Solving the Conundrum: Public Relations

According to The Public Relations Society of America, "Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics."

Public relations is about how a brand communicates with its audience, the stories they tell, the relationships they build, and the press they earn to help people positively connect with the brand. Contrary to popular belief, PR is different from marketing, specifically tasked with generating revenue, and it's different from advertising, which relies on paid promotion to share the key messages.

In my experience, Public Relations is more than just telling people about things; it is sharing. It is a process and practice of individuals and brands building relationships with journalists, bloggers and podcasts and spreading their key message to their target audience. A PR practitioner must be a translator of ideas. One must strive for clarity by listening, questioning, knowing and forming trust before effectively translating. A good practitioner knows how to generate positive media coverage and gain exposure & access to the audience by using press release distribution, social media outreach, pitches to editors and journalists, awards and speaking opportunities, and more.

Essentially, what this means is if nobody knows you exist, you won't have any customers, and without customers, you won't be able to generate revenues.

I want to make a statement that every brand needs a PR strategy, you could ignore this fact, but without a proper comprehensive PR strategy, your brand may struggle to be heard by your target audience. In addition, a comprehensive PR strategy helps accomplish a variety of goals such as increasing brand awareness, investment opportunities, lead generation, creating trust within your audience, and crisis management. In conclusion, a strategic public relations plan is "a roadmap to take you from where you are to where you want to be!

In the next post, we will discuss how to develop a comprehensive PR plan and how it will directly impact your success!