PUBLIC RELATIONS: A NECESSARY TOOL IN PUBLIC POLICY ADVOCACY

Public relations should be an integral part of your public policy advocacy efforts. Advocacy is the act of speaking or writing in favor of an issue by providing recommendation and support. Public relations, on the other hand, are the activities that are designed to win the favor of the general public and promote a better understanding of policies and purposes. It involves disseminating information in print and non-print media.

The reasons for public relations in public policy advocacy are several: to promote a better understanding of the issue, to gain support for appropriate programmes, to keep all constituent groups informed on key issues, and to build a knowledge base for advocacy.

Public policy advocacy needs a public relations strategy that can attract the attention of the target audiences. Public relations objectives should be defined to address one of three levels. There may be a need to raise awareness, perhaps amongst members or the wider community, about specific issues. There will most likely be a need to raise awareness amongst public servants and politicians. There will be a desire to change attitudes amongst key publics so that they become supportive. Most important of all, there is a need to encourage public servants to act.

The starting point is to be clear about your overall objectives. This will then be reflected in your public relations strategy. If you don't have clear objectives, then it will be very hard to put in place a good communications plan. So, think first about your campaign objectives. Ask yourself specifically what it is you want to achieve. If you have not already done your research and preparation, working on a communications plan will quickly demonstrate that you need good evidence if you are to make a compelling case. Then think about the communications objectives and about your different publics. The overall message will need to be the same, but you may need to reach them in different ways. Think too about the message and what it is that you want to say.

What mechanisms will you use to convey your message? Think about the specific PR objectives say seek coverage in the media, influence public opinion. And then you have to implement the plan through stakeholder engagement, media handling, public affairs etc. Importantly, you have to monitor and evaluate what happens.