Public Relations 101: What it is & Why Everyone Needs It

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There’s an old industry joke that says “The PR Industry does an awful job at PR” - While unfortunate, this statement holds a lot of truth. The vast majority of people don’t truly understand what professionals in our industry do on a daily basis, let alone the overall power of what we do for a brand and the increasing importance these roles are to a company’s success. The mainstream media has done a great job in recent years of painting PR professionals as “con men” or even spin artists, always trying to deceive the public by covering up important information. 

However, the truth is, if you are good at being a PR professional, there should never be any deceiving taking place. Sure, you could say people in this industry are pushy or even cutthroat, but lying should never be part of the job description. It’s important to me as a PR professional (and should be other industry professionals) to educate the public on our actual job responsibilities and what we do, but just as important is informing the public about why having a public relations team on your side is crucial as well as what the short and long term benefits of having a PR professional on your team would look like.

What Is Public Relations? 

According to PRSA, Public Relations is “Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics,” but like most everything in this day in age, the definition is constantly evolving. While the exact definition and all of its recent changes may not mean that much to you, knowing how it relates to your business and its long-term success should quite literally mean everything to you.

“If I was down to the last dollar of my marketing budget I’d spend it on PR.” – Bill Gates

No matter how you try to slice and dice it, PR is truly the art of persuasion. Notice I called it an art, not a science. One of the things that can make our industry so difficult, but also so enjoyable, is exactly that - there is no secret formula to find success or even a right or wrong in most situations. Strategies that work for one client, might not work for another, and tactics that you had success with years ago, may fall flat today. It’s about strategically sending the right message to the right people at the right time. It’s about your connections with not only the public, but also the media, and how you are able to use those connections to create a strong brand reputation. 

Key Benefits of PR

It’s a common belief that public relations is only needed once you reach a certain level of fame or your company is making X amount of money annually - neither of which could be farther from the truth. In reality, EVERYONE can benefit from having a public relations professional on their team. With the recent shift from traditional marketing to an integrated marketing approach, the understanding of what we do is becoming more unclear than ever before but what is becoming crystal clear is that you, the brand, absolutely need a PR professional in order to survive. 

Let’s highlight and break down some of the key ways you, the brand/company, can use the PR industry to your advantage:

  • Build and manage brand image. A good brand image is something that cannot be bought and definitely not something you should only worry about once it’s too late. If carried about properly, the establishment and management of your brand could quite likely be a project that you reap benefits from for years to come. Another incorrect assumption about our industry is that PR is all about promoting a product or special sale, but in reality, PR starts at the conception of the brand. From deciding what audience should be targeted for your initial launch and creating your logo, to crafting responses to customer reviews online and beyond, an educated and experienced PR professional should be at the forefront of all of these critical decisions. Let’s also talk about something that is inevitable but no one enjoys - negative publicity. Battling negative publicity, also known as crisis communication, is a skill that is imperative to know about, especially in this digital world, where a bad review or negative media mention can travel in an instant. Here are a few quick golden rules for handling crisis communication:

  • If you are receiving negative press for an unfair or incorrect reason, time is your friend. Get on top of the issue as soon as it comes up and be sure to communicate the facts quickly and effectively.

  • If you have done something wrong, silence is deafening. Admit your wrongdoing as soon as possible and let us know you at least have a plan in place to correct the situation. It’s not fun, but speaking up on a negative issue yourself decreases the opportunity for others to talk about it.

  • Regardless, don’t be afraid to tap into the power of your online supporters and community. If you have done your job up until this point, you should have a good amount of supporters you could call upon to help in these icky situations. Ask your customers or fans to leave positive feedback on your social pages or online sites, take a picture of said reviews and send to reporters who have published negative stories, reach out to originators of negative stories and offer new angles for a story with a positive twist, etc.

Fortunately and unfortunately, the way the public sees and thinks about you and your brand is reality to them meaning all decisions should be strategically and methodically thought out.

  • Establish brand credibility and awareness. How often do you find yourself purchasing a product or service that you don’t trust? Probably not very often. The most effective way for a brand to either establish or rebuild this trust and awareness is through public relations by networking strategies, media relations efforts, establishing yourself as an industry expert or by utilizing celebrity/influencer connections. Also, keep in mind that when you start getting media coverage, the audience reach is not limited to the audience of the news outlet - place the links on your website, recycle content for social media platforms, include any news mentions in press releases/newsletters, etc.

  • Hone in on your targeted audience. While our industry may have some overlaps in job descriptions with other industries like advertising and marketing, there is huge value in the tasks only PR professionals do. It’s been proven time and time again that in general, the public is way more likely to trust and/or spend money on a brand when they see a celebrity endorsement or interview versus a paid advertisement for your company. I mentioned earlier a recent shift towards an integrated marketing approach and this is exactly where that comes into play. This shift allows you, the brand, to reinforce your paid advertising and the projects your advertising department has going on in a more authentic and relatable way to your targeted audience. By leveraging the power of different niche influencers and trade publications, you’ll be on your way in no time to establishing your brand within a specific industry as well as reaching your companies long and short-term goals. 

  • Cost-effective lead generation and increase ROI. PR is not complete without both advertising and marketing tactics; essentially the main difference between advertising and PR is that public relations refers to earned media while advertising refers to paid media. While paid media for your company (billboards, commercials, online marketing ads, etc) is great, the earned coverage and exposure your company deserves is even more beneficial and critical than ever before. The upfront cost you might encounter while onboarding a PR professional is a small price to pay in relation to the financial benefit that said professional will have on your company. NOTE: It’s important to mention that you may see overnight results, but more than likely you won’t. It’s a process - but stick with it, it will be worth it in the long run. The new audiences you will be able to get in front of, the media exposure that will forever live online, the community or industry events that you will be a part of will cost you little to nothing and the rewards will continue to roll through for years to come.

Until we as an industry can come together as a collective to come up with the messaging for what we do, we will continue to get pushback from potential clients, get questions about what we even do and why it’s important. But until then, I’ll continue to do my job and educate. Here is a quick recap of what we talked about today: Public Relations is your line of communication to both the media and the public and without question, is necessary for all businesses. PR professionals can help you by building and maintaining your brand image, establishing brand credibility and awareness, honing in on your targeted audience, and is a cost-effective lead generation tactic and will increase your ROI over time.

My hope is that even though it’s a more complex digital landscape than ever before, that means you are provided with the opportunity of reaching the correct audience for your brand more effectively, with the help of a PR professional, of course.