You Need to Know It to Promote It

Your press release just went out about a product launch, or a novel event that is sponsored by your organization. Then you start getting questions. Are you stuck?

As the spokesperson for your organization or product, you need to understand what your product does, what your organization stands for, the purpose of the event – and the benefits each has to your audience, or your customers. How else can you promote any of it in a compelling, clear way?

There is a proverb that “a jack of all trades is a master of none.” Well, in public relations, you need to be a master of communications, and a master at finding any information you do not know.

How detailed should your expertise be? Here are a few examples:

• You do not need to know whether the “agile” method was used to develop a software product – but you do need to know the functionality of that product. And how it is different from your competition. Remember that everyone’s solution is touted as “efficient and effective” these days. How is your offering unique?
• You don’t need to know each detail of how an event is being planned – but you do need to know the target audience, the pricing, the number of minimum and maximum attendees, the presenters and their message. For example, is the event aimed at new customers (or members) or existing customers (prospective members)? Is the message of the conference targeted at a management level, or will there be detailed, hands-on workshops for a more technical audience?
• In Toastmasters terms, is a particular event targeted at officers, or members who wish to be professional speakers?
• If your Toastmasters District Website touts the benefits of a Speechcraft program – do you know what that is? How it works? How to start one?

Good PR reaches the right audience, with the right message. If you promote a product or event incorrectly, both your organization and your audience will be frustrated, because of misaligned expectations.

And in these days of two-way dialogs with your customers, you need to be able to answer questions. If you do not, it is not just you that loses credibility – it is your product or organization.

So if there’s something you don’t know, learn it – or at least know whom to ask!

Branding – A Symbol of your Identity

One day, your header is yellow; the next day, it’s green. One day, you use the Toastmasters International logo; the next, no logo; the next, the District 4 logo.

And then you wonder when your audience isn’t sure which messages are yours – and which originated elsewhere. You do not have a clear brand, or identity, which represents a consistent message and core values, a brand that is symbolized by a consistent visual image, color or tagline.

What goes into creating a recognizable brand?

• Representative – the brand name or visual should represent the purpose of the product, service and/or organization and establish its positioning relative to competitors. Over time, a brand should come to be synonymous with the value of the organization and its offerings.
• Memorable – your audience, or customers, must be able to easily identify the unique logo (think of Apple Inc.’s logo, either with or without color), tagline (such as Nike’s "Just Do It" slogan, which premiered in 1988), or even tune (such as the Intel signature sound).
• Consistent – the brand should be used in all communications, across all geographies. For example, every beverage company ensures that their brand name and logo translates well internationally, and will never release public information – press releases, advertisement, e-mail, even a social media presence – without their brand clearly identified.

In many industries, such as high tech, companies hold their partners to stringent rules when co-branding messages. Just skimming the surface, consider any computer hardware manufacturer (HP, Lenovo, Dell, etc.), which often include the branding of internal components such as processors (Intel, AMD, etc.) and graphic cards (nVidia, ATI, etc.) their advertisements – and even attach the component logos directly on their desktops and laptops. These component logos are used with the agreement of the component manufacturers, and are governed by detailed contracts that govern the size and placement of these logos.

A brand is different from a theme; a theme is temporary, often associated with a period of time or an event. For example, a conference may have a theme around which presentations and decorations are organized. Within the Toastmasters organization, each International President and each District Governor defines a theme, which changes every year when a new leader is elected. These themes are used for a specific event or term, but the brand of the organization as a whole – as a public speaking entity – does not change.

Who has done it right? Check out the top 100 commercial brands according to Business Week, as well as the top 100 non-profit brands by Cone.

Taking a lesson from the top 100, once you have established your brand, use it consistently, across all media, in all messages, to all audiences – in e-mail, press releases, flyers, business cards, programs, and so on, and so on, and so on…………

Survey Design – KISS (Keep It Short and Sweet)

We all hate homework. And filling out a survey is a little like homework. To get good feedback from a survey, it needs to be as painless as possible.

Most important is to keep the number of questions short. If the evaluation is too long, participants will simply not fill it out. While some conferences bribe participants with a T-shirt or similar prize for returning a survey, that does not mean that the quality is better. Keep it simple – the questions should fit on one side of one page, with plenty of white space for comments. An ideal number is 5 questions.

Survey Design

Whether rating a conference, a newsletter or a training session, it is tempting to make all questions about numbers. While numbers help in reporting statistics, they are often not very specific, or helpful when applying specific feedback to the next event or newsletter.

• Allow the responders to provide a context – are they evaluating one day of a conference, or the full multi-day conference? Is the trainee in a session experienced or completely new to the topic?
• Include one rating question about the value of the entire event. Opposing theories advocate an even number scale versus an odd number scale. For example, ratings from 1-6 force someone to lean on the high or low side, since there is no mid-point. A rating of 1-5 allows someone to be neutral, and give a 3 – right in the middle. Having a larger range – such as 1-10 – may not be much help, since the difference between a 7 and 8 is inconsequential.
• Do not include multiple rating questions for the same session. Over 50% of participants will circle the same rating for each question, so you are not getting differentiated feedback about different aspects (speaker knowledge/presentation skills/content/hand-outs). It’s often even a stretch when asking about content vs. facilities of a conference!
• Use open-ended questions that require a text response for more detailed and creative suggestions. You will be surprised how many thorough responses you receive when the majority of the questions are in this essay question style – some respondents even use the back page!

Survey Responses

Now it’s time to consolidate, analyze and act on the survey responses.

• Consolidating feedback electronically is the most helpful for calculating average scores. This may mean entering paper surveys into a spreadsheet, word processing document, or online survey tool – many of which provide out-of-the-box reports.
• Once consolidated, distribute the results to those being evaluated by the survey – be it conference organizers, trainers, speakers, newsletter authors.
• Keep in mind that some participants are "hard graders." Aim for above the mid-point of your scale; don’t expect a perfect score. It may also be helpful to break down the survey feedback by the level of experience of the responder.

Finally, act on the responses! If someone signed a survey and voiced a specific concern or question, make sure you provide an individual response. Announce anonymous summary results, when feasible, for example in a newsletter. Incorporate the feedback in future sessions, events and messages.

The more your audience sees that you are listening, the more likely it is that you will receive honest feedback in the future – including, of course, the compliments!