Public Relations (PR)
Gaining exposure by providing information of public interest
Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing the spread of information between a business and the public. The aim of PR is to gain exposure to a targeted audience using topics of public interest and news items for free, rather than marketing or advertising.
The first public relations agency was the Publicity Bureau, established in Boston in 1900 by three former newspapermen, George V. S. Michaelis, Thomas Marvin and Herbert Small.
The aim of public relations is to inform the public, prospective customers, investors, partners, employees and other stakeholders and ultimately persuade them to maintain a certain view about the organisation, its leadership, products, or political decisions.
Public relations specialists provide the following services:
- Establish and maintain relationships with a company’s target audience, the media and other opinion leaders.
- Design communication campaigns, writing press releases and other content for news, working with the press.
- Arrange interviews for company spokespeople.
- Write speeches for company leaders.
- Act as the company’s spokesperson.
- Prepare clients for press conferences, media interviews and speeches.
- Write website and social media content.
- Manage the company’s reputation (crisis management).
- Build brand awareness.
Hiring a PR firm makes sense for three reasons:
- Simple ROI – The simple return on investment of hiring a PR agency is unmatched and can’t be ignored, especially in a down economy.
- Opening the gate to key decision makers.
- Third party objectiveness.
