Why are PR-specialists not only about strategies, content-planning and events nowadays? And not only about market research, pitching partners and production. Because reality dictates other circumstances. Especially in communications.
Today journalists` invitation to an event is a quest. Publishing media material not for all the money in the world is a million-dollar task. But ignoring communication channels relevant to the company is the same as being invisible.
Ways to achieve the main task of communication specialists – dialogue with society – have changed. And it happened not only because of war with Russia. Other factors caused it as well: information war that was conducted even before full-scale war, and as a conclusion – growing distrust to the media, change of general society`s moods, banner blindness, development of social networks as the main channel of communication, trust to the brand with people’s face, development of AI etc.
What does it mean to be a communication specialist in a modern world where it’s getting harder to surprise, easy to disappoint and quickly to get bored?
Plan – not to plan anything
At the 4th year of the full-scale war some companies still stay in strategies before 2022. The others are moving so slowly to invisible point B that haven’t noticed how the more adapted ones had outpaced them even more in strategy. Plenty of businesses (we aren’t talking about big corporations, of course) still don’t have a marketing strategy and are guided only by intuition. For some people marketing and PR have become the same concepts. Somebody wants to develop an employer`s brand forgetting about inner communications. Or to grow a company’s recognition without personal brand`s development but throwing mud at competitors… There`s no sense to continue this list. Conclusion: this is reality where Ukrainian communication specialists are obliged to work. No doubts, this is strength testing.
Problem – solution
Do you have a dream to work in the PR-department of a big corporation or in GR? Have you ever dreamt to become a Head of PR in a Ukrainian company or to collaborate with an international charity fund? Then you can’t avoid additional responsibilities not mentioned in your offer or mistakes your colleagues or HR won`t tell you about at the interview. Because it appears during work with the projects, you acquire it by yourself and it`s unique for every communication specialist. It’s called experience.
There are as many different cases as there are communicators. Wanna share my own stuffed ghouls in the format «problem-solution» connected with external and internal communications.
Discommunication happens
- Always imagine yourself at your client’s position. The result of work and your morale depend on talking through every detail of future meeting, material, event, post, photosession. Of course, everyone can make mistakes but it’s extremely important to take care of your client, give the feeling of accompaniment 24/7. Such a feeling like you`ll go through the water and through the fire with him… It’s not only about customer orientation but also about reliability, professionalism, about the ability to play ahead and to help when it’s needed. Sure, if you haven`t negotiated about communication only with emails and not only once a week.
- Often clients expect not additional questions but argumentative proposals and solutions. This is a communication specialist`s superpower: to prove what you know, to be able to influence in the right direction, set a vector of movement that is beneficial for the company, to convince.
- Use words through the mouth or develop fingers. Some people can only write in the letter or text message something that others are able to discuss only by phone. Be convienced that you and your client understand each other for 100%: orally, in writing or with gestures. Don`t be afraid to look intrusive, incompetent or funny while clarifying «stupid things». Because later you can take up your excess tact ordering, for example, banners again in a few hours before an event because you and the customer disagreed about the dimensions and definitions of length/width/height, but you were surprisingly polite.
- One task – the one is responsible. Chaos and unstructuredness happen. As well as distribution of responsibility. But if you manage to avoid it in daily routine tasks, you go to a new professional level. Because if Vasyl asks to update a commercial proposal, Olya sends materials, Petro asks about readiness, Kateryna twitchs about the deadline time to time, it complicates a work very much, influences on its effectiveness and has questions with no answers: «What’s going on?» and «Who will be responsible for the result?».
- Desire for constructive dialogue even with extremely difficult customers. Professionalism, responsibility, quality of work, sincere interest in the project/task, proactivity, game of catch-up, structureness, tries to find «touch points» with a person: from well-aimed jokes to reasoned remarks – complex of it makes miracles and inspires you «more, higher, stronger»
- An axiom for you, a theorem for others. It’s not necessary to try proving it but for sure you need to explain that. It means that each of us lives in his own bubble: principles, stereotypes, likes and skills. Your knowledge of how to run an ad in Facebook or to analyze the statistics in WhatsApp-channel doesn’t mean that your clients or partners understand and are able to do it as well. So if not in a writing form (message), then talk with partners at the beginning and realize solutions orally. Because not every client is able to let go of the situation and the process will be controlled for some period of time (especially at the beginning of your collaboration).
Factchecking – untrust or professionalism
- Check all the information that is received from customers/partners and used in further communication, documents, advertising campaigns etc. The habit of trusting words (because you got the information from industry experts) can be very costly, especially in unstable times. After all, the “human factor” will always be there. Your task: to detect the error at the start and prevent its further spread (even in internal communication channels), protecting the client’s reputation and your own. Don’t be afraid of incomprehensible terms, be afraid of not knowing what they mean during the next meeting.
- Clearly communicate deadlines, if they are not spelled out (which is not good) in the agreement/contract/commercial proposal. You should know for sure that, say, you have a deadline of one month to create a PR strategy, and two months to approve it and start implementing it. The same applies to working with contractors. Here, it is generally important to be a little boring in the square, so that the number of days to produce your order “for yesterday” does not suddenly turn into the number of only working days, of which there are only three in the contractor company’s week.
Empathy or a cool head?
- Toxic people happen. Sometimes more often than we would like. If you have to communicate with them every day, the most important thing (and yes, the most difficult) is to always control negative emotions, remain balanced and calm. A cool head is your trump card both in making unpopular decisions and when communicating with toxic clients or colleagues. Empathy is a good soft skill, but from a professional point of view, excessive empathy can interfere with objective assessment of the situation, for example, and quick decision-making. Therefore, it is better to follow the medical principle here: empathize while staying aloof, not letting emotions replace common sense.
- Concentration is a skill, not an ability. When everything is on fire. When you need it for yesterday. When you are constantly distracted by calls, messages, conversations, noise. When you have thirty tasks for today and they are all priority. The one who can focus on the “here and now” works effectively (read – wins). Anywhere: in the office, on a crowded subway, on a park bench, or in the locker room after a workout. This won’t help you get things done that you can’t do in a day. But 100% will help you complete each task more efficiently through maximum engagement.
- Don’t go to extremes. Even when it’s hard to deal with emotions, don’t get personal, don’t divide into black and white, don’t spread gossip, don’t engage in substitution of concepts. On the other hand, don’t agree to implement frankly ridiculous ideas just to avoid exhausting discussions or passive aggression in meetings. Feeling burnt out? Take a break—for a week, a month, six months—until you feel better and the people around you are inspiring instead of annoying.
Flexibility no matter what
- Despite certain principles that should not be neglected even in turbulent times, today it is important for communicators to remain flexible, sometimes even a bit of a balancer. And to seek a compromise. The main thing is that the exception does not turn into the rule. So do not be surprised by the task of mastering the communication chips in X in a day. Or organically increase +2k audience on Facebook for a company that manufactures mosquito nets in a month. Or, say, create 4 media materials about electric drive technologies and energy supply for industrial machines and mechanisms, although before that you only worked with communications of large retailers. In order not to run around the office swearing and shouting again because you disagreed with management for the thirtieth time or had a sleepless night because of a client whose desire to communicate awakens with the sunset, it is important to agree on everything up front and clearly outline the boundaries. Both inside and outside. Because if they want you to patch up certain holes, they will patch them up. If you allow yourself to be manipulated, are afraid to express your own position, they will quickly understand this and will certainly take advantage of it (have you heard: who is lucky, that’s what they ride on?). And here the question is: will this ship continue, holding on to your angry resistance, or will it still go to the bottom, but without your “sacrifice”. There is always a choice. And in this case it is yours.
Maryna Solomko, PR manager of the Perfect PR agency
