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Public Relations

Difference between Public Relations and Marketing

Public Relations and Marketing are two industries that get compared to each other frequently and their roles are often confused. These two industries can be difficult to define because there are a vast number of subgenres within each industry type, but according to Rebecca Hart, “marketing matches products and/or services to consumer needs; and public relations builds mutually beneficial associations with publics.” Public Relations is known for utilizing long term approaches to increase awareness and establish credibility. These long term approaches are often planned through communications plans, which are aligned with a company’s objectives and goals. A Public Relations Professional’s objective is to always advance the organization. This may be completed both internally and externally. Employees within the organization are just as important to a Public Relations professional as external customers.

When it comes to public awareness, delivering messages and media content, Public Relations professionals vastly differ from Marketing professionals. The purpose of Public Relations is to garner positive attention and interest. This is completed through the use of free or earned communication tools such as social media, press releases, posters, online publications and more. Public Relations, unlike Marketers, do not pay for coverage.

Alongside free communications, Public Relations Professionals are more focused on communicating to a broad, general public about an organizations objectives. Marketing, however, is directly customer focused. According to Kay Pinkerton, a public relations professional, “Marketing's target is the customer. Marketers strive to meet customer demands in order to move goods and services from producer to consumer.” As the customer is the main and sole focus for Marketers, their attention is always on revenue, revenue growth and the corporate bottom line. Marketers must maintain and foster direct relationships with customers whereas Public Relations Professionals must keep a constant, positive public image. Some tools Public Relations professionals utilize are media relations, publicity, customer relations, event planning, government relations, employee relations and promotions.

Difference between Public Relations and Advertising

Advertising and Public Relations has its similarities, for both the goal is awareness and to garner sales for a corporation. However the differences between the two much outweigh the similarities. Advertising pays for advertisement space, unlike Public Relations where free communication tools are utilized. With Public Relations there is no guarantee a communications pitch would be picked up by media, or how long it will stay in the public’s eye. Advertisers however are able to pay for an ad space, its location and depict how long the advertisement will be displayed. In Public Relations media outlets are not required to publish a pitch. Alongside this there are circumstances that may occur where a communication is dropped. Coverage is unreliable and there is always uncertainties. Advertisers avoid these uncertainties by paying for ad space. Both industries are considered to be creative, however with Public Relations creativity is a factor, but it still has to be professional in order not to skew the public image of the corporation. Advertising however has to constantly be creative in order to get ahead of their competition through ad campaigns, and materials. In Advertising creativity is a necessity to grab attention, foster messaging and address a call to action.

Careers

Public Relations is a career that offers many opportunities and variety in the work force. Professionals in the following careers encompass strong writing capabilities, creative thinking, be able to work under pressure and professionalism. The following careers fall under a Public Relations field or a few may be encompassed into one role of a Public Relations professional.

Publicist

The role of a Publicist is to obtain and maintain positive press coverage of their client. Publicists issue media releases, press kits and more to garner attention and coverage for their client. In order to maintain positive coverage publicists must maintain positive relationships with reporters, journalists, bloggers and other news outlets. Positive relationships are maintained by pitching stories, quotes, pictures and interviews to outlets in a timely fashion.

Publicists are known for working predominately in the entertainment industry for artists, labels and corporations. They also are known to work with politicians.

Copywriter

The role of Copywriter is preparing written, media and print materials used for the purpose of advertising and awareness. A Copywriters job consists of preparing text for advertisements, text, media, brochures, posters, billboards and catalogs addressing a call to action. This call to action may be brand awareness, purchasing a product and or service. Copywriters can be full-time employees or freelance. The position of Copywriter is frequently freelanced.

Media Relations

A Media Relations professional’s job consists of meeting with and maintaining strong relationships with the media on behalf of their client. They work with media outlets on a global spectrum to communicate news worthy messages, stories or information.

These professionals compile business strategies and media plans to ensure their messages and relationships align with their client’s needs and directives. The purpose of a media plan is to compile a list of media contacts, their beat and contact information. When a story is to be published a media relations professional best utilizes the media and contacts to target the appropriate audiences. These lists may contain blogs, magazines, newspapers, television and radio outlets that may be interested in their pitch.

Event Coordinator

The role of an Event Coordinator is to plan and execute events based on a pre-planned goal or objective. These goals are developed through communications plans, event proposals and checked to see if it aligns with corporate values and objectives. Event Coordinators must work with and maintain strong relationships with catering and event companies as well as news and media outlets. To ensure a successful outcome Event Coordinators must determine their target audience. Event Coordinators are not limited to the private sector, then can also work for charitable organizations or as contractors.

Social Media Coordinator

Public Relations professionals who work as Social Media Coordinators must monitor, write, develop, manage and analyze content. These tasks may very dependent on one’s role. The responsibility of a Social Media Coordinator is to best utilize online content such as Facebook, twitter etc. to raise awareness, provide information or address a call to action. A majority of online resources are free social media websites with a broad and diverse user base. The role of Social Media Coordinator is relatively new to the field of Public Relations.