Subcomponents of Public Relations

The Public Relations field could be split into different areas of specialties.

Fundamentally, public relations practitioners perform the
following functions:

Writing and editing: This is a crucial skill in public relations. Accordingly, every PR professional,  must learn not only to appreciate good writing. He or she should also possess good writing and editing skills, as written messages serve as a primary means through which messages are disseminated across media outlets.


Media relations: The mass media, comprising:  print, online and electronic mediums serve as channels through which PR professionals communicate with
the public.

Herein, underlines the need for Public Relations practitioners to nurture
cordial relations with mass media organizations - as well as other key
personnel in such organisations. These comprise: editors, reporters and columnists.


Research: Public relations problems are not solved through guess work, rather they are solved via methodic process.  PR professionals conduct   formal and extensive research - with a view to  obtaining adequate  information that would be instrumental to planning.


Strategic planning: Public relations practitioners who operate at executive levels, play a key role in initiating and implementing an organization's missions, policies, set goals and objectives.

Management and administration: PR professionals partake in management work, as  Public relations serves as a distinct management function which promotes mutual lines of communication between an organisation and its publics.

Corporate counselling: Under this segment of Public relations,  practitioners offer counselling to management on matters related to their  organisation's relationships
with their various publics.

Organising special events: The planning and staging of events, such as:  trade
fairs, trade exhibitions, press conferences, fashion shows, factory tours and AGMs among others -  is part of work public relations practitioners do. This forms part of the skills set - imparted into them in their course of study.

Speaking: This serves as a potent
tool in public relations and a great way for organisations to communicate  key messages while connecting with their target audience in an engaging manner.

In a bid represent their organisations, PR practitioners do engage in public speaking assignments of different kinds for different publics at various  events.


Crisis Communication: A very special type of work that PR practitioners do is helping their organisations to resolve crisis whenever they occur. PR practitioners achieve  this primarily, by managing the flow of information between the organisation and the public, via the mass media, and by advising management on what to do and how to go about  it. This is with a view to ensure such situations do not spiral out of control.

ROLE OF PR IN NON PROFIT ORGANISATIONS

ROLE OF PR IN NON PROFIT ORGANISATIONS

Some well-organized non profit organizations have Public Relations (PR) units like employee relations, media relations, government relations, community relations and sometimes marketing communications directed at their baseline causes.

Non-profit organizations would usually not engage in investor relations because they do not have stockholders as it is with profit oriented organizations.

Bigger non-profit organizations could have broader public relations duties because the more visibility they have the more grants they are able to attract and the more community support they will win.


Role of Nonprofits in societies

Non profit organizations play important roles in a nation’s economy. They concentrate on areas often unattractive to the government public sector and for profit commercial sector.

Non-profit organizations exist without an overt or primary motive for profit. They work in all areas of public life except as commercial companies. Such areas include universities, hospitals, churches, foundations and related groups that provide services without the expectation of making a profit.


Charity Auctions are also a good model used by Public Relations (PR) practitioners to raise funds and garner support for nonprofit organizations. This process involves meticulous planning, research and dissemination of messages intended to the target audiences.

How to measure success of PR campaigns

For Public Relations professionals, measuring success of each PR campaign using metrics  is a key focus of their overall activities.

Here at five ways they achieve that using PR metrics.

1. Press Clippings: This serves as  good means to measure overall success of PR campaigns with metrics.  However,  the publications should be those viewed by your target groups. When your PR campaign materials get positive and  substantial amount of publications on your targeted media platforms it implies your PR campaign is raising much needed awareness - and on track to achieving set objectives.


2. Media Impressions: This is yet another means to measure impact of PR campaigns. This form of metrics works by calculating the amount of media impressions generated over a stipulated period. Public Relations professionals ascertain this by multiplying the figure of press clippings garnered by total circulation strength of the publication. For instance, if publication "x" with a circulation strength of three million mentioned your organization, it's safe to say you garnered a total of three million media impressions.


3. Content Analysis: Besides the amount of stories and media impressions generated it's important, Public Relations professionals measure the content of each publication. Things to look out for in the course of using such metrics for analysis include:

I: Is your organization being portrayed in positive light in published articles.

II: Are key messages being mentioned in the stories.


4. Web Traffic: Another veritable means of measuring success of PR campaigns with metrics is by analysing the amount of traffic your website generates before and after a public relations campaign.

5: Social Media Mentions: This is yet another form of  metrics for measuring success of PR campaigns. Such measurements using social media mentions should lay emphasis on conversations about your brand or organizations before and after a campaign. If social media conversations and mentions around your brand or organization increase after kick starting a campaign in a positive light, then  it implies your campaign is gaining traction.

How Bernays pioneered PR publicity stunts

The earliest publicity stunt in PR (Public Relations) history occurred in the 1920s. At that period it was a taboo for women to smoke outdoors. At that time, a cigarette brand Lucky Strike cigarettes, was seeking to aggressively grow its customer base - and this included women.
 Consequently, the cigarette maker engaged the services of a seminal figure in Public Relarions history, Edward Bernays.
As part of his strategy to break the taboo, Bernay's orchestrated a now-legendary publicity stunt by convincing women
to smoke at the Easter parade in Manhattan as a statement of rebellion against the norms of a male-dominated society.
The demonstrators were not aware that a tobacco company was behind the publicity
stunt. Bernays dubbed his PR campaign the: “Torches of Liberty Contingent”
Publicity photos of these beautiful fashion models smoking “Torches of Liberty” were sent to various media outlets and appeared worldwide. As a result, the taboo was dissolved and many women were led to associate the act of smoking with female liberation. Some women went so far as to demand membership in all-male smoking clubs, a highly controversial act at the time.
For his work, Bernays was paid a tidy sum by George Washington Hill, president of the American Tobacco
Company.
Bernays was the profession’s first theorist. He drew many of his ideas from Sigmund
Freud’s theories about the irrational, unconscious motives that shape human behaviour.
Bernays authored several books, including Crystallizing Public Opinion (1923), Propaganda (1928), and The
Engineering of Consent (1947).
He saw public relations as an “applied social science” that uses insights from psychology, sociology, and other disciplines to scientifically manage and manipulate the
thinking and behavior of an irrational and “herdlike” public.