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Meaning
In normal language you can say PR or Public Relations is a technique though which the companies, the organizations and an individual interact with in media. Public relations specialist interacts or talks to the target audience either directly or indirectly to the target audience with the help of media in order to create and also maintain a positive image they also create a strong relationship with the audience.
You can also understand and define PR as –
Molding and maintaining the image of either an individual or a company or an organization in the eyes of a patron’s various public.
‘Public’ has a different meaning as a Public relations term, here it means anyone and everyone whoever in the past has and in future will form a judgement about the client be it an organization, a company or an individual.
The public can include various people completely depending on the client’s profession. Public here can be named as the client’s existing or potential customers, the clients voters, local community members, media members, parents of students and students themselves, and the list never ends it goes on and on…..
Communication of PR can be done through various means such as newsletters, public appearances, press releases, of course through the internet, etc. technology has given no end to communicating with public.
Corporate World and PR
The business world or the corporate world is very cruel as it has a cut throat competition. The organizations have to discern themselves from their competitors in order to make new customer and also retain their existing ones. And to do all of this the companies need to have a positive public image. This is where we can use the PR firms and specialist to highlight the companies or the organization and the individuals operations by communicating on their behalf to create and maintain a good reputation amongst their audience and media. In order to create a strong relationship with the customers and increase their sales the companies need to maintain a positive public image and PR experts help in doing the same.
Public Relations Techniques and Tools
Boosting some ones public image is not easy as you have to grab attention of the clients audience, for that 1stly you need to know everything about your client and then with the help of different tools and techniques you can completely change your clients image. Tools used to communicate with the public is nothing but the mode of media you use to grab the attention of the audience such as newsletters, news releases, media statement, participation of the organization and the officials of the organization in public events, press conferences, awards and conventions, etc.. And of course how can you forget the social media in the 21st century. PR experts today do utilize different tools however these days social media is one of their favorite tools. The PR executives or experts succeed in creating a positive image by giving the public a positive insight of the operational activities of organization, company and an individual.
Public Relations (PR) Job
The job of a PR is to create a positive image of his client by crafting press releases by writing positive about the organization, the company or the individual. They are masters in crafting stories by creating an importance of the history of his client and also his products and services. The goal of the PR is very clear he has to fulfill the news requirement of a journalist with view of enhancing his client’s image in the eyes of the public or the audiences. They very frankly try to obtain free publicity for their clients for which they need to have a number of contacts in the media. The media can be any media be it the new papers, the TV stations mostly local TV stations, the social media, etc.
Their job is done by spending a lot of time creating relationships with the journalists and also other members of the media. Different journalists write about different client industries and personnel interests and a PR needs to research about these journalists as to who does what job. The PR also needs to know what type of stories the journalist is looking for and what tone of writing does he expect the story to be written in. Journalist mostly like stories, that come in from recognized sources, fresh, timely, relevant and something that targets his and the interest of his audiences. The PR also needs to create a press kit or a media kit. A press kit is a kit that is given to the journalist in order to help him understand the client better for example the basic information of the client like who is the client and what does the client do.
PR Trends in 2016
Public Relation has really changed a lot in the last one decade more than it has changed since the last 3 decades or rather since it has come into being. These changes have brought in a number of opportunities along with new challenges for the communicators or PRs. However these changes have roots with the internet and the social media. As time and creativity is transforming each year reflects how far we have reached with terms to business and a particular industry.
Let us look at the trends and challenges of PR and how will it appear in this beautiful year.
Evolution of press releases
People don’t really have time to read through the entire article, ok forget telling me ask yourself how many times do you make sure you read through the entire article. When last did you have the time of reading an article online or in a newspaper? People prefer visual content instead of the hard core text format. Visual content helps in saving their time and hassle of reading the content. Hence press releases are changing their form of communication through visualization. I can say they are evolving and getting better by the day.
Marketing through mobiles will increase
Mobiles are the in way of marketing these days. Most of the people these days use smart phones, and not forgetting the youth of every country depends on their smart phones. Did you know that the sales of smart phones have increased in the last 2 years more since 2011? People prefer paying their bills, connecting with people, watching videos and do a number of other activities through their smart phones. Marketers have made mobile marketing a trend these days as it can reach out to a number of target audiences easily. It is very effective and has grown since the use of smart phone has increased. Well mobile marketing needs to be used very smartly as your audiences will have access to both you as well as your competitors. If you develop applications for your mobile marketing make sure that you have mobile customer service available for public.
Social media influence will strengthen
Everyone online is influenced with something or the other. PR experts do know and realize this. Influencing with the help of social media is not a tough job anymore. Most people today have access to the internet and the social media; in fact life seems impossible without a smart phone or the laptop. Very rightly said when everybody is an expert then nobody is an expert because the meaning of being an expert is over. Because influencers need the best content to be influenced with the low grade content is automatically deleted or washed away. Influencing is going to be huge in the year 2016. High value brands will get noticed and highlighted.
Paid advertising and Paid PR will become very important
Now that media is getting so strong due to the internet and technology PR will be charged for the clients, there are no more free publicities; however this trend will increase. Normal law of economics with the increase of demand increases the price of the product. PR will make PR expertise chargeable and maybe even costly as it is a fee you end up paying to create a good image about your organization, or company or yourself. Social media has been charging for advertising on their websites and it is extremely costly. Organization, companies and individuals will have to pay to get famous and create a positive image about themselves amongst their audiences.
Corporate news updates
Updating the websites of companies is extremely time and efforts consuming as it involves a number of marketers. However with the changes and the evolutions of convenient software’s have made development and maintain a company’s website has become easier. This software is called CMS the Content Management System. People having access to this website such as the PRs can add and delete relevant information in favor of the company, the organization or the individuals. Adding posts on company’s websites gives the media and the public access to the company information hence this needs to be done very carefully. These websites are easy access for the journalist to any information.
Corporate website blogging
This tool is very convenient for PR experts to communicate with the audience and it helps in creating a positive image about the client amongst the public. Blogs are very common ways of political discussions and an individual’s personal journal. Many big and famous companies use blogs to report the happenings within the organization; they also give their employees access to post on these blogs including the CEO’s of the company, this is known as the in house blogs. Such blogs can be very quickly and easily communicated to social media. Technology has made creating and maintaining such websites very easy these days and this has become very convenient for PR, media and public.
Online discussion forums
These forums are said to be the child of the old internet bulletin board service. On these forums people can usually post their opinions regularly. This forum involves both opportunity as well as threat for the blog users and the PRs. The presence of an organization in a forum gives the organization recognition and credibility. Whereas the forum can also been a huge ground of spreading rumors and accusations about and against whosoever involved. The job of the PR here is to continuously monitor and rectify such misguided comments. Keeping such situations under control is very important before they catch a fire.
Top ranking on the SEO
The very important the Search Engine Optimization or the SEO, the search engine on Google is an extreme challenge to sustain and get the organization, the company and the individuals listed on the top ranking in this search engine. To attain a higher ranking in the SEO the marketers have to put in their concerned efforts and specific techniques. However at the very first glance SEO is not important for PR however PR uses this method of gaining the attention of media. And it does not cost any direct remuneration for positive publicizing to the company or the organization. The third party media outlet is used by the PR professionals to give a short to this activity, however the SEO is going to be one of the most effective tools for publicizing and creating a positive image about clients amid their public by the PRs.
According to the experts and the researchers PR has grown remarkably in the last few years. Especially since the evolution of social media and since the use of smart phones have increased creating a positive image of a client has become easier for PR experts. They have been using different methods and techniques to make PR more and more effective these days. Communicators are getting stronger and effective with the help of paid social media as they see higher returns and better means to reaching out to audiences. Like is said this industry has evolved dramatically and will continue to do so and the social media will only grow it network as evolution is an addiction.
The post 8 Public Relations Trends to Watch Out For In 2016 appeared first on eduCBA.