Misconceptions Surrounding Public Relations

Friends, Thank you very much for taking out time from your very busy schedule to read my blog(s). I really feel encouraged after reading your feedback in the comments column. Friends, presenting 62nd blog titled “Misconceptions Surrounding Public Relations” because most people don’t understand what PR truly is as of today?

Misconceptions Surrounding Public Relations

1.PR and Advertising are the Same

Advertising consists of paid placement with a controlled message. PR campaigns are persuasive and communicate messages through third parties, such as news media (print, electronic, www), which are not paid. Both help the individuals / organisations to create an image in the marketplace and or their target publics, yet they require different skill sets and strategies to complete successfully. Since PR seeks a third-party endorsement, the message is deemed as more credible in the public eye.

2.You can only get great PR coverage if you already have the right press contacts

This is why a lot of organisations hire a PR agency. They think that agency comes with all the best press - media contacts and if the press knows and likes the agency you have hired for doing PR, they'll want to know you too. Good agencies do have positive relationships with the press but that cannot be leveraged into great coverage. Truth should only be told. The press or industry analysts like to hear the news from the horse's mouth. But it has to be news, and it must be presented objectively.

3. PR doesn't take a lot of time

Public relations –> Press Relations that get results require an investment of time. A lot of time is spent in drafting and writing a press release, developing appropriate media lists, and most important, doing follow-up phone calls before anything actually hits the press. If you're sending out a hundred press releases, you should be making a hundred calls. Spending that time is how you get the best results. The more time you put in, the more you get out of it.

4. PR Agency is a must for the organisations

If yours is a Medium or Small size organisation you really don't need an agency to successfully use PR as part of your overall marketing or communication program. It will be better to establish In-house PR Dept. before considering an agency. In fact, now a day’s many large corporate manage their PR strategy in-house by establishing Corporate Communication Dept.

5. Everything new is news and should be brought to all the press' attention

Just as no news about an organisation is bad news. So as announcements full of self-congratulatory quotes turn editors off. Neither the PR agency nor In-house PR Dept. will be taken seriously if the organisation expect them to issue a four-page release about their move to a new address. We must learn to distinguish what information is really news, and what is FYI (for your info) reference material.

6. Anyone can do Public Relations

PR is an art and science both and only the professionals can do it right. Since PR has certain set theories, have basic elements and principles so the fundamentals can be learned and basic steps for dealing with the press and industry influencers can be mastered. And that’s why you are reading my blog to learn how to do PR.

7. PR is an administrative task

Drawing a PR strategy, campaign or plan or writing a press release, preparing a press list and making a press kit are not administrative task. The spokesperson who represents the organisation holds a massive responsibility, whether responding to a press inquiry or composing a release explaining why the organisation’s turnover did not meet expectations. The person managing PR must have a keen insight to current and future goals of the organisation. Deciding what news is truly newsworthy, or fielding tough questions from analysts, Journalists, Industry Influencers are not everyone’s cup of tea.

8. If we hire a PR agency we do not have to worry about PR

Organisations often empanel PR Agency based on the strategies put forth by them (agency) at the pitch meeting. But once the PR program is underway, we hear less and less from the agency and find ourselves dealing more and more with the people. So we need a PR strategist to assess all the messages going out (assurances, releases, advertising) as well as the feedback to those messages (articles, press, industry and public opinion.) to determine that the organisation and product messages are being received loud and clear. We need to remember that an agency builds upon the message we tell them to build upon.

9. All PR Professionals are Publicists

Publicists manage the reputations of individuals or small groups in the media. But PR professionals do much more. They use multiple communications strategies including media relations, social media, public speaking engagements, crisis communications and employee relations etc. etc. etc. to communicate messages to their target audiences.

10. PR is Just about Sending Press Releases

A Press Release is a PR Tool, not a PR Strategy.  Issuing a press release is one method of reaching out to the media, but it generally represents a small portion of the planning and strategy involved with a multi-faceted PR campaign. In many cases, press releases aren’t needed to reach an organisation’s target audience, and the communication strategies involve avenues outside of media.

11. PR Professionals Make up News or Distort the Truth

PR Professionals Communicate Useful, Factual News to a Targeted Audience. Organisations that distort the truth will find it difficult to regain public trust once they lose trust and their bottom lines can suffer. When working with the media, PR practitioners promote story angles that provide a benefit to their clients’ target markets and the news audience. PR professionals are trained to identify newsworthy opportunities for different types of media outlets and news formats without making up the news or distorting the truth.

12. PR is less certain than advertising

With advertising we know what we get from the start. With advertising we have guaranteed placement, we know how much it will cost and we know how many will see our message. Certainty of outputs doesn’t mean that audience will absorb the message. If we use PR to generate editorial coverage there is plenty of research to show which will be more believable than the advertising which is controlled message. Since PR is a third party endorsement it will have more impact on the target consumers.

13. The opportunities to use PR in marketing are limited

PR is now used across the board. Internationally PR budgets for many organisations have increased over the last years. PR has evolved to be a key marketing tool in the B2B sector. It is now a routine to include a PR agency along with advertising agency or agency offering integrated marketing communication solutions – either as a permanent part of the marketing team for ongoing brand support or for special launches and new product and services introductions.

14. PR should be bought in when we have decided our launch strategy

PR is often taken as “The Launch Strategy” along with Advertising. In fact, the most potent use of PR is before the advertising so that any news value is exploited prior to advertising. That is also the time to work with the influencers and opinion formers namely the media and opinion leaders.

15. PR is impossible to measure

The measurement of PR results has been an issue for many organisations over the years. PR is not like advertising and should not be measured in terms of the rupee value of the

Space / Time gained. Today, PR is far more strategic in its planning and execution. PR therefore should be measured strategically against business or communication goals. PR should not be used for measuring coverage.

16. Journalists want to be wined and dined

Journalists don't have time to be wined and dined. This is an extension of the myth that close personal contact with media people is necessary to get desired media coverage. Most journalists prefer to keep PR sources, even good ones, at arm's length. They prefer to receive PR pitches, PR story ideas and proposals in a letter or press release rather than have the details transmitted in a lengthy conversation. Most of the journalists are print oriented and so prefer written communication; if they have questions, they'll ask. If a conversation is necessary, they'd rather it be five minutes over the telephone than a two-hour lunch.

17. Every fact reported in the media is checked and verified

Most PR materials are picked up and run with almost no verification of any kind. Newspapers, Radio and TV news channels and news websites simply don't have enough people to check every fact. Editors and producers tend to run PR materials pretty much as it is, on trust. And if they edit, it's usually for style, grammar, and space limitations, not to add or verify factual content.

18. Getting publicity is a matter of luck and timing

Chance favors the prepared mind, and timing can be controlled. People who are unsuccessful at public relations often view those who are successful with suspicion. In public relations, marketing, promotion, new product introduction, and selling, timing is the most critical element. You succeed largely because you reach your media contact, target market, or prospect at just the right time.

Final Thought:

Public Relation is one of the most economical marketing tools an organisation can use. Invest in improving PR of the organisation, and over the time it will be repaid with an upswing in name recognition and increased positive perception of the organisation and its products or services.

 

Thank You for Reading.