There is one very important thing you need to know about Lakeland public relations: we use earned and free media exposure. Forget about everything you think you know about PR and focus on these two words: earned and free.
These PR stories are different from the ads that appear on your news feeds, on websites, on TV, and in magazines and newspapers. Those are paid advertisements. Individuals and companies pay Facebook and Instagram to run these ads for them.
A PR agent’s work is more difficult and challenging. Through his work, an individual or a company has to earn the right to be written about by a journalist. Good PR does not always mean success. It does not mean that if you write a compelling press release, the media outfit you’re targeting will automatically pick it up and run it on their online news portal.
A PR company needs to analyze and predict the behavior and attitudes of a business’ target market. It has to read how the operations of the client’s business will impact, whether good or bad, the audience it hopes to attract. Unlike ad agencies, a PR company is more involved in the internal decision making of a company.
The PR agent gives advice on policy decisions and courses of action. He has to take into account the consequences of every decision the business does. And he has to anticipate the reaction of the public. He has to have a ready response to questions and complaints.
The job of a PR agency has a lot to do about researching and evaluating rather than writing a press release. A press release is just the output. Before that press release was written, finalized, and distributed to media practitioners, it went on a lot of revisions and legal dissection.
The PR agency, together with the legal team, needs to make sure that the business will not be implicated in anything through the issuance of a press release. They need to ensure that no demographics will be isolated.
Above all, a PR agency is also responsible for hiring and training the communications staff, directing them on how to build the company’s reputation and making sure that a crisis management plan is in place in case scandals or issues erupt.
The job of a PR agency is too complex to be boxed. It is challenging but every company that hired an able and experienced PR agency has reaped the rewards of brand awareness and customer loyalty.
