Public Relation:
Public relation is the idea for creating and coverage the clients for free, rather than marketing or advertising. Public relations may include an organization or individual gaining exposure to their audiences using topics of public interest and news items that do not require direct payment. The aim of public relations is to inform the public, prospective customers, investors, partners, employees, and other stakeholders to maintain a certain view about the organization, its leadership, products, or political decisions.
Public relation professionals typically work for PR and marketing firms, businesses and companies, government, government agencies and nongovernmental organizations, and nonprofit organizations. Public relations specialists establish and maintain relationships with an organization’s target audience, the media, and other opinion leaders.
How is public relations different from marketing?
While PR focuses on relationships, marketing generally focuses on making sales. For example, a marketing professional send out postcards offering free or discounted services, while a public relations professional send out “Welcome to the neighborhood” cards that include helpful information about the community. Combining the efforts of public relations and marketing yields a much higher success rate.
Why does your company need public relations?
Public relations is the management function which evaluates public attitudes, identifies the policies and procedures of an individual or an organization with the public interest, and plans and executes a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance.
PR is communication in many ways with your target market. Public Realtions may be communicating about a new product, spreading news about your company or making a major announcement. You want to communicate publicly, but the only people you care about are potential prospects, customers or investors, in the case of a partnership or a public company. One exception may be communication to a group that you are trying to influence for the best interest of your company and target market.
Role of Public Relations:
Public Image Strategy: Public relations strategists will work with top executives in the organization to craft an overview of how the company wants to be perceived, and how it is going to project a positive image. This can involve focusing in on exactly the right message, and then deciding on the broad outlines of a campaign to disseminate that message.
Media Relations: Talking with the media is a core function of public relations departments. Public relations professionals field questions from reporters, arrange for interviews with key individuals in the organization and write press releases to make the media aware of company events or achievements.
Social Media: One emerging function of public relations is to maximize an organization’s positive use of social media to build its image. Managing a Twitter feed, a Facebook page and a YouTube channel are all vital ways to connect with possible new customers or stakeholders. Monitoring public comment about the organization on the Internet can also give PR professionals early warning of any emerging trends or problems.
Handling Emergencies : Public relations professionals decide how the organization will repair the damage to its image, communicate how it is dealing with the problem and regain control of its message.
