Good public relations are immensely important to any public-facing company. The PR game is an extremely complex one. It does not exist in a vacuum but instead reacts to a whole bevy of factors from within and without the organization. Here are 5 key aspects of Public Relations that need to be considered.
Know Your Audience
Although PR is not marketing, good PR campaigns are always preceded by a great deal of market research. Truly knowing your consumer audience and the media outlets that are important to them is essential. Market research can involve the employment of focus groups, online surveys, and data analysis. Big data analysis is being utilized more and more in PR market research. Big and varied datasets produced using information harvested online are analyzed algorithmically in order to understand market preferences and trends.
Creative Content
Public Relations content needs to be genuinely interesting, useful, or entertaining. PR copy is often barely digestible marketing speak: this turns away consumers and media contacts sick of wasting their time. Hiring a good creative communications agency can make the production of good public relations content far easier for small companies that cannot afford to contract an in-house PR team. Although a Public Relations strategy needs to be driven by data, a human touch is still absolutely essential for getting your message out there and reacting to market developments naturally.
Reactive Strategy
Public Relations strategy is often planned out so as to fit in best with the wider aesthetic aims of the company. While this is a good idea, flexibility is still absolutely essential. Public relations strategy has to be reactive: it has to be flexible enough to achieve the aims of the company even when the situation demands a change of course. Public Relations need to change in the face of political controversy, product uptake trends, and many other factors. Reactive Public Relations strategies can be mismanaged. Oil companies like BP, for instance, have misfired when moulding their PR strategy around environmentally conscious pretences. Consumers are not stupid and can spot disingenuous Public Relations shifts very easily.
Media Connectivity
A large part of any Public Relations strategy has to involve the creation of a beneficial relationship with the media. This can involve the creation of press releases, the conducting of an interview, the fostering of interpersonal relationships, and the gearing of marketing materials towards specifically targeted media outlets. It is important to target specific media outlets that speak directly to your consumer base.
Media connectivity can also involve dealing with criticism levelled at a company. An extreme degree of sensitivity is needed when dealing with criticism from the media. Overly petulant reactions to criticism can seriously damage the reputation of an organization and draw more negative press.
Technology Embracement
Good Public Relations typically involve the embracement of new technology – primarily communicative technology. Wholehearted forays into new modes of communication such as Tik Tok can reap huge rewards – providing that these forays are on the beat.
Interesting Related Article:”5 Ways Digital Marketing Can Augment Your Public Relations (PR) Strategies“