Public Relations (PR) includes activities intended to promote understanding of your company or product and to promote goodwill toward you, your company and its products. Through PR activities you may assess and influence public opinion by delivering messages without incurring direct media costs. Advertising and PR are sometimes thought to be different names for the same thing. While they are both methods of promoting your business, some of the differences are show in the table below:
Advertising Public Relations
Cost Involves not only the cost of creating the message (the print, radio or TV commercials), but also the cost of paying a media outlet to deliver the message. Involves primarily the costs of developing the positive information about the company, owner or product – messages you hope to communicate to your market and community.
Control You control the message and the method and timing of delivery. The media controls the message and the method and timing of delivery.
Public Relations Campaign
A good public relations campaign will help develop the image and reputation of your business. A campaign is a program of promotional activities intended to accomplish a specific objective.
A campaign may be short and tightly focused or long with a broader focus. For example, a florist might develop a short and focused PR campaign for Secretary’s Day or Mother’s Day. A longer term, broadly focused PR campaign might have general messages promoting giving flowers as a form of expression to others. PR campaigns can even help condition your market to being more responsive to your advertising and encourage them to patronize your business.
The elements to consider in creating a public relations campaign include:
Audience or Publics – A group of people to whom your company needs to be responsive and responsible. This includes customers, prospective customers, colleagues, employees and their families, government representatives, shareholders or investors and your neighbors.
Goals of your campaign – What is it that you hope to achieve? Do you want to attract new customers? Enhance your company’s image and reputation? Create closer ties with the community? Educate the public about your industry?
Medium of communication – Print journalism? Broadcast media? Your Web site? Word of mouth? An exhibition booth at a community event? A billboard?
Framework of your campaign – What steps need to be taken in order to achieve your PR goals? What is the outline of your PR campaign? How long will the campaign be? What is the budget? Which staff members are to be involved? What needs to be done?
Activities – The actual steps taken to advance your cause and achieve your goals such as giving a speech, donating to a charitable organization, sponsoring a community event, organizing a blood drive, giving your employees holiday bonuses, etc.
Phrasing of the message – What are the reasons why your business is involved in the particular activity? What is it that you want to say? Why was this PR campaign developed?
PR messages are different from advertising slogans. For example, Nike’s ad slogan is “Just Do It” while its message might be that athletic activity is a vital component to a rewarding life.
Public Relations Tools
Community Outreach – Help build community by participating in local events, donating to non-profit organizations, networking and educating its citizens. Special Events – Build your company’s reputation and influence in your industry by taking part in trade shows, conferences, training seminars, in-store demonstrations and trial offers.
Marketing Communications – Keep in continuous touch with your market and community by publishing newsletters and informational booklets and brochures, inserting slip sheets in your invoices, and writing personal notes and letters.
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