3 Things You Didn’t Know About Public Relations

Public relations, or PR, is a unique and sought after industry in major cities worldwide such as New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. It is a PR professional’s job to ensure their client is the talk of the town, whether they are representing a nonprofit, food and beverage, luxury travel or even a political client. Below are a few things that you probably didn’t know about PR professionals and why it is truly an art to master.

Public Relations Is 24/7, 365

You heard right. PR professionals are constantly on. People think that working a career in the PR industry means a typical 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. desk job and then clocking out. This is not the case at all. If crisis comes knocking on a PR professional’s door, they answer- whether it’s the middle of the day or the middle of the night. Because the media works tirelessly, PR professionals must do so as well as they are both intertwined. Crisis management is a major part of a PR professional’s role, so by taking on a career in PR, you are devoting a lot of time (and possibly sleep) to the industry.

Social Media Has Completely Reshaped The Industry

Before the early 2000’s, word of mouth spread much slower as social media didn’t exist and public relations professionals were faxing press releases. Today, news travels at the speed of light with tools such as Instagram and Facebook live, as well as live Tweeting. This allows for PR professionals to keep up with breaking news much quicker, as well as release statements on behalf of clients and promote press releases in real time. With social media growing more popular, PR professionals are able to create a social media press release, or a condensed version of a press release tailored for social media use to help spread their message much quicker.

PR Dominates Paid Advertising

Anyone can conduct an ad buy and place their message on TV, in print or on a billboard. A public relations professional’s job is to spread their client’s message through various mediums, but they must do so by way of earned media. Earned media is looked at as being more credible than paid media as the reporters and editors must agree your message is newsworthy and choose to promote it. A value can’t really be placed on earned media as the public tends to be more receptive to these kind of messages rather than an everyday paid placement.

There you have it. Public relations is a truly unique industry that is flourishing and growing in major cities worldwide. If you’d like to learn more about the PR industry, click here. If you’d like to learn about what we can do for you in terms of strategic brand placement through our PR strategy, contact us.