Public Relation: More than Just Marketing

Brands are built with publicity and maintained with advertising.

When it comes to marketing, I agree that social media definitely plays a much larger role compared to the pre-internet days. However, despite their effectiveness in spreading awareness, it would be a mistake to rely on social media as your only marketing strategy. Although it might not be as instantaneous as a viral social media feed, but “Public Relation” actually has a much bigger and comprehensive role for brands in terms of building interaction with audience.

Public Relation

Many would think that public relation equals to having a viral post on social media network. While it is true from commercial standpoint, but I think the essence of public relation is actually closer to “branding” process. Public relation is about presenting a certain image to the eyes and mind of the audience. On a larger scale, public relation is there to alter people’s perception about a brand.

“Brands are built with publicity and maintained with advertising”, Laura Ries once said. But as communication channels constantly evolved and more consumers are getting their news through social media feeds, it’s understandable if one can’t help but wonder if public relation will still be relevant at all in building brands.

So, how exactly do PR and brands go hand-in-hand?

Brand Stories in Greater Scale

Public relation essentially is about good storytelling. If brands are in charge of creating the conceptual story of how they want the audiences to look at them, PR is the one who brings the said story to life. Furthermore, great PR gives a touch of authenticity to the story that helps brands deliver their messages in the most humanly and genuinely possible. This is exactly why PR is especially good in bringing relevancy, bridging the story to the audiences so they feel connected with the shared experience.

The Heart of Authentic Relationship

Public relation stays true to what it means: building relationship. When brands establish a genuine story, PR solidifies the brands’ credibility in the eyes of the audience through authentic relationship. After all, PR is the key that hold a community together for brands to craft a reputable image and position in the market. Once brands earned their “spots” in the hearts of the consumers, they would likely be more willing to show their supports and ultimately, generate brand loyalty.

Cover All Bases

We know that content is king because it demonstrates innovation, leadership, and ideas. What about PR? Well, PR is what ushers these interesting content to the spotlight and gives opportunities for public to engage the brands. Good PR helps encouraging interaction from community, which potentially establish brands’ position as the experts of the industry. Above all, regardless digital or traditional media, PR can cover all the bases to get your content where it needs to go.

PR Tools

As part of a strategic communication process that builds a mutually beneficial relationship between brands and public, there are several PR tools and techniques that businesses can utilize to market their products and services effectively.

Press Media

You might think that since the era of TV has long gone, conventional press in today’s digital society will be forgotten as well. What people mistook here is the association of press with television. In actuality, press encompassed wide variety of media, both conventional and digital. Naturally as modern society’s lifestyle changes, media giants have also taken proper measurement to anticipate the shift in their behavior.

The approach is clear as seen in CNN, HBO, ESPN, Fox, among others, who have had their own channels on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and other social networks. These brands have successfully adapted to this transition to cater to their online-oriented users via videos or live-streaming, while maintaining their reputation as credible sources of information and news.

Influencer Marketing

While press might still be able to hold its ground in connecting brands and public, but the expense could still be considered pretty high, especially for startups. At such, a new approach has come to light and grown exponentially ever since: influencer marketing.

Influencer marketing is a more preferred method for brands nowadays, simply because of its potential to connect brands and public in a much deeper level, on a considerably low cost. Unlike press releases which can be more rigid in terms of content and deliverance, influencer marketing is more flexible and dynamic in delivering brand messages as well as interacting with potential target audiences.

Influencer’s creative and authentic approach helps to fortify a more solid bond with potential consumers, which could also improve brand loyalty.

Social Responsibility

Another effective yet often underrated method of public relation is through corporate social responsibility. Volunteering for community projects or providing sponsorship for local sports or events strengthen relationships with public while demonstrating brands’ social responsibility.

Besides, social responsibility can also improve your brands’ credibility and best of all, it can be done through various channels, either press releases, social media feeds, or influencer-endorsed posts.

Key Takeaways

There is no doubt that handling public relation is a much harder job compared to releasing a series of posts on social media. It requires a certain level of proficiency on different marketing strategies, keen observation of the public opinion, as well as strong leadership.

There are a lot of public relation tools and social media is definitely one of them. Therefore, I think, brands could push their public relation strategies by incorporating different tools in an integrated structure to achieve more effective result.