Trend White Paper: How to Improve Messaging

in Public Relations

Kyla Brooks
Howard University Malin
 Public Relations is a profession that has evolved tremendously over time. Now,

professionals are expected to brand creatively, especially in the era of social media. Because

there is such a rapid sharing of information, it is more difficult for public relations practitioners

to keep their clients relevant. This is where messaging comes in.

Messages are the ties that bind the PR planning process together. They are essentially the

takeaways of your campaign; the essence of why youre making the campaign in the first place.

After understanding the situation a client is in, what goals and objectives you want to reach, and

who you want to target, you are left with the arguably most creative and difficult task of the

process: determining your messaging. Because there is so much information being spread, it can

be extremely hard to convince consumers and stakeholders that your client stands out: You have

to tell your story many times, using multiple communication vehicles in order to get attention

(Estrella-Basilio).

Your key messaging should be consistent throughout all tactics. They are meant to

crystallize the information that you want your audience to know, so they should permeate all that

you do. Whether these are full documents like press releases or short social media posts,

everything should have the same key messages. This will give your audience a clear

understanding of what your client is about and what actions you want them to take. Also, if your

messaging is truly effective, your audience will know that its meant for them and will respond

accordingly. Moreover, having strong, consistent messaging allows all those involved with the

process (your client, their team and your PR team) be on the same page about how to

communicate with the public. This allows everybody to share the same focus, which can

ultimately help you track how successful a tactic is.

 It is easy to see why the messaging is such a key part of the public relations process, but

it can certainly be the most difficult. The messaging blends your creativity with a strong

understanding of your client, your goals, you market, and your target audience. Lacking this

foundation or lacking creativity causes problems for PR professionals. The remedy for a stronger

understanding of how to go about your process is more research. The creative part of the process

is more than just having natural abilitythere are practical steps that you can take to improve

this. The Cision article 10 Ways to Improve Your PR Messaging offers 10 ways to approach

the messaging. Their second tip, Be concise is self-explanatory, and the third tip, Purge your

jargon complements the former well (Dougherty, 2015). These tips are great to consider because

they help to eliminate any kind of fluff from your messaging. The messaging should be

targeted and to the point so that the audience is able to catch it, understand it, remember it and

take action. Overdoing the message with unnecessary words or industry-specific terminology can

hurt the clients chance of reaching the desired outcome.

Another great tip from this article suggests that you make messages sticky The article

quotes a book by Chip and Dan Heath that uses their SUCCES acronym to describe

commonalities between strong messages. This acronym stands for simple, unexpected, concrete,

credible, emotional stories (Dougherty, 2015). The simple refers to the need to find the heart

of messaging. The unexpected suggests that your messaging should shock your audience and

offer something new. Concrete encourages the practitioner to optimize your message to be

remembered later which can also be understood as being consistent and repetitive with the

messaging. Credible messages are believable, while having the emotional component allows

your audience to connect with the message. Stories gives your messaging a narrative and

ultimately brings it to life in a memorable way.

 Knowing your foundation and taking these practical steps to build a great message are

helpful, but there are threats to messaging that can ultimately hurt your brand if you are not

proactive. A huge threat to messaging is a lack of cultural sensitivity. This issue comes when you

dont understand the psychographics of your audience. A good example of messaging-gone-

wrong was an offensive 2011 Nivea ad. The ad can be seen here:

The advertisement shows a black man with the head of another black man with an afro

and beard (interpretively, himself as he used to look) preparing to throw the head across a

football field with the words re-civilize yourself. Even worse, the messaging at the top is,

Look like you give a damn, implying that the head being thrown is the one who looked like he

didnt. This ad was ultimately pulled, but serves a good example for the lack of cultural

sensitivity. African American hair constantly gets scrutinized and discriminated against for not

being professional or well-kept. This should have been considered prior to ruining the re-

civilize yourself and look like you give a damn messages with a twisted view of black people

that ultimately hurts the branding for the company. Not only does the actual message matter, but

how you deliver that message can change an audiences view of a brand completely. This can

also be seen when important representatives of a company make damaging comments that offend
their main audience. This was seen when an affidavit from Wells Fargo was discovered where

black people were referred to as mud people. Whether a part of your campaign or not, the

messaging must be reflected in the clients operations. When unprecedented PR nightmares like

these happen, it is important to take swift action in responding to the crisis, reminding the

audience of the clients commitment to their message, and guide important representatives on

how to act in order to stay consistent with and enhance the messaging.

Having a strong understanding of the company, the problem, the market, and your

audience are the first steps to establishing good messaging. Natural creativity influences this part

of the public relations planning process a lot, but there are very easy tips to keep in mind when

forming those messages. To ensure the success of your messaging, do not only take into account

what needs to be said, but the psychographics of your audience that could influence their cultural

sensitivity. If all goes wrong, be prepared to take action to minimize the damage, and refocus the

company and the audience on the core messaging of the campaign. All of these tips will

ultimately help you to successfully carry out a full public relations campaign, and should ensure

you meet the objectives youve set.

References

Dougherty, J. (2015, February 02). 10 Ways to Improve Your PR Messaging. Retrieved March
25, 2017, from http://www.cision.com/us/2015/02/10-ways-to-improve-your-pr-messaging/

Estrella-Basilio, L. Messaging: The Foundation of Successful PR. (n.d.). Retrieved March 25,
2017, from http://prinyourpajamas.com/messaging-successful-pr/#more-4698

Stampler, L. (2011, December 30). The 10 Most Offensive Ads Of 2011. Retrieved March 25,
2017, from http://www.businessinsider.com/most-deserved-apologies-of-2011-for-offensive-ads-
2011-12#nivea-1

Weatherhead, D. (2011, December 02). Key Message Development: Building a Foundation for
Effective Communications. Retrieved March 25, 2017, from
https://prsay.prsa.org/2011/12/02/key-message-development-building-a-foundation-for-effective-
communications/

Why Distinct PR Messaging is Key in Defining Your Brand. (2014, October 03). Retrieved
March 25, 2017, from http://www.5wpr.com/new/pr-messaging/