What Can Public Relations Do For You?

What can public relations do for you?
By: Lacy Barnes

Any public relations major can attest to the difficulty of explaining to an outsider what public relations means. I believe defining public relations is difficult because of the fast pace that public relations is changing at. As technology advances and the world becomes more reliable on social media, so to has public relations.

The most recent trends in public relations have been geared towards social media. In today’s world of instant information, public relations has turned to resources such as Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and constantly updated news feeds.

According to Public Relations Trends for 2010, “Social media helps PR executives to build more new relationships, across a wider landscape and in a sustainable fashion never before possible.”

Blogging has emerged as the social media that has the most mystery surrounding it. While Facebook and Twitter are limited to status updates and event invitations, blogs can be uncensored. According to an article on ebscohost.com about Wal-Mart and social media, blogging allows people on the inside of a business to have a real conversation with the public and vice versa. Blogs allow for feedback and also help give a personal face to a company. A common concern is that a corporation can’t control social media as tightly as traditional media, so organizations need to be extremely careful of what they post. Companies need to remember that social media is not a replacement for traditional public relations tactics, only another tool to interact on a more intimate level (ebscohost.com).

The trend that I find the most interesting however, is that of corporate social responsibility (CSR). While the concept is not new, its popularity has skyrocketed. It relates to public relations in a very simple way; a company partners with a non profit, the non profit benefits from the financial sponsorship and the company increases its image among the public.

With the recent downfalls of several top-notch corporations, gaining people’s trust and having quality public relations couldn't be more critical. According to an article by Lori Tripoli, corporations partner with non profits in order to reach out to the community and receive kudos for their efforts. One key to a successful partnership is to know what each expects out of it. Careful time and research are needed to make sure the non profit fits with the corporation’s mission and vice versa.

CSR is a great idea in my opinion. I’m glad to see the trend is increasing because I think it provides great opportunities for all parties involved. While social media is definitely here to stay for public relations practitioners, I am most excited about the partnering up of non profits and corporations. For corporations, I think there is no better way to start earning back trust. You have to put your money where your mouth is and take action verses only talking about how your company supports the community. Public relations can make so many positive differences within organizations and CSR best exemplifies this.

This business agreement has found a unique place in public relations. The sky is really the limit for the creativity that could emerge on the public relations side of the equation because corporate America has found itself in a deep hole regarding public trust placing non profits in a rare position of power.

Article cited:

Tripoli, Lori. Opposites Attract: Corporate and nonprofit partnerships yield benefits for both
http://www.edf.org/documents/9234_opposites-attract.pdf

Caliendo, Heather. The Wal-Mart model: Using social media to engage customers
http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.lib.ou.edu/ehost/detail?vid=1&hid=13&sid=dee77698-cc33-42c3b02cc041dab325cd@sessionmgr11&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=n5h&AN=L54459618FACO

Antoelli, Rebecca. Public Relations Trends for 2010
http://meetthenewmedia.com/2010/01/public-relations-trends-for-2010/