I would like to welcome everyone to our first class. Put away your books and pencils, let down your hair, stick a piece of gum in your mouth, and get ready to learn!
Today we will be clearing up some misconceptions about Public Relations; after all this is a PR blog so I figure this would be a good place to start.
To begin, lets watch a video I found on YouTube that summed up the public's general perception of PR.
Did you share the sentiments of those persons in the video? Let us now identify what Public Relations really is all about. It would be easy just to rewrite the text book definition given in schools, but what good would that be? So let me break it down in my own words.
Personal definition: Public Relations
The process through which mutually favourable relationships are maintained between an organization and its publics (those persons the organization caters to).
If that was not clear enough, here are a few links that might help:
Now let us move on to examine 5 common misconceptions about the Public Relations field.
Misconceptions
#1: PR and Advertising are the Same
While PR and Advertising may work together to achieve organizational goals, the process through which they do this are quite different. With advertising, you have total control over the message being sent, because you pay for it. For example, when Digicel (the Caribbean equivalent of Verison Wireless) places an advertisement on TV or radio, it pays the media house. It can therefore dictate the length of the message, the times it is shown along with the frequency, and the content of the message. PR campaigns on the other hand are persuasive and often communicate messages through third parties, such as news media, which are not paid. The messages of PR campaigns are often deemed more credible in the public eye because a third party, such as a media house, has to willingly publish the information without paid incentives.
#2: All PR Professionals are Publicists
Publicists manage the reputations of individuals or small groups in the media. A really good PR campaign does much more than publicize what is happening with its clients in the media. A really good PR campaign will use multiple communications strategies including media relations, social media, public speaking engagements, crisis communications and employee relations to communicate messages to their audiences. Remember our definition of PR? It is maintaining mutually favourable relationships between an organization and its publics. 'Mutually' there is an important word. So it is not just about bombarding the public, telling them how great your organization is. It is also about making the public feel as if they have something to gain from placing their trust in your organization.
#3: PR is Just about Sending Press Releases
Issuing a press release is one method of reaching out to the media, but it generally represents a small portion of the planning and strategy involved with a multi-faceted PR campaign. In many cases, press releases are not even needed to reach an organization’s target audience, and the communication strategies involve avenues outside of media. For example, you might need to lead seminars, put on competitions, host customer appreciation events and much more in order to achieve those mutually favourable relationships we are aiming for.
#4: PR Professionals Make up News or Distort the Truth
Many describe PR professionals as 'spin doctors'. However, organizations that distort the truth will find it difficult to regain public trust once they are exposed. What PR professionals do is present the truth in a manner which poses the least disruption for the organization and the public. As my lecturers always tell us, it is not what we say, but how we say it that makes the difference in the public eye. We are taught NEVER to lie to our publics, as it might ruin or careers.
#5: PR Practitioners Don’t Need Social Media
Social media leverages online tools and applications for communicating on the Internet. This includes blogging, micro-blogging (such as Twitter) and social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn. Communication through social media outlets is often open to all Internet users – or at least very large networks of “friends” – which gives consumers a greater voice about brands they do and do not like. With hundreds of millions of social media users worldwide, these can be quite loud and powerful voices, spread quickly through viral channels. PR professionals can use social media tools to reach their target audience directly, in addition to monitoring the buzz about a brand or company. We will elaborate more about this in my next lesson.
Further reading:
Please do not be afraid to leave your questions, queries or comments. While I am not yet an expert in the field of PR, I am training to be one so I welcome the challenge of meeting your needs. Until next time, School's Out and Learning's In!
"He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever." Chinese Proverb
3 comments:
Nice.. Informative not too long nor boring.. I now know a bit more what Public Relations is all about.
But question?
#5: PR Practitioners Don’t Need Social Media
not sure if I understand the misconception of #5
@Datz Thank you so much for your comment. Let me try to make it a bit clearer. Some people believe that all PR practitioners do is write stories to the media, or attend parties, and that social media is an unknown world to them. But in fact, most PR is done online through social media these days. As time changes, so does the profession.
okay i understand i misinterpreted it wrong myself thanks for clearing that up
Post a Comment