| Before you ask, the title of this post is grammatically | | | | conduct interviews or a closer study to create a larger |
| correct. "Public Relations" is now a recognized field of | | | | and better news story. Obviously, being part of the |
| study, employment and specialization, which is used to | | | | news gives a brand much greater visibility than |
| help companies expand their customer bases through | | | | advertising campaigns do. |
| methods other than traditional advertising. | | | | 2. Publicity events. These are becoming increasingly |
| Public relations, commonly referred to as PR, is the | | | | popular today, especially with consumer products. The |
| entire process of creating and maintaining a brand's | | | | company stages an event - game show, quiz etc - at |
| reputation with the public. The primary task of a PR | | | | a public location, and may also hand out freebies to |
| professional is to ensure that a company's central | | | | spectators. The interactive quality of these |
| message gets across to its target audience. | | | | presentations gives them more retentivity in the mind |
| PR can be used by anyone - individual, small business | | | | than an advertisement would. |
| or corporate. The student lobbying for a classmate's | | | | 3. Direct marketing. Newsletters and opt-in |
| attention is engaging in PR, just as a presidential | | | | subscriptions are a way for company representatives |
| candidate campaigning for success is. It's just that the | | | | to communicate directly with the target audience. |
| methods used by the two will widely differ, as is | | | | Direct marketing is highly effective when done by |
| appropriate given their differing target audience, scale | | | | skilled people, especially when the product requires |
| and circumstances. | | | | regular updates or maintenance. |
| PR works by collecting information about the target | | | | 4. Using blogs. A blog is an excellent way for a |
| audience, and offering them information that will draw | | | | company to have an online presence. The blog |
| them toward the brand. Market surveys help in | | | | demonstrates the company's expertise in its chosen |
| gathering information, while media and door-to-door | | | | field, gives it room to talk about the products and |
| campaigns are different forms of interaction with the | | | | services on offer, and is also a fairly interactive space |
| public. | | | | where representatives can talk to the public. |
| There are various methods and processes by which | | | | 5. Using social media and microblogs. Facebook and |
| PR firms operate today. These methods are all the | | | | Twitter are the most popular social media tools, with |
| more diverse thanks to the Internet, which in itself | | | | LinkedIn coming in very close behind. These allow |
| contains several different channels of communication. | | | | companies and their representatives to build a network |
| Some of these methods are: | | | | around them, creating a sense of community and |
| 1. Through press releases. A press release is a | | | | loyalty as well as web presence. Interaction is also |
| document sent from the company to representatives | | | | quite high in these platforms. |
| of the media. The press release aims to provide | | | | Maintaining good public relations is the best way to |
| material that reporters can use to craft a story for a | | | | keep existing customers, as well as to get hold of new |
| media channel. While print and online journalists usually | | | | ones. Always use expert services to take care of this |
| write out stories based on the press release alone, | | | | very valuable aspect of your business. |
| radio and TV news executives may choose to | | | | |