Let’s face it.  Sometimes plans don’t work out.  And that’s why measurement tools are so critical.  You can do more than monitor, you can see when things aren’t working out… Before it’s too late. There’s enough time to retool the program.

Success in any campaign always revolves around mapping the value proposition to the community in a manner that they care about.  Whenever I am asked to revitalize or examine a marketing campaign or pitch that has gone awry, the failure usually lies in understanding the organization’s stakeholders (Photo credit to meadowsa). 

This very basic and classic approach to PR, marketing, communications and sales is so simple, yet for some reason it’s not easy. Breakdowns can occur in how it’s being communicated, what’s being communicated, and the actual value of the product/service. But our job must be results, so when this happens, it’s time to examine and retool the effort.

Three Step Approach

When examining a campaign — regardless of communications tactic –we usually take a three step approach:

1) Check the execution: Sometimes tactics aren’t executed correctly.  For example, if you have a blogger outreach with a 7-8 paragraph pitch, it’s not going to work.  If you have a web site without a decent call to action, it’s not going to generate additional community members or leads. Also check where communication is occurring.  Wrong place equals no results.  Essentially, examine basic blocking and tacking to ensure success.

2) Examine the value proposition: This moves from tactics to strategy. Is what’s being communicated what the company/organization cares about or what the community cares about? Do the messages overtly promote product or serve the stakeholders with valuable information?  Does the value proposition serve the community, resolve a need, or add to a general marketplace discussion? 

For example, does the information provide a reporter product details or giving him/her trend information related to his beat. Does the white paper revolve around a standards fight the company’s embroiled in, or the benefits the new technology offers the marketplace? Hard gut checks are needed.

3) Evaluate the product, service or company: If the tactics are correct, if the messaging strategy is spot on, then inevitably it comes back to the product, service or company.  Something’s not right. Perhaps it’s early in the campaign, and there’s no credibility (that goes back on you) or the product’s faulty, or past ethical challenges are hampering the company (Walmart’s Facebook campaign).

This step should not be taken lightly. It’s not ethical to save face at the expense of a company, product or service. At the same, time if there’s something really wrong, you owe it to the organization to alert them. Be sure, be factual, and have evidence.

The following podjot (2 minutes in length) runs through this process with a PR pitch.

Look folks, this is not some scholarly process. It’s just what we do at Livingston Communications.  If you have best practices to offer or additional thoughts, please let them be heard.