Mark Twain said, “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes…” 
Your REPUTATION depends on how capable you are in not only keeping tabs on what is being said about your organization, but also in how you disseminate YOUR INFORMATION to the opinion leaders and stakeholders who help shape public opinion about your organization and your issues.
If Mr. Twain were alive today he would know that a lie can travel all the way around the world in the time it takes someone to turn on a smartphone that costs less than $100 worth of plastic, transistors and glass…
Proactive Issues Dissemination Doesn’t END With Social Media…
Too often, organizations disseminate news to stakeholders the same way they disseminate information to the general public… Info is posted on their website and on PRNewswire – and if they are a bit savvier they put info up on social media channels, such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.
However, that’s not the same as putting information DIRECTLY in the hands of key stakeholders.
Your stakeholders – business groups, trade associations, think tanks, civic groups and even elected officials – WANT to hear good things about your organization. And even more important, they also want to hear from you FIRST, when the news may not be good.
This isn’t wistful thinking. In a statistically significant survey that I conducted for a client, their base of key opinion leaders overwhelmingly said they want to receive news DIRECTLY FROM THE COMPANY… …and even more so when the news was bad and the company had something to say about it.
Overcoming The Transparency BARRIER
A Corporate Affairs executive once told me, “We aren’t going to be so transparent that our brains fall out of our ears…”
This person may not like it, but the world is increasingly becoming MORE transparent. Today, with 5.6 BILLION cell phones in use worldwide, news doesn’t just travel fast. IT IS OMNIPRESENT.
So the FASTER you get on top of a story about your organization – and get your info into the hands of people who not only support you but also carry clout - the FASTER you can manage the noise that surrounds your organization.
Even put out fires before they threaten to burn down your office…
And if you are moving something proactively in the legislative arena, it becomes even more crucial to keep a steady stream of reliable data in front of your supporters.
If You Build It, They WILL Come…
Your stakeholders may love you, but if they have to go looking for something important aboutyou, can you be certain that they’ll read it, or even find it?
On the other hand, if you develop platforms to disseminate information directly to them you stand a much better chance of getting your side of an issue out there - in good times and bad.
I’ve built issues dissemination platforms for a number of my clients and they overwhelmingly like the results. Moreover, so do their stakeholders.
What are you waiting for?
About Joshua Slavitt
