River Communications: Taking a Look at Research, Communication, and Evaluation

I would like to begin my post by saying that Justin was a really big help in making a lot of things clearer in this case. This topic is something I am sure we are not all familiar with, and his explanation of everything honestly made things easier, for me at least, to better understand. He broke down things very clearly.

Research/Communication Strategies

The topics I would like to firstly discuss are research and communication tactics. Research is the one aspect of public relations that often gets overlooked quickly; many people discover the problem of a situation and look for ways to solve that problem right away. However, without the proper research, there is no way to accomplish any public relations problem successfully. Justin made this very clear in his discussion with us.

Some communication strategies that River Communications should consider are advertising on websites. Since a website is already one part of their communication tactics, advertising on the web may be beneficial. Further research should be done on what websites their clients visit the most.

According to Justin, direct mail is also a tactic used by River Communications. I believe he mentioned they use email, but I am not sure if they still use print mail. Although it is more common now for organizations to “go green,” I still think that the old fashioned way of sending mail can be effective as well. Sometimes, depending on the age of a client or the type of company, print mail may be something they prefer and use more often. Email can also be easily overlooked, while print mail is something tangible.

This may not be as effective as the other tactics mentioned, but word of mouth is often disregarded as an effective way to communicate information. If Justin and his team could somehow create a “buzz” about their company, their financial advisory audience has a better chance of expanding. For instance, if there was an event held to promote their company and it was a big success, members of companies who were attending may recommend or discuss this to other companies who may be interested.

Evaluation

As I figured, many members of the class have discussed the lack of effective evaluation tactics of River Communications. Although this is the last step of the communication process according to Guth and Marsh, it is no less important than the other tactics. Without evaluation, how can you know if your tactics successful as they can be? Justin mentioned that surveying would take too long. Perhaps there is a shorter, easier way for them to handle the survey process. Presently, I have not done enough research to formulate a successful evaluation strategy for River Communications, but I do know that it is critical to always have an evaluation process.