11 myths about PR Industry
Public Relations is known as a bridge between a brand and the target audience. It helps in reaching the target set of people by creating credible news, articles, press releases etc. But there are several myths about PR that is important to understand for better clarity. Here are some myths about the industry:
- Any Press Is Good Press: There’s an old idiom, “As long as you spell my name right.” The idea being that any ink is good one that just features your name out there, and breaking through, is an advantage that balances any negative content in a story. This is a long-term public relations myth. It’s also a losing approach. But it is important to know which medium of media is reliable and beneficial for your positioning. It important to segregate between online, print and new age media. If there is no bar set for segregation than every media is good for spreading the news to the readers.
- PR means Press Releases and Press Conferences: “Press release” and “press conference” are not the only two things a communication programme consists of. Public Relations is a lot more than that. Press Conferences and Press Releases are surely effective tools for creating visibility for your brand/company, but other tools like Management profiling, syndicated articles, share of voice in industry stories helps in building credibility for your brand/company too. Since Press Conferences and Press Releases are limited to major announcements, other PR tools help in sustaining the buzz and create top-of-the-mind recall.
- Once You Break Through with Publicity, You’re Golden: Say you did a viral audio-visual and got a billion hits, or wrote the most incredible press release the world has ever seen and newspapers all over the world picked it up. One big hit in the media isn’t enough and rare hit wonders are common. The harsh part for rock orchestras- and any public character or organization is a steady success. Many people think that it is easy to post videos and audio in the media without any consultation. In today’s era of new age media there are proper guidelines to do the same. Research, consult and move forward to post the same if you are eligible for it.
- Publicity Is Free and Easy: Most organizations are trying to get coverage in the media for every small development. But publicity is not easy; there is a roadmap to do the same. PR professionals do extensive research and curate a plan for different verticals of client to get relevant coverage leading to the brand get publicity. Nothing is free and easy in the industry which is competitive and constantly evolving.
- You Need to Hire an Expensive PR Firm: For many individuals, small business owners, and people just trying to break through whether it’s in politics, entertainment or professional sports; hiring an expensive and famous PR firm is not the best route to opt for. The budget is a constraint and there are other options available. Hard working individuals who understand your brand and industry well are the ones who would be responsible for the growth of a brand and not a reputed and popular PR Firm. So understand and evaluate the difference before hiring a communications agency.
- Good Products Don’t Need Publicity: Even if what you’re doing is innocent puffing up an average invention while ignoring your good products is an odd and unproductive strategy. Maintain a balance between good and average. Everyone wants to show the best strategy. One should be proud of it and make it the centrepiece of any publicity or marketing operation.
- Public Relations can’t be measured: Public relations functioning aren’t like baseball. There aren’t figures for when you succeed and when you missed. Some people and organizations do try to calculate the success of public relations, but that’s like trying to nail jelly to the wall. You can try to relate earned media to a comparable amount of advertising. Yet organic media is far more credible and effective than ads. You can’t jot that down as a number. One cannot measure direct conversions through a PR Programme but a substantial rise in conversions could be a result of the same.
- PR means controlling the press: The poorest thing you can do is tell a journalist to not cover a story or to stop investigating about the same. You can’t control the reporters. The press is a free body in a democracy like ours and are not controlled by anyone, it isn’t a massive institution either. Public relations is about being interactive with the media and target audience in a smart, effective way. It is the responsibility of PR to control the news very deliberately. It is very crucial because it can bitter your relationship with the journalist if you say a NO to Journalist.
- Only ex-reporters can do it: In public relations, there’s no specialized license either a test to pass this situation. This profession is developing, as the request for information grows. There are more PR jobs in TV, acting, government, non-profits, and administration. This is not true that only an ex-journalist can make for a good PR Professional, anyone with an urge to learn and adapt to new techniques can do justice to the job.
- Public Relations is spin, slogans, and propaganda: Propaganda is operating people to do something that’s not in their best interests, and it’s typically a tool of a state, used along with restriction. Public relations pros avoid slogans, and publicity techniques. Today’s audience has never been more cultured. A lot of public relations professionals are making life calmer for busy clients and journalists.
- Crisis Management: People think that crisis management is easy to handle and it is overhyped but it’s not true. Crisis management is very difficult to handle because PR professionals not only need an immediate plan, but a well thought through and an effective one also, to solve the problem. There are different types of crisis and it needs experience and understanding to suggest a solution which helps in handling the situation.
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