We all get into a rut sometimes. But with communications, where you need to cut through, or stand out from the crowd, a communications rut is dangerous. It opens the door to competitors and it stifles creativity.
Break free
Signs that you’re in a communications rut:
- Your 2013 communications strategy was simple to write. You took 2012’s and changed the date.
- You’re still writing press releases the traditional way. They’re not optimised, they’re not tailored for bloggers, they don’t consider visuals.
- You haven’t looked at how to incorporate communications technology.
- All your information is written. You don’t consider video or infographics, augmented reality or apps.
- If you’re a professional services firm, you describe your points-of-difference as “our track record, our experience, our client servicing”. It’s what all professional services firms say.
- You haven’t tried anything new for a while. And you suspect it wouldn’t get approved if you did.
- You spend all your time fighting fires. You don’t have time to be proactive.
Getting out of a communications rut, requires change. But it doesn’t have to be a huge change.
- Start incrementally to build confidence
- Look for easy wins
- Focus on the problem or opportunity at hand. It can help to conduct independent research for a fresh perspective.
- Get help. Either hire someone to do the day-to-day work, or pay for creative input.
- When writing a new strategy, don’t use your usual template. Free yourself up from the old format and you will free up your mind.
During one of my hostile community engagement projects, a man in his 70s raised his hand to backhand me across the face. Good sense stopped him. But it was terrifying.
His hand was shaking, his face was red, and he could no longer contain the rage that was consuming him.
I had been brought in after 12 months of my client saying nothing to the community. And in the absence of information, there was rage. So how do you get from enraged to engaged? It requires, and not necessarily always in this order:
- A willingness to admit past mistakes. This is the first step in moving forward.
- The ability to cop the anger. Sometimes people need to vent. Sometimes, like my man in his 70s, they have a right to feel angry. And as engagement professionals, we need to provide that space.
- Understanding what people are really upset about it. Are they really upset about traffic and dust, or are they really angry because of a past event. It could be as simple as a letter that your organization has sent. It could be that you’ve failed to deliver on promises. Or it could be you are talking about things that are important to you, like jobs, rather than the things that are important to them, like the legacy of their land for future generations.
- Time. People need time to get through the anger so they can sit down and talk.
- Getting to the masses. On a recent project, it was obvious that the community outrage was in fact outrage from a very small number of people, who were also enraging other members of the community. If you’re going to do community engagement properly, you have a responsibility to involve more than just the loudest voices.
- Deciding what you’re willing to negotiate on. Tell the public specifically what you want their input on. A telltale sign of poor engagement is to simply ask for feedback under the banner “have your say” without any indication of the negotiables and non-negotiables.
- And finally, a willingness to embrace anger. Accept that where there’s anger, there’s passion. And when there’s passion you can get interest and involvement.
For some of us, that might require a mental shift. But it’s a mental shift that means you won’t resent the man in his 70s. You’ll understand. You won’t get angry yourself. And you’ll be more likely to find a way forward.
Amanda Newbery is a licensed trainer for IAP2’s Emotion and Outrage in Public Participation Course.
Listen to ABC Radio’s Hidden Persuaders program, hosted by Steve Austin, as they discuss the marketing benefits of Ellen DeGeneres’ visit to Australia, as well marketing to the Chinese market. Panelists Amanda Newbery from Articulous Communications, Allan Bonsall from Lookingglass.com.au and Dr John Harrison also talk about proposed legislation on public insults.
Create a big splash, but publish everywhere to maximise ROI.
Modern marketing is demanding.
Fragmented media markets, social media and customer-driven content have created a ravenous need for content.
But creating new content seven days a week is exhausting and often unrealistic.
If you need to be in the news, on facebook, twitter, LinkedIn, pinterest, instagram and YouTube all at the same time, consider using the COPE strategy.
Create content Once.Make it big, or interesting or new.
Then Publish it Everywhere.
And not just once. Drip it out piece by piece across every platform.
Do one big survey, and release the findings piece by piece. Everywhere.
Create one media stunt, and wring every last opportunity out of it.
Release it all through automated publishing systems where you can link in your social media platforms to publish simultaneously.