It can feel like public relations professionals constantly need to defend the field – in a day where capitalism rules and the bottom line is top priority, how does PR’s value measure up to other quantifiable departments? As communicator Guy Kawasaki puts it, “brands are built on what people are saying about you, not what you are saying about yourself.” That’s where PR comes in. Though it may seem easier to devote marketing budgets to advertising when results are easily measurable, PR provides benefits that other departments generally can’t. Five of these include:
- Engage in two-way conversations with stakeholders. PR is very much about two-way communication, where some other forms of the “marketing mix” focus on one-way communication (i.e., an ad, which “pushes” information to audiences but doesn’t “pull” information from them in turn). People like
to have their voices heard, and if a company isn’t part of that conversation, they will talk anyway and say whatever they want. PR is great for taking control of those otherwise-unmonitored conversations and, usually, turning them into a positive for the company. There are always horror stories, but there are positive ones too. - Garner earned media coverage. While a marketing budget may include buying ads in the local paper, PR includes earning media coverage in the local paper. Earned media coverage is, essentially, exactly as it sounds. Cost-free, valuable stories seen by thousands that are garnered through newsworthy information disseminated strategically by PR pros. You think paid ads are expensive? Clip some media stories and gauge exactly how much additional coverage your PR department has gotten you free-of-charge. Warning: there is a stereotype that this is the main task in PR. That is false – publicity is but a small component of a vast field.
- See the big picture. PR pros are trained to look at the company as a whole – something that can be lost when employees are so dedicated to the inside. They see the things people don’t even think of – such as potential issues with activists, employee engagement opportunities, relationship building endeavours and more.
- Provide preventative measures. Companies may consider cutting back on their PR department because they don’t need it; business is good, stakeholders are happy, nothing seems amiss. However, that can often be because of a good PR department. It isn’t just about crisis management when things are bad, it’s about mitigating threats to dissuade any future threats. So if your business feels like it doesn’t need PR, that’s probably because of good PR.
- Find the best in a company. So maybe other departments can do this as well, but an overarching goal in PR is to communicate the most unique, positive stories of a company to help it stand out amongst the noisy environment saturating the public. PR attempts to position a company or brand as exciting, ethical, honest, different and important to the public, showcasing its benefits. Pros in this field can tease out the best of a company and communicate those key points to investors, customers, or any other stakeholders in the business.
These are five important considerations when assessing the value of a PR department, but they are just a small list of the many benefits that PR can provide a company.
Alex Rodgers 