Where Public Relations Stands Today

The reliability of Public Relations is necessary in several companies, organizations and agencies. Public Relations is primarily the art and science of creating relationships between a business and its target audiences. PR plays an important role in assisting businesses in creating strong relationships with their stakeholders.

PR evaluates public attitudes, preserves mutual relationships and understands a business’ public. The role of PR is to improve channels of communication and to develop new ways of two-way communication of information and perception. Public Relations truly does bring value to a company or organization. Public Relations is essential in the business world.

We Let You Know What They Think of You

When it comes to knowing about what a company or organization’s target audience thinks of them, PR is the first to get their opinion. PR Practitioners conduct endless amounts of research to help a company or organization understand their target audience’s thoughts, views or opinions. PR tries to figure out what a public thinks about anything that has to do with a company or organization . The diverse techniques PR uses in order to understand what a public thinks about a company or organization are:

1) Focus Groups
2) Opinion Polling
3) Phone Call Surveys
4) Satellite Feeds
5) Online Surveys
6) Literature Review

PR combines simple and high-tech techniques in order to evaluate public opinion. In actuality, PR will use every form possible to help understand public opinion when regarding a company or organization

Why I Went into Public Relations

So by this point you are wondering why I choose a career in Public Relations. Through all my blog posts you can see how much I recognize the value of Public Relations. I decided to go into Public Relations because there is so much variety. Public Relations is everywhere. It is needed in almost every company and organization. Public Relations has truly become essential in the business world.

What attracted me to Public Relations was the level of creativity it contains and all the things we get do for a company. In the morning we can be writing a news release and just before lunch we could be working on a campaign. In Public Relations it is never the same thing. Each day you embark on a new project or learning experience. What also attracted me to Public Relations was it is a field that you are constantly learning and evolving , which means you can go on to so many other things just with all the experience you have.

Why You Need Public Relations

Most Public Relations Practitioners have strong communications skills. We have the ability to be articulate in both written and spoken word. PR is able to understand people and identify their needs, beliefs, values, actions and so on. We are confident and can quick study your company or organization in order to develop and communicate effectively your key messages. PR professionals in almost every situation are quick thinkers and persuasive. Most Public Relations professionals are assertive and contain an outgoing personality. They can easily talk to a public in any situation and also knows how to listen to the public as well. This is essential for the representation of a company.PR helps a company or organization to communicate better with their stakeholders.

All in a Days Work

Working in Public Relations is never boring. In one day you often do more than other jobs would do in a week. In PR you are constantly learning and evolving through the work you do on a day to day basis. This is what an average day looks like for PR:

1) Writing and Editing- news releases, articles, speeches, newsletters, annual reports, etc
2) Events – celebrations, news conferences, demonstrations, fundraiser campaign event, stakeholder meetings , employee award ceremony , etc
3) Company identity - maintaining a company’s good image and reputation.
4) Media Relations – developing and maintaining good networking with the media.
5) Research- gathering and analyzing facts before beginning a project.

It’s all in a days work.

When a Crisis Hits - We Help You

There will be a time when a company deals with some sort of crisis. Depending on the issue and size of the company, a crisis can potentially damage a company's image or reputation with their stakeholders. When a crisis does occur within a company, Public Relations helps a company by rebuilding or maintaining the trust of their stakeholders . The PR department immediately implements a media relations tactic in order to rebuild and maintain the trust of stakeholders. We than work efficiently with news media and frequently deliver strong key messages. PR would than implement a strategic communications plan to improve and protect a company’s image and reputation. PR also helps the company internally by organizing and providing communications counseling throughout a crisis. When you are in trouble we come to save you.

Public Relations Means Variety

In Public Relations you can choose. You have a choice of what type of career you want in Public Relations. You may want to go into the agency field. The agency field can range from working at a modeling agency to working at an entertainment agency. If you are someone who enjoys politics, maybe working for the federal government is a good choice for you. If the corporate world captivates you, than maybe you might consider working in the corporate field. If you are someone who has a desire to help others, than maybe non-for-profit is the right choice for you.

In the end you can choose which direction best fits you. You can even try working in all of them. In Public Relations you are taught the essential skills to succeed in all these areas.

Responsibilities = Strengths

In the Public Relations area of a company or organization we have certain responsibilities. It is the Public Relations department’s responsibility to handle the communication with investors, employees, customers, media and so on. At times we take on the role of spokesperson for a company or organization. We publicly speak on the behalf of a company as a media representative. PR practitioners are often asked to write news releases on a newsworthy cause or create and send out media kits .It is our responsibility to capture the media’s attention. Our goal and responsibility is to keep the community informed or updated on a company or organization’s activities or news.

A Public Relations Practitioner’s central responsibility is to portray a company or an organization in a positive way. We work to preserve a company or organization’s image and reputation. It is often our responsibility to maintain a company’s positive image in a crisis and to continue to generate positive aspects around a company. Our responsibilities are true attributes in illustrating our strengths within a company or organization.

Our responsibility is to develop and maintain a company or organization’s positive reputation and image.

We Promote You

Public Relations serves as a media insider in many companies and organizations that knows how to effectively get the media’s interest. PR puts together appealing and creative media kits and news releases all directed towards getting a company or organization coverage time. PR also helps companies and organizations in their messaging. We live in a 24/7 news coverage world and to get the message across is a challenge at times. PR tries to come up with distinctive and innovative ways to communicate a company’s or organization’s message. We try to develop a message that will be remembered by an audience. In addition, PR can create the ideal event for a fundraiser and so on. We assist in making sure the event’s purpose is fulfilled.

In the end we are helping to promote your company or organization.

Public Relations is Everywhere

More and more we see an increasing need for a good Public Relations in our competitive business world. There are numerous Public Relations Specialists working in a variety of organizations and companies. PR can be found in: health care, education services, government, entertainment, agencies, communication firms, financial establishments and so on. There is a high demand for Public Relations in all categories and sizes of businesses. Every company or organization has a certain public and Public Relations helps a company or organization to effectively communicate with them.

The Wrong Perception of Public Relations

Due to what we see sometimes on television, it often sends out the wrong perception of Public Relations. “Sex in the City” star Samantha Jones portrays PR as a glamorous job. She portrays the perception that all a Public Relations Practitioner does is plan events than party at them all night. The reality is most PR Practitioners work long hours and put in countless amounts of hard work in each day. They are not just out there simply networking at parties. A PR practitioner sometimes does more than 10 things in one day. It ranges from writing a news release to developing a campaign for a company.

Another wrong perception of Public Relations is that we spin everything. We are still known as the spin doctors. Some publics don't truly understand our motives for certain actions we take, and label us for what they assume. What PR is actually doing it trying to turn around a bad situation and do something good. PR works to protect the reputation and image of a company. PR tries to illustrate the company in a positive way. PR helps a company to recognize something wrong that has happened and correct it by doing something positive and making things right. PR does this to preserve the credibility of a company and maintain the loyalty that stakeholders have invested in a company.

Defining Public Relations

What is Public Relations? To be honest when I first started the Public Relations program at Conestoga College, I was unclear of what Public Relations was. I really had very little knowledge of what a Public Relations Practitioner did and what was their true role in the business world. After a few months in the program I discovered that there are numerous ways to define Public Relations. I came up with a way of putting all the definitions into one basic definition in order to help me understand Public Relations.

Public Relations is often confused with advertising, marketing or sales. Public Relations is the communicator between a company and its public. It helps a company or organization by giving their public and the media a better perception of how their company operates. PR helps a company to accomplish its goals and objectives. Public Relations is about finding something newsworthy and communicating it to a target audience.

Public Relations is all about communicating.