According to
Daniel J. Boorstin, an American social historian and educator, "Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some hire public relations officers."
And hey, don't knock the industry until you've had a crisis. PR as an industry has become the lifeline for many companies. But this is not to say that every PR role, responsibility and title is meant for every person or company.
So, follow along as Jané Rossouw from media update finds the perfect PR title for you here:
Media relations
These specialists are responsible for building and maintaining the
very important relationships between journalists and media outlets.
These specialists focus on positive
relationships between organisations and stakeholders in the media. This is to ensure that communication lines are open and met. Additionally, they also focus that the desired outcome is met when it comes to press releases or arranging interviews.
Strategic communications
Congruency and consistency are very important aspects when it comes to
communicating with the public. If a company says one thing in month one, but in month five they give a contradictory message, the public will find out and call them out on it.
This is why companies need a strategic communications officer — to coordinate a company's communication with the public for consistent messages. Part of the job is communicating a group's strategic initiatives and understanding their outcomes to better arrange activities aligning with it.
Publicists
A publicist is responsible for
planning and executing publicity campaigns for a brand's clients. They aim to gain and generate media and publicist leads to grow clients or the brands' portfolios.
They work closely with clients and members of their team to:
- develop messaging
- gain media exposure
- promote upcoming projects
- identify media opportunities, and
- pitch stories to the press.
Crises communications
It's officially M
ayday, the papaya has hit the fan and the company is in a tailspin. A crisis occurred and you phone the crisis communications specialist … this is what they are here for, after all.
They are the ones responsible for
managing the communication lines between stakeholders, the company at large and the public when a crisis arises. These specialists thrive in chaos as then they can:
- develop communication plans
- create messaging for the stakeholders to the public, and
- work to mitigate any negative impacts on the brands' reputation.
Social responsibility
The green officers. These specialists work purely to improve a company's
green and sustainability reputation — they develop strategies that focus on the brands':
- ethical practices
- charitability to the community
- environmental practices, and
- the socially responsible choices at large.
Event planner
You guessed it! These PR specialists are in charge of
organising events. These events can range from:
- press conferences
- one-on-one interviews
- charity events, or
- product launches.
Now, it is important to note that not every job title is as clear-cut as mentioned here. Many PR professionals are what one would call a
jack of all trades.
For this reason, professionals in this industry will be doing multiple job descriptions under one big umbrella term: PR.
The one thing that will most
definitely stay constant in this industry though is that you must
always be on top of your communicating game and you
must be able to work with people.
Did we miss any jobs in this communicative sector? Let us know in the comment section below.
If you are clued up on all the jobs in the public relations industry, maybe it's time you check out The four P's of PR.
*Image courtesy of Canva