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Make it [inter]personal: OG&E CAN Connect with Information-Seeking Publics
- Gillian Sauer
- Apr 7, 2022
- 3 min read
Photo by Chris Liverani on Unsplash
Every strong communication plan is full of excellent communication tactics. To best utilize tactics, it is imperative to understand who your public is and what they want from your organization. This can help to determine reach, frequency and impact, and strengthen the overall vitality of your communications plan.
“Don’t forget that impact often is the bottom line for a strategic communication program, whether it uses the persuasion or the dialogue model of communication.” Smith, 326
Audience Reach vs. Persuasive Impact
There are so many communications tactics available to use for any given campaign. When deciding which tactics would be the most beneficial consider the audience reach vs. persuasive impact. The larger the reach, typically the less persuasive the impact. For example, a large advertising push via Facebook ads could help you segment a large population group. However, the persuasive impact of these ads may be minimal, especially if they are reaching more than just the desired population.
Smith, R.D. (2021). Strategic planning for public relations (6th Ed.). Routledge, 326.
Focusing on social media specifically, we can look to an academic study. Published in the Journal of Advertising, Engagement with Social Media and Social Media Advertising: The Differentiating Role of Platform Type ventures to understand why some advertisements do better on social media than others. Findings from this study suggests “engagement is highly context specific” and “that on social media the context (i.e., the platform), not the content, of advertising is a key determinant of its effectiveness” (Voorveld, Noort, Muntinga, Bronner, 2018).
This study gives us a peak that it may be the platform specifically that can determine the persuasive impact more than the content of the ad itself. Keep this in mind when determining a good mix of audience reach and persuasive impact.
Information Exchange
An information exchange is “a category of interpersonal communication tactics centering on opportunities for organizations and publics to meet face to face” (Smith, 330). For information gathering publics, this is a way to deliver communications in a sincere and meaningful way. Information seeking publics often go out of their way to engage with the organization (Smith, 328).
One key public our campaign focuses on is parents of graduating high school seniors. This parent is highly focused on the success of their senior and will be seeking information that can help their senior be successful. The Fuller Youth Institute suggests asking a high school senior, “What sort of future career, training and/or college major are you envisioning for yourself these days?” (Powell, 2019). Hosting educational sessions and meetings are two tactics that would focus on the answer to the posed question, and equip parents of high school seniors with resources to take back to their child.
Special Events
A special event is an, “interpersonal communication tactic centered on planned activities created by an organization” (Smith, 332). Tailoring events directly to your public can help you engage with your public personally, and make a greater impact. For example, in order for OG&E to recruit graduating high school seniors for the workforce development plan, OG&E needs to meet students where they frequent. What better place to hold a special event than a high school career fair, where the target audience will already be?
Other things to consider when planning events include understanding the purpose of the event, publicizing, creating partnerships and ordering any supplies or food needed. Georgia Tech University uses an eight step checklist you can utilize here.
References
Event planning checklist. Special Events. (n.d.). Retrieved April 7, 2022, from https://specialevents.gatech.edu/resources/guide/checklist
Powell, K. (2019, September 10). Tell me more: 8 questions to ask your high school senior this fall. Fuller Youth Institute. Retrieved April 7, 2022, from https://fulleryouthinstitute.org/blog/8-questions-high-school-senior
Smith, R.D. (2021). Strategic planning for public relations (6th Ed.). Routledge.
Voorveld, Hilde A. M.; Noort, Guda van; Muntinga, Daniël G.; & Bronner, Fred (2018) Engagement with Social Media and Social Media Advertising: The Differentiating Role of Platform Type, Journal of Advertising, 47:1, 38-54, DOI: 10.1080/00913367.2017.1405754
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