While the word "audit" might make you cringe, a communications audit can be an extremely helpful tool in determining the effectiveness of your investment.

To help you decide if the time might be right to take a look how you're getting the word out, this issue of PR Matters gives you
"Can You Hear Me Now? When and How to Conduct a Communications Audit."

Enjoy!

Can You Hear Me Now? When and How to Conduct a Communications Audit

A communications audit is a method of research that helps determine how your core audiences perceive your organization. You'll get strategic information you need to take your communications program and organization to the next level.

Experts recommend an extensive audit every five to seven years, as long as solid feedback techniques are maintained to track challenges in ongoing communication programs.

Audits are definitely recommended after management (or board leadership) changes and mergers and acquisitions, or whenever significant cost-cutting or re-engineering corporate policies and structures are being revised. Key insights can also be gained after product or service roll-outs, and following a crisis communications situation.

The process helps define the relationship between your objectives and the communication methods used to accomplish those objectives. When conducting the audit, you can work to establish a benchmark for the following:

* Overall strengths and weaknesses of your organization's current communications strategy
* How your communications strategy needs to change to meet current and future challenges – and reach your goals
* Ensuring that your resources are hard at work– and not being wasted on ineffective communications vehicles
* Real-life, executable recommendations to improve your organization's communications strategy

Areas for Study
Communications audits often focus on eight key elements:

1. Vision -- Where is your organization heading?

2. Mission -- The questions sound easy, but they are surprisingly difficult to answer: Often they require a bit of soul-searching. "What business are we in?", "What business do we want to be in?", "How do we want others to see our business?" The mission statement should differentiate the company from the competitors.

3. Situation Assessment -- Understanding the current situation is critical to success. It establishes the "here" part of the equation. We'll also study external forces impacting your industry.

4. Target Audiences -- Without a clear understanding of target audiences, you can't begin to tailor your messages effectively, let alone develop the connections and relationships to achieve goals.

5. Message Development and Assessment -- Clear, persuasive messages are the cornerstone of effective communications. What do you want to say to your audiences? How can you speak with one voice?

6. Product/Service Positioning -- Offering great products and services isn't enough. Positioning and communication is equally important. The process can break down when your overall vision and product/service positioning are not clearly aligned (creates confusion in the marketplace).

7. Media Assessment -- How the media perceives you will determine the messages they deliver. What are your stories? How are they currently working in the media?

8. Communications Program Assessment -- An audit can help whether or not you've ever had a forma communications plan. The process begins with setting communications goals. The next step is to identify the opportunities, structure and resources needed to get there.

Please keep in mind that the communications audit process comes before the development of a strategic communications plan. It is a process of discovery that ensures the development of a solid, on-target communications recommendation.

Selling the Communications Audit
Gaining buy-in for a full-scale communications audit is often a long process for communications staff, who must share the value before the proposal is approved. We’ve found that it often looks something like this:
• First you begin measuring communications elements that are under your control and don’t require buy-in or approval.
• Share your findings as you make improvements, which will lay the groundwork for providing hard numbers on communications—something management probably thought wasn’t measurable.
• Educate yourself on what the audit can do for your organization, so you can talk to colleagues in other departments and find areas where the audit could help.
• Put together a proposal and present it to your manager first to gain buy-in for the audit (you can use an outside consultant’s process in the proposal, but your cover note will be instrumental in the process). If this person doesn’t have experience with professional communications resources, it can be helpful to arrange a media training session with an outside consultant, which will begin the education process of what properly managed communications can do.
• Plan to frequently discuss measuring communication with colleagues and upper management if the proposal isn’t immediately approved.
• Present a formal proposal during budgeting cycle.

Click here to view more information from Hart & Partners about how communications audits and strategic communications planning.

Helpful Site of the Quarter

Complying with CAN SPAM
It's old information, but we still use these checklists to make sure we're on the right side of the law!

Hart & Partners News

Rebecca Hart has recently agreed to chair a Work/Life Balance Committee for the University of Florida's PR Advisory Council. The committee's first activity will be a panel discussion at the University on Sept. 8, 2006. View information about the panel discussion.

Rebecca has also been featured in several recent issues of Veterinary Economics magazine, as well as being a contributing author (six chapters) of the newly published Blackwell's Five-Minute Veterinary Practice Management Consult.

Speaking of research, our research panel of veterinarians (www.thevetzone.com) continues to flourish, with almost 5,000 veterinarians on the panel. We are also launching a panel of dentists at www.dentaladvisoryboard.com, as well as developing custom panels for clients: see an example at www.associationleadership.com.

Let's Stay in Touch!

To make sure you continue receiving our newsletters (and that they don't go to your bulk or junk folders), please add rebecca@hartandpartners.com to your email address book.

Quote

"Life is like riding a bicycle.
To keep your balance, you must keep moving."

Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
German-American physicist

PR Matters is a regular e-newsletter published by Hart & Partners. If you have received this newsletter from a colleague, you can subscribe directly by registering at www.hartandpartners.com.

To unsubscribe from this mailing list, simply respond to this e-mail with the word “unsubscribe” in the subject line.