The Important Role Of Public Relations
Public Relations is a type of marketing that is designed to answer public inquiries about a company or product. Whether you’re trying to increase the amount of people who love your products, or trying to decrease the amount of people who hate them, Public Relations will help you do it. A Public Relations professional will work with a company’s stakeholders and employees to promote positivity in both their public sphere and general public opinion. But what are these professionals really doing? Below are five examples:
1) Reputation Management is when a PR professional improves the reputation of an organization by responding swiftly and tactfully when bad press surfaces on social media and other news platforms. When a high profile scandal occurs, the organization is responsible for dealing with it immediately. This can be a challenge because they often don’t want to take any action that will make them seem as if they are justifying their actions or trying to change people’s minds. The PR professional will make sure that their team addresses the issues in an effective way while still remaining truthful to their beliefs and values. If a mistake has been made, the PR team will work hard to fix this by apologizing, providing evidence of how they’ve addressed the situation, and setting out plans for how similar situations in the future shall be handled. This way, they ensure that the reputation of their organization is protected.
2) Crisis Management is a very tricky part of PR. When something terrible happens in the world, whether it be natural disasters or a terrorist attack, the public immediately starts to question how such things can happen. The response from organizations should be strong and swift while also being accurate. Organizations should justify their reactions and shortcomings with evidence and fact, while also addressing concerns early on so that they don’t get blown out of proportion by the media. While this type of Public Relations focuses on avoiding a crisis altogether, it's just as important for PR professionals to understand how to manage one when it does occur.
3) Media Relations is the most common type of Public Relations. It refers to the ways in which companies and organizations interact with media outlets such as newspapers, magazines, radio shows, and television. The PR professional will act as a spokesperson for their company and make sure that they learn everything they can about journalists and the topics that they write about so that PR professionals can best relate to them. They will also build strong relationships with journalists by offering free products or services in exchange for positive coverage on behalf of their company or organization.
4) Product or Service Promotion is one of the most important objectives of a PR professional because it helps engage customers who are interested in what you have to offer. While product launches are what typically come to mind, a PR team works with a company’s products or services on an ongoing basis to help them attract and maintain the attention of consumers. These campaigns often ask customers to interact with a product or service in new ways or use it in unique scenarios. It could be a promotion of their mobile app or one of their latest happy hour specials. The goal is to entice customers and make them fall back in love with your organization, thus stimulating sales and attracting new customers.
5) Brand or Image Management is arguably the most important of the five. While these professionals work with a company to enhance its image and increase its public appeal, they also supervise and direct how its employees are portrayed in the media. How many times have you seen an employee on a television show or an ad campaign and assumed that they actually worked for your company? Your employees will be portrayed in a positive fashion, likely by making them appear as extraordinary workers who live up to your high standards. Public Relations professionals are also responsible for creating input documents that help guide management decisions in regards to hiring employees, managing their salaries, and directing how their organization is portrayed by media outlets and on social media.
Now, as you can see, Public Relations is a complicated field that involves a lot more than simply creating campaigns to increase positive brand awareness. Even though the main goal of PR is to make sure that the public has a positive attitude towards your company and its products or services, it's important to remember that the Public Relations industry is one that involves many different types of activities. The main purpose of this article was to inform you about these different types and how they come together to provide PR professionals with the skills they need in order to position their organization into the spotlight.
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Public relations practitioners maintain high ethical standards regarding confidentiality and objectivity, meaning they will not reveal confidential information unless authorized by their employers.
Public relations practitioners code of ethics is an ethical code created by the Public Relations Society of America in 1996, "to reinforce the values, attitudes and behavior of public relations professionals throughout their careers as they advance the goals of society." The professional practice and quality standards known as PRSA Code are also highly regarded.
Unlike many other professional bodies, there is no specific educational path to becoming a practicing public relations professional. However, there are many schools that offer degrees in public relations management which include courses in theory and hands-on practice. The U.S Department of Education reports that the average undergraduate degree awarded for a B.A.
Conclusion
Public Relations practitioners help improve the image of their organization. They promote a positive brand image that supports the success and growth of their company. They help charities and non-profits with strategic communications planning and execution, social media management, public relations consulting, crisis management and newswire distribution.
"PR is a mixture of research, writing, design, editing and presentation skills as well as marketing skills. There will be some people who will be skilled in all aspects of the job but you need some skill in each area to excel."
Public relations professionals create narratives that tell the story of organizations so they can successfully communicate their products or services to both internal targets (employees) and external audiences (customers, partners).