Faced with the emergence of new communication channels that are bringing about a profound change in audience expectations and habits, professional services firms’ communications today need to open up their scope of media initiatives and activations: there’s a world beyond traditional press relations… it’s the world of influence.
Maître Avocat : « I watched this morning’s program, and I was very disappointed not to have been asked to comment on the subject. They gave the floor to my competitor. His answers were nothing new ! I myself have been doing this for many years now. I don’t understand why I’m not contacted on these subjects. »
Here’s a familiar situation for media relations and communications departments. Why does this or that personality appear on journalists’ radars and others don’t? Shouldn’t technical and scientific legitimacy on a subject be the only criterion for choice? Welcome to the age of influence…
In the age of the collaborative Internet and pluri-information, consulting firms have many opportunities to make themselves known, to stand out and to create regular communication bridges with their customers, their collaborators and their entire ecosystem.
Communication has always been a necessity to stand out in a hyper-competitive market. Until recently, media relations, in the strict sense of the term, represented the essential vector of communication for firms: targeting journalists, proposing synopses for placement interviews, tribunes, monitoring press coverage, reporting.
However, with the explosion of communication channels, this method has become almost “basic”: effective for structures accustomed to this type of process, but limited for brands seeking to create or increase brand awareness among an audience with different expectations.
The notion of influence therefore appears to be a powerful gas pedal for brand ambassadors. Today, technology and social networks enable everyone to “become” a media outlet in their own right. Influence plays the role of personification, of embodying a brand, and thus becomes a formidable performance asset for increasing brand awareness. With the decline in advertising budgets and the multiplicity of communication vectors, it reaches a very large audience in a short space of time… and with few resources!
Ironically, by taking advantage of the diversity of today’s channels, the partner, lawyer, notary or financier suddenly becomes « credible » in the eyes of journalists and media observers. Their influence gives them immediate authenticity. With his or her analysis now credible, the professional becomes a “safe bet” in the media landscape.
The other important dimension of influence is the relationship of trust created with all stakeholders. Beyond its informative vocation, influence creates a regular relationship with the reader or listener, and establishes a climate of trust with the expert. Each new influence operation will be all the more effective if it resonates with an already loyal audience.
But influence is nothing if you don’t take responsibility for your communication angle, tone and positions. What image do you project ? How convincing are you, and on what basis? How comfortable or difficult are you when dealing with the media? Influencing and winning over personalities other than your own is not a miracle solution, but a way of communicating differently…
