For the last year, I’ve been working through the APR process – Accredited in Public Relations.  I’m nearly at the end of the journey. On January 10, if I pass the exam, (fingers crossed!), I’ll be able to add those nifty little letters after my name, “APR,” and life goes on. (UPDATE: Passed!)

A great benefit of the study course is that it’s filled in a lot of blanks in my PR and marketing knowledge base, concepts I didn’t pick up in either my liberal arts college career, or in the School of Freelancing Life.

This week, I studied the difference between a Vision Statement and a Mission Statement. These are key communication concepts that businesses can use in both their internal and external communications. You may think, “Only massive corporations like Apple or GM have vision statements.” But every business or organization, even a business of one, can benefit from thinking through and writing down a vision and mission statement.

Vision statements paint with a broad brush. They state a future goal, answering questions like, “Why does XYZ, Inc. exist?”   A vision statement spells out the future state of being of an organization.  It begins with the end in mind – like Microsoft’s famous, “A PC in every home.” That statement seemed wildly unrealistic in the early 80′s, but not now.

An effective vision statement should be emotional, and resonate with everyone in an organization, to help them feel energized and proud to be part of something much bigger than themselves.  Being able to contribute to a larger mission is more motivating in the long run than simply working toward financial gain.

Google’s vision is “to organize the world‘s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”  UPS’s vision statement is, “Our goal is to synchronize the world of commerce by developing business solutions that create value and competitive advantages for our customers.” These are broad, overarching goals.

Mission statements are more common than vision statements, and strive to answer, “How are we different from our competitors?” and “What is our strategy for achieving our goals?” They change over time. Mission statements help people set priorities and goals, and provide a framework for an organization’s activities. For example, Kia Motors’ mission statement is “Provide high-quality, high-value vehicles at prices well below the competition.”  A local hospital system’s mission is, “To promote health, prevent illness and provide state-of-the-art diagnosis and treatment, whenever and wherever we can best meet people’s individual and family needs.” It’s a waste of time and resources to engage in activities that don’t support your mission.

The difference between a mission statement and a vision statement is that a mission statement focuses on a company’s present state (“here’s what we do best”), while a vision statement focuses on a company’s ideal future (“here’s where we want to be”).

As we move into the fresh, unspoiled year ahead, set aside some time to think about your business’s value and mission statements, and how they can help guide your 2011 endeavors.  Personally, I’m working on the MOD values and mission, to help me stay focused on what we do best for our clients and our families. We can help you work through the process for your company, too.

Cheers~!

Kate
kate@mktondemand.com

If you haven’t thought about using video for content marketing, this is the time to do it. Consumers today are relying on mediums like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and smart phones to find out information about products and services before they buy.  But beware of producing video that’s just a commercial for your business. How many of you are fast forwarding through the commercials on your DVR? Consumers don’t want to see advertisements, they want to see stories or engaging education.

Think you have a story that could be viral on the web, but not quite sure you have it in your budget to do so? Thankfully, there are so many tools today that can allow your internal team to create your own videos. You can take video with a Flip camera or a webcam and edit it with programs that most of you already have on your computer like iMovie for Macs or Windows Movie Maker for PCs. With these programs, you can include images, PowerPoint presentations, transitions and perform your own editing. Other tools you may want to consider are a green screen to to create a blank canvas for your background and a product like ScreenFlow that captures or print screens the contents of your desktop.

These programs allow you to easily post a video on YouTube. Once it’s there, you can embed it anywhere – your website, your email campaign and even your Facebook page. If your video has something people want to share, you have a cost-effective marketing piece that also benefits your search engine ranking. In fact, videos have enabled sites with poor ranking to achieve first-page rankings. Forrester Research found that videos were 53 times more likely than traditional web pages to receive an organic first-page ranking. So remember, it’s important to optimize your video with a keyword-rich title, content, and descriptive meta data.

Worried about time constraints for this project? You can always leave the whole project to the pros or contract out pieces of the project, such as search engine optimization or editing.

We’ll see you in the movies.

Up until not long ago, these questions often required expensive and difficult market research.  Not anymore!  If you’re not using some free tools available to you, such as Google Analytics, you’re missing out on a wealth of great data that can help drive marketing and better respond to what your customers want.

If you book by the end of the year, we’ll give you a free, no-strings-attached marketing planning session in the month of January.  ($300 value).  All the ideas, advice and strategy generated are yours for you to use as you see fit. Everyone (current clients too!) is invited.  If we haven’t seen you for a while, let’s catch up. So call or email today to set up a time.

Technology has changed. Social media has skyrocketed.  Your PR efforts overlap with your web strategy which integrates with your customer service plans. Strategies that were too expensive a few years ago are now within reach. You have more options than ever to reach out, engage with your customers, and drive attention to your business.

Don’t let change scare you — let it excite you instead!  Even if the tools have changed, the basic principles of marketing – consistency, relationships, great writing and selling on value are still the same, you just have many more creative ways to play with them.

With many businesses putting marketing on the back burner during the economic downturn, your bare-bones, do-what-you’ve-always-done strategy could be missing the mark — and missing opportunities.

This is why now is a great time to plan. As the economy recovers, are you positioned to make the most of increased interest in your company? How can you spend your marketing dollars in the most effective places? How are you consistently reaching out to your customers? How can marketing become more automatic, and less stressful? It’s all part of the plan.

Many times there are forces outside your control at work.  Economic uncertainty is a huge factor this election season.  Other items on the ballot can also affect your outcome. For example, here in Wisconsin, the Republican primary became very competitive at the last minute, increasing voter turnout. In retrospect, a school campaign may have benefited by engaging “yes” voters, sooner.

So how can you increase the odds of your community supporting a referendum, and protect yourself from last minute “game changers?”

No one can completely predict everything that can happen, but here are a few “best practices” that will give you the best possible chance of success.

1. Give your public plenty of opportunity to “form the solution.”  A preliminary survey or informal vote prior to your referendum gives your community a sense of ownership early in the process.

2. Engage your “YES” group as soon as possible.  Get them on board with your solution, and have them brainstorm all the questions and answers.  Write out and distribute FAQs or talking points for them.

3. Provide clear, factual, easy to understand public information.  Keep in mind that many people make decisions based on “What’s in it for me?” and “How much is it going to cost?” Make sure you answer these questions, and do it visually (with charts and graphics) whenever possible.

4. Have strategies in place to deal with surprises.  One of our districts was surprised at the last minute by robo-calls, spreading misinformation, by a national anti-tax group. The calls may have made a difference in a tight vote, and the district had no way to fight back on a similar scale.

5. Take a deep breath, and don’t give up!  Many times, the second time’s the charm. Rethink, rework, re-engage, and start planning for success next time.

Need help with your next referendum? Start building a better relationship with your community TODAY.

Add the instant nature of social media (Facebook and Twitter) to the mix and it’s easy to see how fast “bad” information can spread.

This summer I read an interview with Christopher Barger, director of global social media for GM. Barger detailed the social media tactics GM used when the company decided it was filing for bankruptcy.

On May 26, Barger found out GM was filing Chapter 11  -  on June 1. His team had just one week to put together a social media communications plan, which was to work in conjunction with other media relations, advertising and marketing tactics.  (The full text of the article is here http://www.prsa.org/Intelligence/TheStrategist/Articles/view/8650/1013/General_Motors_manages_crisis_with_social_media.

Barger’s team had to think on its feet and get prepared in a week’s time. So how can you as a school district PR professional prepare to use social media to your advantage in a crisis? Here’s some communication management lessons we can start to put into practice, before an emergency hits:

1. Set up base camp. Save social media for conversations and dialog. Tell the district’s side of the story, with as much information as possible, on your website. Here’s what’s been done so far, here’s what we have planned, here’s recent updates to the situation.  You can’t over-communicate during a crisis. Whether you are facing an imminent crisis such as accident or injury, or managing a long-term situation like the budget crises many districts face, your audience expects you to have answers at the ready. They are looking for information, and people expect your district website to be chock full of information. Use the district website to post your official press release and as an information center.

2. Strike a balance: After the official press release, SEC filings and corporate information was released, Barger used Twitter to push out the initial information. After the first seven or eight pieces of communication were put out, his team tried to strike a 20/80 balance: 20 percent  of social media information (on Twitter, Facebook or industry blogs) was GM information. The other 80 percent was responding to questions by the public, even if they were expressing disapproval, they tried to respond individually. Answer as many questions as possible. Those who are affected by the crisis – staff, students, parents and tax payers –  want to know they are listening, and that you care.

3.  Get everyone on board. As a global company, GM had the luxury of doubling their social media communications staff to help respond on Twitter and Facebook during this crisis. Few, if any, school districts have such resources, so they need to get creative. Tap key staff, parents, or volunteers to help communicate district messages and respond to questions.

The most powerful weapon you have is your base of loyal supporters. Give these people the information they need to advocate for you and your district.

4. Engage your critics. An outspoken blogger heavily criticized GM’s advertising during their bankruptcy announcements. Barger’s team invited this blogger to Michigan, to spend the day with CEO Fritz Henderson. The blogger not only was able to tape his conversation with the CEO and later post it on his blog, but he also got a behind- the-scenes look at some of the innovations GM had in the pipeline. Although this experience did not significantly change the blogger’s opinion of GM’s advertising, it did give him the chance to make a human connection – to step out from behind a computer screen to see the passion and dedication of the people at GM who were trying to make things better for their customers.

There will always be critics who just want to rant and rave about your district, but for those who offer constructive criticism, try to engage then on a personal level and listen to their concerns. Using social media as a quick response tool shows your audience that you are listening, and you care about their concerns.

5. Stay engaged and follow through.You need to be engaged before the crisis to earn credibility. GM built up a community in the social media realm (on Facebook and Twitter) for several years before their bankruptcy crisis.

At the beginning of a crisis, here is some information that your school district can provide to the public:

• A brief summary of the nature and scope of the problem(s), in language that the public can easily grasp
• Why the problem(s) occurred
• How the district initially responded
• What the current situation is and how it will affect students, parents or staff

Engagement during a crisis has to be backed up with real action afterward to demonstrate change. It’s a long term sell, through relationships, rather than in the immediate term. It’s a long term approach of “doing business” with your community.

Successfully managing a crisis or issue is half the battle. The second half is repetition: telling your audience, over and over, what you’re doing, what you plan to do, and what you might have done differently.

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How is your district using social media? Share your stories with us, kate@mktondemand.com or christy@mktondemand.com

Kate Winckler

The topic was school PR. What a great opportunity for school district PR folks, PR reps, teachers and an education reporter from a local TV station to connect! People anywhere in the country — or world — can participate.

We asked the reporter about the relationship between the media and schools, and how we can work better together. In her opinion, a school communicator can:

• Help with deciphering budget issues so the public has a better understanding of issues. Their viewers want stories about budget information.
• Provide information  about  what’s happening in and outside the classroom, especially cutting edge technology and new teaching techniques
• Gather information on events and issues when requested and respond in a timely manner
• Make it possible for TV cameras to get footage of classroom or school activities (either for B roll or for a specific event). This means getting permissions and security lined up in advance.

Finally, the reporter said that she loves it when school PR reps call when a student or teacher is making a difference in their communities. “Good News Matters!”

How is your district getting good news into the hands of the media?

Kate

Follow me on Twitter.  Join in the next #schoolPRchat, Tuesday’s at 8pm EST.

Politics, options, fragmentation and change are huge challenges for our school districts – and the complexity they create can ONLY be managed with strategic communications planning.