"What, are you stupid or something!?"

Photo from www.geos.ed.ac.uk

Nobody wants to look stupid. It is a fear that lingers deep inside of us causing many to hate even the thought of public speaking. This extreme emotion is caused by a fear that someone will know more than we do. It is a fear that we may not have all of the facts, and that someone else will contradict what we are saying, and they may be right in the end.

Want a simple solution to this dilemma that will aid in getting rid of that butterfly feeling in your stomach? Do your research.

Research is by far the most important step that should be used to develop an effective Public Relations Campaign. Whether you are working for government, non-profit, or a corporation, the last thing you want is to provide your “enemies” with ammo to question your information. Not only does research assure that you and your organization do not look stupid, it helps you to provide your organization with the proper information to be successful in whatever you are doing.

Research can help you do the following:

·       Determine who the best target market will be for your Public Relations Campaign.

·       Gather the public’s opinions on a variety of different topics, including how they feel about your PR Campaign.

·       Determine which communication channel would be the most effective to reach your target market.

·       Gather important stats.

·       Gather information from similar campaigns, successful and unsuccessful ones.

·       Determine which day will be the best launch for your campaign.

There are many other benefits to doing proper research before starting a campaign; these are just a few very important ones.

Defining audiences, determining messages, and deciding upon your overall strategy all require proper research. When in PR, you can’t play the guessing game. Unfortunately many organizations make this mistake. They make assumptions, without relevant research, and they fail.

So I guess my advice is to not get caught looking like an idiot, and if you still don’t know how to avoid looking like an idiot, there’s a problem.