Digital Marketing - Study Notes:
What is PR?
Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information in order to promote a product, business, or brand. PR professionals use earned or free media rather than paid advertising to communicate a message. PR content is often found in news websites, blogs, print magazines, and newspapers.
PR allows you to leverage your relationship with key people in the media and authoritative news outlets and distribute information about your products and services to their audiences. This adds legitimacy and authority to the message you’re communicating - and to any brands and businesses associated with you.
Purpose of PR
Public relations can have many purposes for a business:
- Some organizations use PR for strategic marketing communications. For example, to communicate product announcements and brand news to consumers.
- Others use PR for media relations. For example, if you act as an authority on a subject in the media, it increases your credibility and trustworthiness and helps to build trust with journalists and other media professionals.
- PR can also be used for crisis management. You can quickly execute a PR plan to manage the fallout of an event that impacts on the business’s image and reputation. So, if you need to recall a faulty product or find yourself in the middle of a social media storm, PR can help you regain control of the conversation.
- Some businesses use PR for governmental relations. This can be helpful if you need to represent the brand to governmental institutions in relation to policy, governance, compliance, or legal matters.
PR duties
In PR, your duties can be wide-ranging and can include:
- Creating internal and external communication strategies
- Drafting and editing press releases
- Arranging media activities
- Maintaining strong ties with media outlets and media personnel
- Organizing and planning promotional events
- Managing crises
- Managing the members of your community
- Managing your brand’s reputation
- Monitoring media activities
Julie Atherton
Julie is an award-winning digital strategist, with over 30 years’ experience. Having worked both agency and client-side, she has a wealth of knowledge on delivering marketing, brand and business strategy across almost every sector. In 2016, Julie set up Small Wonder. Drawing on her past experience, she now supports a wide range of businesses, from global brands, to educational organisations and social enterprises.She is the author of the book, Social Media Strategy which was a top read chosen by Thinkers360. You can find her on X and LinkedIn.
Will Francis
Will Francis is a recognized authority in digital and social media, who has worked with some of the world’s most loved brands. He is the host and technical producer of the DMI podcast, Ahead of the Game and a lecturer and subject matter expert with the DMI. He appears in the media and at conferences whilst offering his own expert-led digital marketing courses where he shares his experience gained working within a social network, a global ad agency, and more recently his own digital agency.
By the end of this topic, you should be able to:
- Discuss the role of brands, creative briefs, and public relations (PR) in digital marketing communication
- Compare tactics for dealing with a crisis in a digital environment
- Critically evaluate the digital marketing communication process
