I know, I know. But we need to talk about it. The Recession. I’ve been doing some soul-searching slash internet-digging about new industry trends, and the word is still showing up. So I have come to this obvious-but-also-necessary conclusion: the recession is still on everyone’s mind in a big way. Yes, we are seeing a renewal of optimism and 2012 did bring lower unemployment. And yes, recent stats are showing that decision-makers are ready to start spending again. And that’s great. HOWEVER.
The recession has left many businesses with varying degrees of economic battle wounds. Over the past five-ish years, workers have been made to understand more than ever that they need to produce real results in order to stay employed. Isn’t this old news, you might ask? Well, we need to remember that the wounds are still healing. The recession has taught pretty much everyone that it takes real results to stay in business. Therefore, marketing and public relations can no longer set a creative plan to work and hope for the best. No, creativity needs to be measurable.
What’s the biggest complaint about public relations? Potential clients don’t know how they can get quantifiable results. Meaning PR professionals who demonstrate creative and budget-minded plans that focus heavily on ROI will be best poised to win the pitch. Some firms are even adopting a contingency element in their pitches, linking part of their fee payment to measurable results.
So the R-Word for PR professionals, like all of the marketing and communications industry, is RESULTS. And if you can define success and reverse engineer a path to your starting point while incorporating SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound) into your PR strategy, you’ll find success in both R-Words.
Katherine Timm
Director of Business Development
Mood: Optimistic
