Public Relations (PR)

Public Relations (PR)

Have you been wondering how you can create a greater awareness of your brand, increase its credibility and build a strong foundation to grow your business?

Welcome to the world of public relations.

Public relations (PR) is the heart of how a business communicates with the world - from partners, customers, politicians and the general public.

Because every business needs PR in some shape or form, it’s important to know what it is and how to utilise it so that you can have more control of your brand image.

What is public relations?

The definition of PR doesn’t really do the real meaning justice.

PR is the strategic and creative process of communication to create and maintain a positive brand image within a target market and in the wider public eye. 

PR is how a business cultivates and manages the public’s perception of their brand. It’s all about building your reputation and how you use communication channels to gain and maintain credibility. 

What is the purpose of PR?

The overarching purpose of PR is to establish a positive public perception of your business. Here are some of the other reasons why PR is vital for businesses of all kinds:

• Manage your reputation
• Strengthen community relations
• Increase credibility
• Promote brand values 
• Improve visibility through search rankings 

What are the different types of PR?

The different types of public relations fall into three categories:

1. Owned media: Content that your business creates and has full control over, e.g. website copy, blogs and social media posts.
2. Earned media: Any acknowledgement or mention of your brand that comes voluntarily from others, e.g. comments in industry news and reviews and social media mentions 
3. Paid media: When you pay to promote your content and make it publicly visible, e.g. influencer advertising and sponsored social media posts.

All three categories of PR share the same goal of creating a positive brand image and reputation, but they use different tactics to achieve it. 

Here are some examples of different types of PR:

• Media relations
• Crisis management 
• Reputation management 
• Community relations
• Social media communications
• Public affairs
• Strategic communications
• Employee communications
• Events 
• Press releases

What is the difference between PR and marketing?

Many people assume PR is the same as marketing or advertising. Although they are similar in their tactics, they are distinctively different.

Unlike marketing and advertising which focus on promoting and selling products or services, the goal of PR is not to drive sales and revenue. 

The goal of PR is to create a great reputation of your brand - which can, and often does, have a positive impact on sales and profits.

There is of course an overlap, because people don’t simply buy a product or service because they like it. 

Consumers base their decisions on how much they are invested in a brand. When they are connected to its image, values and mission.

Traditional vs digital PR: What is the difference?

PR has changed significantly over the past decade as the world has moved knot digital.

Newspapers, magazines and other traditional media used to be the heartbeat of PR, but with millions of businesses fighting for visibility online, PR has had to shift.

PR is now divided between traditional and digital PR.

While digital PR has naturally taken precedence due to having a greater impact and being much more measurable, traditional PR is still vitally important and many businesses use a combination of both.

Image source: Publicise 

How does social media affect PR?

Nothing has perhaps had a greater impact on the PR landscape than the rise of social media.

As communication is the heart of PR, social media opened up a new gateway for businesses to present their brand and to communicate and interact with their audience.

Here are some ways social media has positively changed PR:

• Brands communicate with their audience in a way that goes beyond transactional exchange
• Social media PR is much more affordable than traditional PR tactics
• Crisis management can be implemented almost instantaneously
• Social media is an interactive channel which makes it easier to engage with and genuinely connect with your audience

What is a media influencer?

Influencers can play a big part in PR.

An influencer is someone that has the ability to influence and persuade a large number of people about something due to their knowledge of a subject area or relationship and authority within a particular audience.

For example, brands engage influencers on Instagram because they know they have a large social media following that trusts their opinion of what is a ‘good’ product.

Media influencers are categorised in the following groups:

1. Industry experts
2. Bloggers
3. Celebrities
4. Micro influencers 

What is a media list?

A media list is a database of all the influencers, bloggers, writers, journalists and editors who you can approach to promote your brand.

It’s easy to create a redundant list of media contacts, which is why it’s crucial to be strategic and only approach those who see the value in your business. They also need to be well received by your target audience.

What are effective PR strategies and tactics?

Here are some popular PR strategies and tactics you can use to inspire the next PR campaign for your business:

Social and corporate responsibility: Show your audience that you have real values and care about social, philanthropic and environmental issues. Use your business and any authority you have as a force for good.

• Events: Hosting business events allows you to invite prospects and gain brand exposure which can open p
• Testimonials: Testimonials, reviews and customer case studies add a human element to your brand and validate someone’s reason for wanting to purchase a product or service from you.
• Influencers: Find influencers that align with your target demographic and partner up with them to promote your products or services.

It's important to note that PR is not prescriptive and a campaign can be as imaginative and creative as you see fit. 

If you can’t remember any famous PR campaigns off the top of your head, here are are few examples to jog your memory:

• Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty
• Guiness: Guinness Clear 
• Calsberg: Not the Best Beer in the World

How do I get started with PR for my business?

If you don’t have the time to focus on PR, there is significant value in trusting PR professionals with your brand image.

You can find out more about hiring PR firms right here on SavvySME.