usually three management categories responsible for employee communication: HR, PR and the supervision or management of the person in his or her specific role. In fact, all managers should be effective communicators.

HR plays an important role in maximising the return on investment in employees. This involves recruitment, training and development, industrial relations, workforce management, record keeping and change management, amongst other functions.

Public relations also has a distinct role in employee communication while there is also some coming together of HR and PR functions on specific issues, such as industrial relations.

One of the key reasons for using PR in employee communication is to foster good management/employee relations. Knowing that one-way communication is of little or no value at all (ie management to employees) it is important to have mechanisms in place that allows the free and flowing transfer of information between all parties, particularly from the bottom up.

If you think that setting aside an hour each week where senior management and employees sit around a table eating company-bought sandwiches and talking about work issues, think again. This probably won't cut the mustard these days. Staff aren't going to raise an issue with the thought of being singled out as a troublemaker.

As employees are the people who usually have good ideas about how things can be run better, perhaps it is better to have off-site facilitated workshops on a team-by-team basis, without senior managers present. This is more likely to highlight problems in the workplace and provide suggestions on how they can be resolved.

In our arsenal of tools, PR practitioners can be instrumental in conducting attitude surveys, producing newsletters (electronic and hard copies), maintaining intranets/private websites, running employee competitions, producing videos (by the CEO giving a company update, for example), implementing staff recognition and reward programs, and using the web and social media to establish and maintain a sharing of information and two-way dialogue.

Also, if your organisation hasn't done a communication audit, plan for one to be done - both formal and informal. Management need to know what is working well, what isn't and what could work better.

Employee communication is just one of the many roles undertaken by the PR professional. Check the website at
http://www.wmcpr.com.au/services for the other functions we can provide..

Thursday, 21 July 2011

Surveys and research

Surveys and other formal research can be instrumental in many types of PR campaigns. For example, WMC PR has conducted surveys for numerous clients in Melbourne who needed quantitative and qualitative information to help them plan future marketing strategies. Even the humble suggestion box is a great way to get feedback.

Whether you want information from existing customers, potential customers, employees, suppliers, shareholders, community groups or other stakeholders, surveys are an excellent tool to gauge statistics and opinions.

The information gained can not only be used to help your own organisation plan for the future, but also used to create media announcements to help promote your business.

Would you like to know the answers to these questions?

Q: Do your customers know exactly what your organisation does?

Note: You may be surprised to know that some customers know you for one thing only and have no idea that you offer other products/services.

Q: Are your customers satisfied with the products and services you deliver?

Note: If customers are not returning, perhaps there is a specific reason that you can address easily and quickly.

Q: How well is your brand known in the marketplace?

Note: If 1000 people were given the names of five similar products, where would your brand be ranked?

Q: What do your employees like and don't like about working for your company?

Note: Unless you know, you can't do anything about it. Being an employer of choice means you attract good staff and having good staff gives you a competitive advantage.

Q: What do you know about your customer or potential customer?

Note: If you provide product service and support, it would be beneficial to know the average age of equipment in use in the industry.

Other standard surveys include exit or post conference surveys, course evaluation surveys and "made up" surveys.

What is "made up" I hear you ask? The results of these surveys appear regularly in the daily press and online media. It's where a company has commissioned a large survey on a subject that is relevant to their business and published the findings.

Here's a simple example, ABC Recruitment conducts research (through a reputable organisation) to ascertain the percentage of employees who are happy in their job. The figure could possibly be quite low, which would have implications for the broader business community to lift their game and provide a better workplace and more suitable job position. It could even be linked to increased depression in the community if an independent authority provided added analysis. Result: ABC Recruitment gains considerable coverage, linked to a survey that it created to achieve this desired objective.

I look forward to your comments on surveys and general public relations in general.
 

Wednesday, 6 July 2011

Measuring Your PR Program

In order to evaluate the success of a PR Program, various criteria can be applied and research undertaken. I have listed below some of the more common measurement tools.

It is important before a PR program starts that the senior staff involved or responsible for the PR program give their expectations of the PR outcomes. This will assist in determining the evaluation methodology to be employed in generating a "return on expectation".

Assessing the value of something can be a subjective measure, which relates to personal measures of expectation, worth and importance. However, a return on investment is a quantitative financial measure that relates expenditure with business results. Of course, research is essential to prove both value and determine the ROI.

The following measures of PR performance can be used:

One should note that most of these measurement activities do require a dollar investment. It is best to decide on which methods will be used when the PR Program is being developed.

PS I welcome any feedback, questions or queries. Just drop me a note at info at wmcpr dot com dot au.

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