PR isn't narrow, it's broad.
PR isn't focused solely on customers and consumers. Public relations – properly practiced – takes into account every single stakeholder (or "public" as the PR industry likes to call it) an organization deals with in its daily life. Employees. Local communities. Local/state/federal governments. Partners. Channels. Reporters. Industry analysts. Buy-and sell-side financial analysts. Stockholders. Literally, everyone an organization touches.
PR isn't self-serving, it's serving others.
Public relations has a broader and more strategic agenda because it is so all-encompassing. Effective public relations concerns itself with earning a trusted reputation with each stakeholder by acting in the best interests of those publics – not just for its own myopic agenda.
PR isn't advertising.
The most common misunderstanding about public relations is that it is similar to (or the same as) advertising. While people frequently confuse the two, they are different.
Advertising exists to sell. It is nearly always directed at customers with a "buy this" message.
Advertisers can communicate whatever they want (within reason of course) because they pay for it. They can decide what they want to say, where they want to say it and how often they want to repeat themselves. It's a controlled process.
By contrast, media-based visibility is an uncontrolled process. Companies don't pay magazines, newspapers and broadcast outlets to run their stories in editorial pages. With PR, there's never a guarantee that a story you want written will be written. And there's never a guarantee that the story – if written – will say what you want it to say.
PR isn't best at awareness building.
There are lots of ways to build awareness. Advertising does a great job building awareness. So do direct marketing campaigns. Events build awareness. So do paid sponsorships. Product placements can also create lots of notice.
While public relations is excellent at building awareness, this isn't what makes it special. PR's "secret sauce" is its ability to build credibility.
While advertising is often entertaining, people instinctively understand the messages they just heard, saw or read were paid for. By contrast, effective public relations is all about credibility creation.
PR isn't sales, but it influences sales.
If The Wall Street Journal, for example, decides to write a story, that piece of editorial has to pass an incredible litmus test to prove it is real (not hype) and legitimately newsworthy. As a result, people who read The Wall Street Journal perceive stories in that business newspaper to be unbiased and true.
Think about the process of buying a new car. Which is more persuasive – the flashy TV ad or the written automotive review that dissects a car's pros and cons vs. similar vehicles? Nearly everyone would agree it's the latter because there is implied value in objective reporting.
PR isn't best at brand maintenance.
Arguably, public relations was instrumental in building the technology industry. High-tech companies almost always introduce new products and services first by telling the world about them through stories, articles and broadcasts. PR communicates messages effectively because it is rooted in creative storytelling and credibility-building third-party validation.
In the world of high tech, advertising usually follows PR's stake in the ground. Once the word is out and buzz is built, advertising kicks in to remind and reaffirm core messages. It's common to see post-announcement ad campaigns borrow heavily from the successful PR initiatives that preceded them – with elements like positive quotes in publications and from customers – because they impart credibility.
PR isn't one-way, it's two-way.
When you send out a direct mail piece to a prospect, run an ad in a magazine, fly banners at company-sponsored events or issue a news release, these are all examples of one-way communication. The message is crafted and pushed out. These are closed-loop systems.
By contrast, effective public relations should always be an open system and a two-way process. The goal isn't simply to communicate, but rather to be understood and believed. To effect this kind of attitudinal change, a conversation between the communicator and message recipients must take place. If companies don't listen well and don't engage in open, honest dialogue with the people they want to influence – and change behaviors when necessary – no positive attitude change will occur.
Belief is created when two parties understand each other, trust each other and believe there is mutual value. A sought-after reporter won't write the story you want if he or she doesn't believe it has value and the company can't back up its claims. Honesty breeds understanding. Understanding breeds credibility. Credibility breeds believability. Believability breeds a positive reputation. A positive reputation breeds brand loyalty. Brand loyalty breeds corporate and organizational success.
PR isn't fabricated.
The technology industry learned a valuable lesson with the dot com bust. If you spin stories that aren't true, this fabric doesn't survive many wash cycles.
Effective public relations isn't rooted in pure hype. People eventually figure out when unfounded claims are not true. When they do, corporate brands, products and people suffer damage.
Thankfully, our industry shifted back to a substance and "we must prove it" approach that has helped rebuild trust and credibility.
PR isn't about "me," it's about "you."
To become an ultimate brand, a product or service must become a deeply personal thing – an individual experience – something that feeds a person's own self identity.
People become brand loyal to technology products and services when they establish a personal connection – rooted in deeply ingrained continual satisfaction – with what they buy and use.
Great PR is focused on helping a company strategically figure out how to deliver an overall brand experience that will engender satisfaction. Consistently delivering on promises builds brand loyalty brick by brick.
PR isn't publicity or marketing.
In the technology industry, public relations' role is often relegated to the marketing function. This organizational structure may reflect the perceived role of PR within those organizations, namely that it exists to help market products and services.
True public relations is broader than that. It isn't solely focused on cultivating and securing new customers. Effective PR concerns itself with guiding the company/organization through all its organizational relationships, both internal and external.
While promoting products and services is a piece of the PR pie, it should never be its sole focus. When it is, public relations becomes a lower-level function called publicity.
- Andy Beaupre
