Aligning your communications goals with your company's overall
business goals not only wins you the admiration of management - it
wins you a bigger budget to do even better PR. Research proves
it.
The University of Southern California Strategic Public Relations
Center's first annual "Public Relations Generally Accepted
Practices (G.A.P.) Study," commissioned by the Council of Public
Relations Firms, shows that, "The more that a public relations
function is designed, practiced and evaluated in close alignment
with an organization's strategic business goals, the greater its
support from top management in terms of budget size, and the
greater its perceived contribution to the organization's
success."
This study of 328 corporate PR professionals examined the role
of the public relations function within both private and
publicly-held organizations nationwide to:
- Study the perceived value, organization and utilization of
internal public relations departments and how they work with public
relations firms; and - Uncover Generally Accepted Practices (G.A.P.) and "Best
Practices" for PR.
Here we'll explore the nine emerging "best practices" for
communications executives--defined as "those practices that, over
time, have proven themselves to be consistently reliable
contributors to organizational success"--uncovered by this
study.
1. Forge a Strategic Role for Public Relations. This study
confirms the necessity of public relations' strategic positioning
for increased internal PR budgets and greater responsibility for
setting organizational strategy.
2. Seek the Right Reporting Line. Public relations professionals
have long sought a proverbial "seat at the table." This study found
greater support and increased effectiveness among PR departments
reporting directly into the C-suite.
3. Know Your PR:GR Ratio. By understanding your PR:GR ratio
(public relations budgets as a percentage of gross revenue) and how
it compares to similar public relations organizations (a higher
PR:GR ratio was found among companies included in Fortune's "Most
Admired Companies" list), public relations officers can have more
confidence when seeking budget dollars.
4. Use PR Firms Appropriately. The study found agency usage to
be universal among Fortune's "Most Admired Companies," as those
organizations recognized the "strategic market insight and
experience" gained when retaining outside counsel. Therefore, the
study recommends that organizations retain public relations firms
that can "provide strategic added value on an ongoing, rather than
sporadic basis."
5. Focus on Crisis Avoidance and Management. Work with senior
management to establish and/or update crisis prevention and
management plans and set "crisis avoidance and mitigation" as a
barometer for public relations effectiveness and a basis for budget
discussions.
6. Be Proactive, Not Reactive. Use online technology to monitor
issues, the media and stakeholders, gaining a greater understanding
and knowledge of your business environment.
7. Focus on Ethics. Public relations should lead the way in
establishing and maintaining corporate reputation and setting
business practices that are beyond reproach.
8. Build a Reputation Reserve. Build reputation "credits"
through CSR initiatives, employee communications, sound
environmental policies and other programs. If you haven't made an
investment in your reputation, you can't afford to cut your public
relations budgets now.
9. Focus on Evaluation. Measurement, measurement, measurement.
If you want increased budgets, a larger role in setting
organizational strategy and greater perceived value, you MUST prove
the return on investment of public relations programs through
outcomes (public relations' impact on business outcomes--sales,
stock value, crisis mitigation) measurement.
While many of these practices appear self-evident, the study
found that they are clearly not universally accepted or supported.
The Council of Public Relations Firms believes if we are to push
the industry forward, they should be. A full copy of the USC
Generally Accepted Practices Study can be found in the Resources
section of the Council's Web site at http://www.prfirms.org.
Average Public Relations Budgets for "Most Admired"
Companies vs. non-"Most Admired" Companies
There is a correlation between an organization's standing on
Fortune's "Most Admired Companies" list and their public relations
budgets according to The University of Southern California
Annenberg School's Strategic Public Relations Center's Generally
Accepted Practices (G.A.P.) Study for PR. The study found:
- Among the Fortune 500, on average "Most Admired Companies"
spend a larger percentage (four times larger, in fact) of gross
revenue ($13.87 million) on public relations than those companies
not listed on Fortune's "Most Admired" ranking ($2.92
million). - Among the Fortune 501-1000, "Most Admired Companies" spend
$1.61 (or $2.65 million) for every dollar spent by companies not
ranked ($1.69 million). - The higher the Return on Assets (ROA), the higher the public
relations budget.
Kathy Cripps ([email protected]) is president
of the Council of Public Relations Firms. For more information
about the Council call 877-PRFIRMS (877/773-4767).