Organizations use public relations strategies to increase brand awareness, build trust with the public and improve their reputation. Understanding the different types of public relations strategies available will help you get better results from the strategies you decide to use. In this article, we define public relations strategies, provide a list of some effective methods and offer tips to guide you.
What are public relations strategies?
Public relations strategies are the collection of methods an organization uses to help it move from its current situation to its end goal, which can include gaining publicity, growing its customer base or improving its reputation. These methods help a company organize its public relations efforts to attract its target audience and identify ways to reach its goals during the planning stage. They’re similar to marketing strategies because the primary goal is to spread brand awareness.Public relations strategies also can be useful in crisis management situations because it allows organizations to respond to a negative situation and try to develop a possible outcome from it. A good strategy can help companies increase their reputation if they overcome a negative situation. Businesses often rely on outlets, such as media sources, blogs, social media or podcasts, to help them deliver messages for these strategies to a wider audience. PR professionals group these into three categories, which are:
- Owned media: This includes any outlets a company owns and operates, such as a blog, social media sites or video channels.
- Earned media: This refers to any content a third party creates about a brand or company without being paid to do so, such as online reviews, social media posts or word-of-mouth recommendations
- Paid media: This is any type of media a company pays for to increase its reach or exposure, such as advertisements, sponsored posts or influencer content.