Editing Public relations (section)

== Tactics ==
Public relations professionals present the face of an organization or individual, usually to articulate its objectives and official views on issues of relevance, primarily to the media. Public relations contributes to the way an organization is perceived by influencing the media and maintaining relationships with stakeholders. According to Jacquie L'Etang from [[Queen Margaret University]], public relations professionals can be viewed as "discourse workers specializing in communication and the presentation of argument and employing [[rhetorical]] strategies to achieve managerial aims."<ref name="L'Etang2004">{{cite book|first=Jacquie|last=L'Etang|title=Public Relations in Britain: A History of Professional Practice in the Twentieth Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hEuTTo4lpTYC|access-date=22 May 2013|date=2 September 2004|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|isbn=978-1-4106-1081-2|archive-date=21 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921071548/http://books.google.com/books?id=hEuTTo4lpTYC|url-status=live}}</ref>

Specific public relations disciplines include:
* Business-to-business (B2B) PR – Using business and trade media strategies to help businesses market to industry and customer organizations 
* Financial public relations – Communicating financial results and business strategy to existing and potential shareholders, stakeholders and influencers, including the media and financial analysts
* [[Consumer]]/[[lifestyle (sociology)|lifestyle]] public relations – Generating publicity and positive attention for a particular product or service through consumer and local media and special events
* [[Crisis communication]] – Organizational planning and communications response to various types of crises including natural disasters, serious accidents, dramatic financial changes, plant closures, labor disputes such as strikes and government actions such as product recalls
* [[Internal communications]] – Creating a company culture through words, actions and company policies that helps employees respond more effectively to achieve the organization's mission 
* [[Government relations]] – Engaging government departments to influence public policy
* [[Media relations]] – Building and maintaining close relationships with the news media so that they can fairly and accurately report on a business or organization
*[[Social media marketing|Social media/community marketing]] – Leveraging social media marketing and special events to convey messages about clients to desired target markets
*'Black Hat PR' – Manipulating public profiles under the guise of neutral commentators or voices or engaging to actively damage or undermine the reputations of the rival or targeted individuals or organizations
*Executive visibility – a strategy used to grow an executive's presence and exposure in order to impact a company's success

Building and managing relationships with those who influence an organization or individual's audiences have a central role in public relations.<ref>{{citation|first=David|last=Phillips|year=2006|title=Towards relationship management: Public relations at the core of organizational development|journal=Journal of Communication Management|publisher=[[Emerald Group Publishing|Emerald Group Publishing Limited]]|doi=10.1108/13632540610664751}}</ref> After a public relations practitioner has been working in the field, they develop relationships with the media and other influencers that become an asset, especially for those in media relations. Media directories are also available that offer extensive lists of broadcast, print and online media that list the names of editors, deadlines and the type of contributions they may accept. Perhaps foremost among these is [[Cision Media Contacts Database]], formerly known as Bacon's Media Directories. Media can be searched and organized in a variety of ways including by type (e.g. magazines, newspapers, radio, TV, websites/blogs), industry, and publication frequency (e.g. daily, weekly, monthly, online).

Within each PR discipline, typical activities include [[pseudo-event|publicity events]], speaking opportunities, [[press releases]], [[newsletters]], [[blog]]s, [[social media]], press kits, and outbound communication to members of the press. Video and audio news releases (VNRs and ANRs) are often produced and distributed to TV outlets for potential use in regular program content.

=== Audience targeting ===
A fundamental PR technique  is to identify [[target audience]](s) and tailor messages relevant to each audience.<ref>{{cite book|chapter=Target audience|title=Key concepts in public relations|page=[https://archive.org/details/keyconceptsinpub0000unse/page/227 227]|first1=Bob|last1=Franklin|first2=Mike|last2=Hogan|first3=Quentin|last3=Langley|first4=Nick|last4=Mosdell|first5=Elliot|last5=Pill|publisher=[[Sage Publishing|SAGE]]|isbn=978-1-4129-2318-7|year=2009|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/keyconceptsinpub0000unse/page/227}}</ref> Audience targeting requires public relations professionals to have a deep understanding of the needs and desires of each audience segment they want to reach. Sometimes the interests of differing audiences and stakeholders common to a public relations effort necessitate the creation of several distinct but complementary messages. These messages however should be relevant to each other, thus creating consistency in the overall message and theme. Audience targeting tactics are important for public relations practitioners because they face all kinds of problems: low visibility, lack of public understanding, opposition from critics, and insufficient support from funding sources.<ref>Smith, ''Ronald D. Strategic Planning for Public Relations''. Mahwah, NJ: [[Taylor & Francis|Lawrence Erlbaum Associates]], 2002. Print.</ref>

On the other hand, [[Stakeholder (corporate)|stakeholder]] theory identifies people who have a stake in a given institution or issue.<ref>{{citation|title=The Stakeholder Approach Revisited|first=R Edward|last=Freeman|year=2004|publisher=Rainer Hampp Verlag|volume=5|issue=3|pages=228–241|journal=Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Unternehmensethik|doi=10.5771/1439-880X-2004-3-228|s2cid=158039195|url=http://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/handle/document/34707 }}</ref> All audiences are stakeholders (or presumptive stakeholders), but not all stakeholders are members of a target audience. For example, if a charity commissions a public relations agency to create an advertising campaign to raise money to find a cure for a disease, the [[charitable organization|charity]] and the people with the disease are stakeholders, but the audience is anyone who is likely to donate money. Public relations experts possess deep skills in media relations, market positioning, and branding. They are powerful agents that help clients deliver clear, unambiguous information to a target audience that matters to them.<ref>Andrews, Mark. "Climate Change and Public Relations." StarTribune.com: News, Weather, Sports from Minneapolis, St. Paul and Minnesota. Livefyre, 11 August 2014. Web. 25 November 2014.</ref>

=== The public in public relations ===
A public is any group whose members have a common interest or common values in a particular subject, such as a political party. Those members would then be considered stakeholders, which are people who have a stake or an interest in an organization or issue that potentially involves the organization or group they are interested in. The Publics in Public Relations are:

* '''''Traditional Publics''''': Groups with which the individual has an ongoing and long-term relationship. These may include Employees, Media, Governments, Investors, and Customers<ref name=":0">{{Citation |title=Public relations : a values-driven approach|last=David.|first=Guth|date=2012|publisher=[[Allyn & Bacon]]|others=Marsh, Charles, 1955-|isbn=978-0-205-81180-9|edition= 5th|location=Boston|oclc=660088137}}</ref>
* '''''Non-Traditional Publics''''': Groups that are typically unfamiliar with the organization and the individual has not had a relationship with but may become traditional publics due to changes in the organization, in society or if a group changing event occurs.<ref name=":0" />
* '''''Latent Publics''''': A group whose values have come into contact with the values of the organization but whose members have not yet realized it; the members of that public are not yet aware of the relationship.<ref name=":0" />
* '''''Aware Publics''''': A group of members who are aware of the existence of a commonality of values or interests with the organization but have not organized or attempted to respond to that commonality.
* '''''Intervening Publics''''': Any public that helps an individual send a message to another public, could be the media or someone with stature.<ref name=":0" />
* '''''Primary Publics:''''' If a public can directly affect an organization's pursuit of its values-driven goals. This publics would include media, employees, government, shareholder, financial institutions, and the immediate community.<ref name=":0" />
* '''''Secondary Publics''''': Have high interest in the company such as the primary publics but will not be directly affected by decisions of the organization.<ref name=":0" />
* '''''Internal Publics''''': People within an organization<ref name=":0" />
* '''''External Publics''''': People outside of an organization<ref name=":0" />
* '''''Domestic Publics''''': Those within the country<ref name=":0" />
* '''''International Publics''''': Those outsides of the country and when communicating with these publics individuals must be wary of that areas culture, beliefs, values, ethic, and other valuable cultural difference as to not offend anyone.<ref name=":0" />

Early literature authored by [[James E. Grunig|James Grunig]] (1978) suggested that publics develop in stages determined by their levels of problem recognition, constraint recognition and involvement in addressing the issue. The theory posited that publics develop in the following stages:

* '''''Non-Publics''':'' Share no issue with an organization.
* '''''Latent Publics''':'' Face an issue but do not recognize it.
* '''''Apathetic Publics''':'' Face an issue but do not care to address it.
* '''''Aware Publics''':'' Face an issue but are unorganized to mobilize against it.
* '''''Active Publics''':'' Face an issue and are organized to respond to it.'''<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Grunig|first=James E.|date=March 1978|title=Defining Publics in Public Relations: The Case of a Suburban Hospital|journal=[[Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly|Journalism Quarterly]]|language=en|volume=55|issue=1|pages=109–124|doi=10.1177/107769907805500115|s2cid=145019080|issn=0022-5533}}</ref>'''

----

=== Messaging ===
Messaging is the process of creating a consistent story around: a product, person, company, or service. Messaging aims to prevent readers from receiving contradictory or confusing information that could instill doubt in their purchasing choices, or other decisions that affect the company. Brands aim to have the same problem statement, industry viewpoint, or brand perception shared across sources and media.

=== Social media marketing ===
{{Main|Digital marketing}}
Digital marketing is the use of [[Internet]] tools and technologies such as [[search engines]], Web 2.0 social bookmarking, [[new media]] relations, [[blogging]], and [[social media marketing]]. Interactive PR allows companies and organizations to disseminate information without relying solely on mainstream publications and to communicate directly with the public, customers and prospects.

PR practitioners have always relied on the media such as TV, radio, and magazines, to promote their ideas and messages tailored specifically to a target audience. Social media marketing is not only a new way to achieve that goal, but also a continuation of a strategy that existed for decades. Lister et al. said that "Digital media can be seen as a continuation and extension of a principal or technique that was already in place".<ref>Lister, M., Dovey, J., Giddings, S., Grant, I., & Kelly, K. (2009). ''New media: A critical introduction''. (2nd ed.). New York: [[Routledge]].</ref>

Social media platforms enable users to connect with audiences to build brands, increase sales, and drive website traffic. This involves publishing content on social media profiles, engaging with followers, analyzing results, and running social media advertisements. The goal is to produce content that users will share with their social network to help a company increase brand exposure and broaden customer reach. Some of the major social media platforms currently include [[Facebook]], [[Instagram]], [[Twitter]], [[LinkedIn]], [[Pinterest]], [[YouTube]], and [[Snapchat]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rouse |first1=Margaret |title=Social Media Marketing (SMM) |url=https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/social-media-marketing-SMM |website=WhatsIt.com |access-date=17 October 2019 |archive-date=1 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401071651/https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/social-media-marketing-SMM |url-status=live }}</ref>

As digital technology has evolved, the methods for measuring the effectiveness of online public relations have improved. The Public Relations Society of America, which has been developing PR strategies since 1947, has identified five steps for measuring online public relations effectiveness.
# ''Engagement'': Measure the number of people who engaged with an item (social shares, likes and comments).
# ''Impressions'': Measure the number of people who may have viewed an item.
# ''Items'': Measure any content (blog posts, articles, etc.) that originally appeared as digital media.
# ''Mentions'': Measure how many online items mention the brand, organization, or product.
# ''Reach'': Measure how far the PR campaign managed to penetrate overall and in terms of a particular audience.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.prsa.org/Intelligence/BusinessCase/MeasurementStandarization/#.VdZtN1WrTmE|title=PR Measurement Standardization: Moving Toward Industry Agreement: PRSA|first=Arthur|last=Yann|access-date=21 August 2015|archive-date=25 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150825033727/http://www.prsa.org/Intelligence/BusinessCase/MeasurementStandarization#.VdZtN1WrTmE|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Types of public relations arenas ===
Publicists<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Holtzhausen |first1=Derina |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C42LBQAAQBAJ&dq=publicist+strategic+commu&pg=PA337 |title=The Routledge Handbook of Strategic Communication |last2=Zerfass |first2=Ansgar |date=20 November 2014 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1-136-20712-9 |language=en}}</ref> can work in a host of different types of business verticals such as entertainment, technology, music, travel, television, food, consumer electronics and more. Many publicists build their career in a specific business space to leverage relationships and contacts. There are different kinds of press strategies for such as B2B (business to business) or B2C (business to consumer). Business to business publicity highlights service providers who provide services and products to other businesses. Business to Consumer publicizes products and services for regular consumers, such as toys, travel, food, entertainment, personal electronics and music.

=== Other techniques ===
[[Litigation public relations]] is the management of the communication process during the course of any legal dispute or adjudicatory processing so as to affect the outcome or its effect on the client's overall [[reputation]].<ref>Haggerty, 2003</ref>