A New York Public Relations Agency with Global Reach

Public relations is a process that builds and maintains relationships between organizations and their intended audience. This definition means that each organization must send the right messages to the right people. By doing so, each party involved benefits in some capacity. As a result of public relations efforts, organizations receive favorable coverage while the audience receives trust and credibility. Often, public relations gets confused with advertising. Public relations is earned media, meaning all results derive from positive stakeholder relationships, while advertising is paid for. Results from public relations are never guaranteed, so crafting unique and relevant angles that resonate with your audience is essential. Public relations can promote businesses to other businesses (B2B) or products/businesses to consumers (B2C). With both areas of public relations, the goal is to provide value to the business, and its audiences.

Public relations is necessary for every business and organization for a number of reasons:

• Public relations spreads messages. You inform your audience and influence their opinions by contacting the media or distributing owned media, such as press releases.
• Public relations creates and maintains a reputation. You’ll naturally enhance your company’s reputation through consistent, coherent, concise messaging to the right audience. A positive reputation will help you gain and retain employees, investors, partners, and attention from the media.
• Public relations mitigates crises. No organization is immune to emergencies, so you should develop a crisis communication plan (CCP). Planning helps an organization adapt to its unusual environment and reduces risk exposure. Public relations helps spread messages in crises, bridging the gap between the public and their uncertainty.
• Public relations builds relationships with various stakeholders. Stakeholders include anyone affected by an organization, including employees, consumers, investors, and the media. Relaying correct information will allow your firm to build relationships over time naturally.
• Public relations helps you understand public opinions and perceptions. Public relations aims to learn what their audience thinks. Responding to positive and negative commentary online is essential for building a good reputation. When answering feedback, always remember to be sincere and transparent. Scanning public opinions will shape how your organization proceeds to craft and distribute its messaging.
• Public relations will generate content. The internet makes it possible for word-of-mouth messaging to spread faster than ever. If your organization does a great job maintaining its image, user-generated content will be rewarded naturally.

Public relations campaigns aim to enhance your company’s reputation, raise awareness, and increase revenue. The success of a public relations campaign can be measured by numerical values, including:

• Increased traffic to your owned media channels. If your social media accounts and website have gained more traction, chances are your campaign successfully reached your audience.
• Increased following on social media. A successful public relations campaign will result in a larger following.
• Press clippings. Press clipping refers to collecting all of the mentions about your organization. The media will cover stories about your campaign if it’s successful.
• How can public relations help during a crisis? Your organization can’t always avoid a crisis—whether it be a reputational, financial, or natural crisis. However, public relations can limit the risks and impacts. Your organization should continuously refer to a crisis communication plan (CCP). Doing so will guide your organization to navigate the situation and can even limit the risks. One of the main goals of public relations in a crisis is to inform the public. Disclosing transparency will restore the public’s trust in your organization. Not only is it essential to be open and honest about what’s happening, you should explain your plan for going forward. Public relations firms can provide effective CCPs and media training for your organization. Media training prepares the spokesperson for what to say to represent their brand and how to update the public.

Public relations can help every organization, whether they are start-ups or established brands. Through public relations, your start-up company can:

• Establish brand visibility. Breaking through the noise of competing firms will grant you recognition and credibility.  Through public relations, your start-up company can gain market momentum.
• Develop a social media strategy. Social media channels such as Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter are helpful avenues to get your name and content out there. A social media strategy will help your start-up generate value for prospective consumers/investors at a consistent pace.
• Create branding. Every organization has a story to tell. Public relations can help your start-up create its narrative and branding.
• Set and achieve goals. Your start-up company will work with a PR firm to determine KPI. A good PR firm will not only help you achieve your goals but also exceed them.