Public relations (PR for short) is a familiar phrase. When most people think of PR, they think it means sending a press release to the media. This blog is about setting the record straight.

Sure, PR involves writing news releases and pitching stories to media. It also involves planning press conferences that are newsworthy enough for media to show up and report on. But there’s a whole lot more to it.

I like the textbook definition from Cutlip & Center’s Effective Public Relations.

“Public relations is the management function that establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and the publics on whom its success or failure depends.”

Whereas marketing is about selling and focused on potential customers, public relations is about developing mutually beneficial relationships with all of the audiences your organization depends on to be successful. Sure, customers are one of these audiences, but others include your employees, legislators, regulators, and the list goes on.

Developing a public relations plan is a great place to start. It allows you to get on paper your overall goals for public relations, your key audiences, objectives for those audiences (which should be measurable, time specific and attainable), the strategies for achieving those objectives, and then the tactics you’ll need to implement.

A well-done PR plan that’s properly implemented can bring incredible results to your business. If you’ve successfully implemented a PR plan, we’d love to hear about it! If you want to learn more about public relations planning, please contact me.