Choosing your job path is arguably the most important decision you will make in your life. But on the off chance that you have never worked on it, how can you know what it’s actually like? If you found this web journal entry, you’re probably thinking about a career in public relations. You have the option of accepting the task, but you are not entirely positive that this is the best decision.
Public relations can be easily divided into two main categories: promoting a brand and ensuring its protection. The promotional side of PR makes the professionals uplift businesses or individuals by creating a positive reputation through several paid and unpaid ways, such as placements on social media, traditional media, and blogs.
The second category, protecting the brand, helps the clients and companies maintain their public reputation by defending it through crises. PR is unique and exciting as it offers the opportunity of building a relationship with the audience through trusted and credible sources like new trusted outlets.
However, free publicity is not straightforward as journalists must write stories that can connect with their audience. On the other hand, public relations professionals need to account for new outlets as they create their PR strategy.
Here is a list of career opportunities and job descriptions in each of the categories for a career in PR:
Promotional Side of Public Relations
Opt for the promotional side of PR. Your primary job will be to convince the media about writing a positive story for your business through story pitches, press releases, and press conferences. You can manage online, local, and investor relations by being your brand’s spokesperson.
Here are some significant roles that you can pursue to join the promotional side of PR:
1. Content Creation
The media relations team pitches journalists’ good stories the content production team has created about their brand. Like a news announcement about a significant corporate merger, these stories can also attract journalists’ attention on their own. One of the team members can produce brand awareness videos in addition to writing press releases and bylines for publications.
2. Media Relations
The media relations team establishes and maintains connections with journalists so that they may present them with story ideas and look for opportunities to interview their executive leadership. Additionally, they keep track of their blog, social media, and press placements, as well as the efficiency of their PR effort.
3. Social Media Community
The team of the social media community monitors and controls the online reputation of their client or company. They assess the firm’s public reputation using social listening techniques. To improve it, they engage with their followers on social media, post company announcements there, and seek out social media influencers to market their brand.
4. Community Relations
The community relations team upholds a company’s or client’s potential. They achieve this by looking for opportunities to identify their business or client with worthwhile community activities, such as sponsoring an occasion, making a financial contribution to a cause, or participating in a charitable event. The brand’s influence on the neighborhood provides journalists with good stories to post and write, which boosts their frequency of media placements and improves their public image.
5. Financial Communications
To enhance a company’s financial reputation, the financial communications team for public corporations cultivates their dealings with investors and analysts. They respond to all analyst, reporter, and investor questions at press conferences, shareholder meetings, and private meetings. Additionally, they contribute to the website’s investor area and earnings releases.
6. Spokesperson
A spokesperson serves as the public face of their business. During press conferences, TV appearances, and public statements, they represent their company in front of the broader public and address any criticism that may be leveled at it.
Protective Side of Public Relations
The public relations side is smaller than the other, which is the PR’s promotional side. However, it is equally crucial. There are two prominent roles you can opt for in this category: managing a company’s crisis or managing the brand’s reputation.
1. Company Crisis Management
The team for crisis management assists clients of their own business in the event of significant disasters brought on by human error, interference, or even malevolent intent. They lessen the harm by issuing statements acknowledging the problem, developing company-wide answers to criticism, and promoting their solution through earned, paid, and personalized marketing channels. Additionally, they designate an official spokesperson to address any criticism of the brand at press events and interviews.
2. Brand Reputation Management
The team for brand reputation management monitors brand sentiment on review sites, social media, their Facebook ratings and reviews section, their online communities, and publications to assess the public perception of their firm or client. They can swiftly respond to any brand-related issues using mediums like social media and other online communication channels with the use of this information.
Public Relation Internships
Interns in public relations are in high demand. If you secure a PR internship, you’ll probably collaborate with several teams and be responsible for a wide range of tasks, such as organizing media outreach and speaking engagements, managing media inquiries, writing media lists and press releases, managing social media pages, assessing media coverage and PR campaign effectiveness, updating reporter databases, and assembling press kits and other media materials.
Conclusion
If you seek a career or job opportunity in a public relations company, be mindful that the job will offer you lots of growth possibilities and media exposure to learn and build yourself. Any role in this career line can be challenging but worth all the efforts and challenges as you will learn how to build a business effectively.
