Public Relations is often confused with advertising or promotion. Each of these three things can be a vital part of a marketing campaign, and each are specialized forms of marketing, but they’re not one and the same. So what exactly is public relations?
Definition of Public Relations
Public Relations, often referred to as PR, is a discipline with an aim to create awareness, understanding, or goodwill for an individual, company, or any kind of organization. It’s about building and maintaining relationships with core groups (such as customers, locals, government agencies, and industry professionals).
While advertising and marketing often focus on a company’s product or service, public relations tends to focus on issues. For example, a good PR campaign might show that a company cares about its customers’ safety, or that they care about their community. An exception would be a media relations campaign around a new product.
Public Relations also involves image management and crisis management. An individual, business, or organization needs to initially create its image and build awareness. If or when that image becomes tarnished, because of a scandal, product failure, human error, or anything else, a public relations effort will be made to improve that negativity or to rebuild trust.
- Types of Public Relations
- Image Management
- Crisis Management
- Awareness Campaigns
- Public Relations Tools
- Press Kits / Media Kits
- Press Releases / News Releases
- Fact Sheets
- Media Advisories
- Press Conferences / News Conferences
- Public Service Announcements (PSAs)
- Speeches
