Raise your hand if people have ever given you a blank stare when you tell them you do PR. (Me! Me!) A number of you probably have your hands raised too. And if you do, this article may be useful.
It’s not that people haven’t heard of PR so much as that they just don’t understand what it is. You hear PR associated with bad publicity or spinning a negative situation. You don’t often hear public relations associated with positive things, though you may hear about the positive things we’re doing.
That news story about what to include in your emergency kit? That was us. That new cancer center opening across town? Yep, we raised funds for it. That food festival up the street? We posted that pic you just liked. The new Hands Free Law to make our roads safer? We lobbied for it. The public service announcement you saw about domestic violence? We wrote the script. The new rideshare program your organization is offering? We came up with that. The #LipSyncChallenge video from your local police department? We filmed and edited it and probably came up with the choreography.
See, public relations isn’t just about spin and crises. In fact, crisis management is just a little of what we do. Public relations is defined as “the management function that establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and the public on whom its success or failure depends.”
In layman’s terms: We make good things happen for organizations and for you.
So, let’s clarify a little more.
1. Public relations is different from marketing.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen job positions listed as public relations representative, when in all actuality, it’s a marketing or sales position. But, I get it. It’s easy to confuse public relations with marketing. An incredibly oversimplified way to distinguish the two is to remember this: Marketing offers a “thing” to meet demand in exchange for something of value; public relations establishes trust so your publics will still want that thing.
You need to drive hands free now? The marketer offers you a Bluetooth device. You want groceries delivered to your door? The marketer offers you Shipt or Instacart. The consumer buys your product or pays for your service.
Trust can’t change hands, and that’s really the biggest differentiator between public relations and marketing – there is no exchange of title in public relations. You can’t buy loyalty or commitment, and few would argue that an organization’s success or failure doesn’t depend heavily on those. Strategic public relations can help ensure your publics know all the good things your business is doing, mitigate potential risks before they escalate and respond to crises to maintain loyalty and trust.
2. Public relations counsels leadership in decision making.
Public relations must have a seat at the table when it comes to business decisions. We provide trusted counsel to leadership to help ensure relationships with key stakeholders remain strong. I recall one situation during the height of the recession in which a national business decided to close a small operation in a rural, economically challenged town.
When the public relations department was made aware of the situation, they counseled against moving forward with the closure until a plan could be developed. There were many risks that came with this decision. Many large, well-known businesses had closed or planned to close their doors in that community, which meant this may not be seen as a small closure affecting just a few people. It would be yet another “big business” abandoning the community. But, plans to close were already in motion.
Not surprisingly, after announcing plans to close, the CEO received emails, letters and phone calls from longtime loyal clients, government officials and community leaders about the decision. Just weeks later, the business announced it would remain open. The risks of damaged relationships and lost trust outweighed the financial costs of keeping the operation open. Years later, they did close the operation, but only after developing a sound plan that addressed needs and concerns of all key stakeholders. Which leads me to my final point …
3. Public relations helps organizations achieve successful outcomes.
Have you ever heard the phrase “throw something at the wall and hope it sticks?” That approach to public relations sends shivers down the spine of those of us who take our craft seriously. Because guess what, we hate reacting to things. We hate crossing our fingers and hoping it works. Planning, on the other hand, gets us totally jazzed!
Public relations is more than a news release. It’s more than a tweet. It’s more than an op-ed. Good public relations is based in research and seeks to achieve specific, measurable outcomes.
You need to know your audience and the environment your organization is operating in. If one of your strategies is to develop a community engagement program, you need to tie that back to a SMART objective. What is the outcome you hope to achieve from the strategy? Who is your audience? What tactics will you use to execute that strategy and reach your audience? What activities and tools are needed to support that tactic?
Now you have my top three ways to explain PR. How do you explain public relations to someone who isn’t familiar with the practice?
April M. Phillips, APR 