Public relations – what is it and what is it not?

These two letters - PR - made such a great career that it is difficult to think about running any business without the context of Public Relations. There are many people who know what Public Relations is, what it entails and what benefits it generates. However, very few understand the real impact that PR has on business.

What will you learn from the article?

In a rapidly changing world, where every company fights for consumer attention, public relations plays a key role in building the brand image. In this entry, we will take a closer look at what public relations is, what benefits it can bring to your company and why it is not worth leaving these activities to chance.

We will discover the most common mistakes in PR, the main tools worth using, and consider whether public relations is suitable for each type of business. Have you ever wondered how PR can change the future and profitability of your company? Do you want your brand to be recognizable and appreciated on the market? Read on to learn more about the power of professionally conducted public relations in today's business world.

What is PR – definition of the concept

PR as a phenomenon has - according to some sources - about 2000 definitions! Importantly, this directory is still open due to the fact that public relations is constantly developing and evolving.

Public relations what is it. The first definitions of PR

Edward Bernays, who created the first systematic definition of the problem as early as 1923, is considered to be a public relations pioneer. In his opinion, "PR is providing (the society) with information, persuasion aimed at bringing the attitudes and activities of the organization closer to the attitude of clients, client attitudes to the attitude of the institution".

In 1976, Rex Harlow analyzed 472, in his opinion, the most important definitions of PR, wanting to create one universal one. As a result, he concluded that: "Public relations is a distinctive management function that serves to create and maintain mutual communication links, acceptance and cooperation between the organization and its environment. It takes into account the management of problems and controversial issues, supports the management board in keeping up with changes and using them effectively; serves as an early warning system in predicting trends; uses research as well as sound and ethical communication techniques as its main instruments.

According to Grunig JE and Hunt T. ("Managing Public Relations 1984), PR is" managing communication between an organization and various groups of its recipients. " One of the reasons why this definition is so accurate is its economy of communication. At the same time, with just a few words, it really carries a large amount of information. The authors of this definition have placed an emphasis on management, as opposed to competing journalistic or promotion-based marketing and advertising approaches that focus primarily on consumers.

Three years later, the British Institute of Public Relations proposed its own definition of PR as a conscious, planned and continuous effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organization and its environment.

Barbara Rozwadowska defines public relations as the function of "managing communication between an organization and its environment". In such an approach, the task of public relations would be such management of information concerning the organization, the effect of which is to attract as many people as favorable to it as possible.

In turn, Ewa Małgorzata Cenker distinguishes two basic aspects of public relations. In one, it suggests treating public relations as the fifth element of the marketing mix (often referred to as P). From a different perspective, public relations is treated as a management function "of a continuous and planned nature, thanks to which the organization gains and maintains the understanding, sympathy and support of those in which it is currently interested or may be interested in the future - by examining their opinion about the organization, aiming to align to them as much as possible with their goals and activities in order to achieve - through the planned, wide dissemination of information - better cooperation with the public and to pursue their interests more effectively ”. This view is identical to that of the International Public Relations Association (IPRA).

A. Sznajder calls public relations a promotion creating the company's image (image, image), and T. Sztucki - a promotion of the company. According to the latter, "the promotion of a company, defined by the English term of public relations, is a striving for the favor of the broadly understood external and internal environment of the company, (...), with an obvious focus on customers and potential buyers, through the image of the company itself".

International PR authorities

The Public Relations Society of America offers its own definition PR. "Public relations helps an organization and its audience align with each other." Public relations is an attempt to persuade groups of people to cooperate. In addition, public relations helps organizations to interact effectively and communicate with their most important audiences ”. According to this definition, PR is a necessity for dialogue, therefore there must be two-way communication between the recipients and the organization.

According to Philip Kotler public relations it is an addition to the conducted marketing activities. The latter are, in his opinion, superior and, moreover, more important from the perspective of promotional activities. Kotler believes that “PR is generally treated as the foster child of marketing. It is a kind of addition to the more serious promotional activities. "

According to R. W. Griffin, public relations, supplementing the method of strategic management, participates in the "process of defining and redefining strategies (in response to changes in the environment or anticipating these changes, or even triggering them) and in the related implementation process, in which resources and skills organizations are disposed in such a way as to achieve the adopted long-term development goals, as well as to secure the existence of the organization in potential situations of discontinuity.

The definitions of Scott M. Cutlip, Allen H. Center, and Glen M. Buroom are considered to be the most recognizable and at the same time the most complete. In their opinion, public relations is a management function of a continuous and planned nature. With the help of PRj, the organization gains and maintains the understanding, sympathy and support of those in whom it is interested at present or may be interested in the future. It does this by researching their opinions about the organization in order to align its goals and activities as much as possible with them. The aim is "to achieve - through the planned, wide dissemination of information - better cooperation with the community and more effective implementation of its interests".

Public Relations - quotes

The above attempts to define Public Relations have shown the multifaceted nature of this thread. The famous marketing mix consists of 7 instruments with which enterprises can conduct their marketing activities. One of the instruments is "promotion", which includes just PR on par with advertising, personal selling and sales promotion. Public Relations it is a particularly important element in modern times. Scientific definitions and explanations of what PR really is and what it consists of help to fully understand this issue.

Public relations in the position of "Marketing in sport" by Janusz Klisiński is defined as "voluntary, planned, sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between the organization and its environment. " In order for the company to maintain contact with its environment, it must undertake certain pro-activities, which include: "communicating with the public, communicating with mass media representatives, lobbying, taking action in crisis situations, communicating with investors, communicating with company employees, as an example of internal PR. "

It is particularly important to underline the permanence of activities Public Relations. Only then is the company able to develop in the right direction. This fact is emphasized by Jim Blythe in "Marketing Communication": "Public relations is planned, continuous activities undertaken in order to obtain and consolidate the good reputation of the company and to achieve mutual understanding between the company and its clients. " Only permanent, planned, intended, specific and precise actions will bring any results.

This is also recalled by Tomasz Domański in "The Book of Marketing. A practical guide for managers and entrepreneurs ", where it indicates that"public relations is, in essence, a form of constant dialogue between the company and the environment. Contrary to advertising, which is a one-way message emitted by an entrepreneur to a client, public relations involves constant exchange of information in both directions. "

In this aspect, it was also emphasized how extensive the concept of public relations is compared to advertising, which is also one of the elements of promotion belonging to the marketing-mix instruments.

We must also not forget about public opinion, which is a powerful force of the modern world. Hence, it is extremely important to maintain a positive relationship with her. This is pointed out by Maria Sławińska in the "Compendium of knowledge about trade", saying that: "public relations is about establishing and maintaining a broadly understood, positive bond with the society. " It also defines PR as creating a positive image of the company. Each enterprise should act in such a way that customers only receive good information about it. Hence, they should be preserved in the minds of consumers with the help of various tools.

What is Public Relations?

The essence of PR. Some equate it with branding, others with marketing. Meanwhile essence of PR relies on sending the right content to the right place and to the right peopleby helping companies build stronger brands and reputation. Commplace, as PR agency, works with customers to help them achieve these goals - that is, promote their products and services to customers in a way that they will want to buy them. 

Public Relations is a two-way communication based on mutual respect and truth - between a company and its current and potential clients - which leads to mutual understanding. PR consists in advising organizations on making strategic decisions, is based on research and evaluation, and involves planning, as well as setting and achieving goals.

Public Relations is an area that can change the future and profitability of a company.

This is one of the most effective ways to build a marketing strategy and reputation, which is a priceless asset. It is for this reason that companies that recognize this invest a tremendous amount of time and effort into an effective PR strategy. Tangible proof that the actions taken are right? Higher ROI value.

When it comes to companies, everyone has something to say about them - customers, shareholders, media, government and the public. There are dozens of points of view and almost as many types of PR:

• corporate PR,
• Crisis PR,
• product PR,
• PR on the Internet (e-PR),
• Internal PR are just some of them.

Each type of PR is used for a different purpose and with a different intention. At Commplace, we know which, when, how and why to implement them to achieve maximum benefits for your company.

In the case of companies, everyone has something to say about them - customers, shareholders, media, government and the public. There are dozens of viewpoints and almost as many types of PR. Corporate PR, Crisis PR, Product PR, Internet PR (e-PR), internal PR are just some of them. Each type of PR is used for a different purpose and with a different intention. At the Commplace PR agency, we know which of them, when, how and why to implement them to achieve maximum benefits for your company.

What does public relations do for your company?

It's impossible to list all of the benefits, but here are some of them:

1. PR increases brand credibility

Regardless of the industry, trust plays a huge role in determining the success of a company. Without trust, a company leaves a lot of sales on the proverbial table. Therefore, it is worth entrusting the care of building trust between the company and its potential customers to professionals. A PR agency is a team of experts constantly working to increase the company's credibility, which is one of the key elements that build trust in the brand.

The costs of losing brand confidence can be very severe. Volkswagen, whose shares after the famous diesel scandal lost 20% in value, have found out about it.

2. Public Relations increases profits, sales leads and sales itself

Public Relations, through a number of unique tools, makes new potential customers find their way to you. In addition, a PR agency working on your success creates relevant messages that resonate among your target customers in an impressive way. Final effect? More profits for your business.

As many as 70% consumers are looking for information about the company and its product on the Internet. The purchase decision largely depends on what the information will be. 

3. PR changes the way people think about business

Nowadays, online space allows people to say whatever they want, whether it's true or not. Many companies get a bad reputation this way, although they have done nothing to deserve it. Public Relations has the most effective tools to correct such situations. The support it gives PRproperly conducted campaigns increase brand awareness while maintaining a positive corporate image. 

Properly applied PR gives the company the ability to overcome almost any obstacle it encounters.

4. Public relations increases the presence of an online company

Thanks to the help of PR, today's brands have a much better chance of successfully reaching the right audience. PR experts will identify the best channels as well as factors influencing the dissemination of information about your company to the right people. As PR agencyby using our experience and relationships, we work for you to maximize the reach of this information.

People's 68% likes to spend their time reading content from companies they want to buy from. Whoever is absent in today's digital world does not exist.

Commplace, PR agency Wroclaw helps companies create a strong presence on the Internet. Visible to their target audience. At the same time, we provide support and guidance that helps in sales, and at the same time we are ready to step in in the event of a crisis or anything that threatens the company's image.

Good PR results from the PR strategy (a PR strategy from marketing strategy, brand strategy, sales strategy, company strategy and other analyzes). Good PR builds a strategy on the basis of analyzes of the internal and external environment groups of the company. It results from the analysis of the target group profile, understanding of the differences in the communication channels of target groups, or the developed personas in the target groups.

Good PR it is based on the principles: Objectives - Activities - Measures. The goals of PR activities must be clearly defined. The biggest problem and at the same time a big challenge in good PR is the parameterization of goals. The ranges of PR campaigns, reaching out, AVE are obvious.

Did you know that people are tired of old tactics?

People's 86% ignores TV commercials by switching programs during their duration

The 44% of direct advertising mails is never opened

91% users resign from subscriptions to which they previously signed up

84% of internet users aged 25-34 resign from visiting their favorite websites when they are overwhelmed by the number of ads appearing there

Customers want a different approach. They want content that puts the interests of the consumer at the center, instead of obtrusive practices aimed at mass audiences.

Can you afford random actions? 

Targeting a mass of random people and counting on the fact that among them will be those who will be able to attract attention with the offer are activities based on the "spray and pray" method. Loosely translated it means "shoot a burst blindly and pray that you will hit". Does that sound like a strategy? If so, it is definitely very expensive and, moreover, ineffective.

Your company needs PR. It is a powerful tool which, by supporting many other marketing activities, and what's more - gives amazing results. Take advantage of our experience and let your customers find you.

Public Relations is the process of developing key messages. It is reputation management, trust building as well as a number of activities to make your company stand out from the competition. The purpose of this exposure is to shed a positive light on the company, management, brand, product, which ultimately translates into more sales. 

Answer yourself the question: 

Prefer to tell a potential customer or investor that you posted an ad on Forbes, or that Forbes wrote an article about your business?

PR is fundamentally different from advertising because it has external support behind it. Your story has more credibility because it has been verified and published by an independent third party and not, as is the case with advertising, obviously paid for. Advertising tells people how great you are.

PR makes others recommend and advertise you. Which message do you think is more effective? A study on the role of content in the consumer decision-making process showed that PR is almost 90% more effective than advertising.

PR + content marketing = perfect pair

e-PR. To get 50 million users, radio took 38 years, television - 13, the Internet - only 4. In 10-15 years, traditional media, press, radio and television will still exist, but the Internet will become the main platform for reaching the audience with its message. Right now, good PR does not exist without combining communication activities with SEO. Content optimization in terms of search is today one of the basic tools thanks to which PR communication supports the positioning of websites in Google and is even more effective. 

SEO PR is a series of activities aimed at building a good brand image in search results. Internet users often search for phrases:

• Opinion + brand 
• Opinion + customer product / service
• Test + brand
• Test + customer product / service
• Work + brand
• Key people of the company + brand
• Other - similar / related (e.g. Agencja PR Wrocław, PR Wrocław, e-PR)

Knowing what potentially interested customers are looking for, thanks to SEO PR tools, we allow them to find content that is a source of positive information not only about the company or brand, but also about its products or services.

PR - the most common mistakes

PR mistakes happen both to new companies and, it would seem, to experienced players. What is the most common problem?

• Confusing PR with marketing and advertising

People often confuse PR with marketing or advertising, which makes it difficult for companies to get the most out of the available marketing tools. PR deals with reputation. And as in life, reputation cannot be bought. You have to deserve it. PR means that the company is opening up to the world of media. The job of a PR person is to do it in the most beneficial way for them.

• Lack of knowledge about cooperation with the media

Still, many people believe that you can just buy an article (and journalists) and publish without endorsement that it's "sponsored". Sponsored articles are actually still advertising only. The company pays for their listing. So it is a mistake to expect free media publication linking to your website or product, or a clear call to action. Many media publications avoid linking due to editorial guidelines, unless they are informative.

• No clear goal or strategy

Before contacting the media, you must have a clear strategy and be very precise about who you are addressing your message to and what problem you are trying to solve. Without it, it is difficult to talk about any PR strategy.

• Misunderstanding of the media world and how it works

One of the most important things to remember is that journalists are people and should not be treated like tools. It's about building and maintaining long-term relationships, and these should be mutual.

If your press release isn't immediately picked up by a journalist, it could be for a number of reasons.

Main PR tools

There are many public relations tools. However, the most important ones can be divided into 7 categories.

- news - one of the main PR tools is news. PR specialists find or create positive news about the company, its products or its employees. Sometimes news comes naturally as a result of business activities; sometimes PR people can suggest events or activities that would bring positive information about the company.

- special events - they can be defined broadly: from press conferences, press tours, grand vernissages and fireworks displays to multimedia presentations or educational programs aimed at reaching the target flu and attracting the audience.

 - Written material - PR people can reach target markets and, most importantly, influence them. These materials include annual reports, brochures, articles, company newsletters, and magazines.

- Speeches - also belong to the main PR tools as they can create powerful advertising for your product and company. Increasingly, company directors have to answer media questions or deliver speeches at various types of sales meetings.

- audiovisual materials - films and various types of online animations are increasingly used as PR tools.

- public activity - companies can undertake it in order to show their pro-social attitude. This activity usually means allocating money and time to support, for example, local orphanages, repainting a day-room in a retirement home, etc.

- corporate identity materials - corporate identity materials can be used to create a corporate identity that the public will immediately recognize. They include, among others logos, business cards, buildings, uniforms or company cars. When they are attractive, distinctive and memorable, they become powerful marketing tools in the service of PR.

In addition to the above-mentioned categories, the most important nowadays is the Internet, main PR tool. Websites, blogs, and social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube provide powerful ways to reach more people than any other PR tools.

In fact, the Internet, and especially social media, is the ideal channel for public relations communication: the fundamental strength of public relations is the ability to tell stories and encourage engagement in dialogue.

Public relations and marketing

What is the basic difference between these concepts? Marketing focuses on promoting and selling a specific product, while PR focuses on maintaining a positive reputation for the company as a whole. This is clearly visible when comparing the day of a PR specialist and a marketer. Each of them does something completely different:

An example of a public relations specialist's day:

- writing a press release about the upcoming product launch or a new company initiative,

- presenting positive stories to the media about the company's upcoming activities,

- providing executives with the opportunity to speak at industry events

- building relationships with the media and influencers,

- managing and updating company news.

On the same day, a marketing specialist can:

- create an advertising campaign for a new product,

- buy advertising time for this campaign on relevant media platforms,

- Create product launch support materials such as brochures, site landing pages, and sales team FAQs

- conduct industry and customer research to get your marketing campaigns in the right direction.

A priceless advantage, i.e. how much PR costs

The valuation of services provided by a PR agency is the result of a simple addition. Specifically, it is the sum of efforts made by a team of professionals every day to achieve a common goal - building such an image of your company that will translate into real benefits.

A team of specialists fights for the success of the brand and its success against the competition. PR manager, researcher, copywriter, graphic designer, SEO positioner is the basic composition of the team involved in your project. Each of them has different tools and behind each of them there is a huge know-how in many specific fields. 

In the case of online content, Internet users do not read the texts accurately. They scan them. In just 3-5 seconds, they decide whether the content they are watching is attractive to them. Yes. At Commplace, we know what needs to be done to make it work. And are you able to win the recipient in a maximum of 5 seconds and at the same time convince them to stay with you for longer? 

Public relations agency - it is a company specializing in building, creating and servicing various communication processes of companies or institutions. Public relations agencies implement activities mainly in 2 areas: internal and external communication and related areas.

According to various calculations of PR agencies, there may even be over 900 on the Polish market. The largest number of PR agencies is in Warsaw, Kraków, Poznań, Łódź, Gdańsk and Wrocław.

How To Consider Public Relations?

It is said that PR is the eyes and ears of a company, collecting information from the outside that can be difficult to swallow. Often, thanks to the insights of the Public Relations department, companies manage to gain a competitive advantage. PR is the art of self-presentation. It may appear in a public or private forum, or in any other situation, depending on the target audience.

Public Relations activities are defined differently. Among others, as: communication management, arts and social science, planning and uninterrupted efforts to gain and maintain a favorable attitude and understanding, efforts to cooperate, help conduct interactive communication, build and protect reputation, shape opinion and behavior.

PR can be considered in three aspects as:

- condition - using the wording that the company has good or bad Public Relations,

- actions - talking about efforts aimed at influencing attitudes and public opinion,

- profession - that is, specific professional skills.

PR is the social science of analyzing trends, predicting their effects, advising company management, and implementing agreed action plans. Those that will be beneficial both from the point of view of the enterprise and the public interest. Public Relations is planned and supported efforts to create and maintain kindness and mutual understanding between the company and its environment.

PR is said to be an important glue that holds the organization together and binds strategies at the corporate, business and operational levels.

Public Relations is a strong, though often hidden, strategic motivation that influences an organization's pursuit of excellence. Because PR is multidimensional, its activities are perceived as a series of sequential tactics.

Persuasion is the essence of Public Relations. To understand PR well, it's important to remember that you can't get quick fixes with it. Even if he promises something like that. The essence of PR is to work on solid material and by no means it is a cover for ineptitude, deficiencies and trash. Materials that do not meet the standards not only prevent the good work of the unit responsible for Public Relations, but also expose weaknesses.

What does PR help with?

PR helps on many fronts, such as:

• understanding human behavior,
• predicting trends and their consequences,
• harmonizing the clashing public and private interests,
• increasing a favorable attitude towards the company inside and outside the organization,
• avoiding misunderstandings and disputes,
• promoting a positive organizational culture.

Public Relations helps an organization and its audience to align with each other. These are the efforts of the organization to collaborate between different groups. PR allows the organization to properly contact and communicate with the most important groups of recipients.

PR can help create a willingness to work more efficiently because employees believe in the corporate vision, and in particular in its sense of mission. One of the main tasks in the field of Public Relations is to ensure effective two-way communication between the management board and employees at all levels.

The greatest contribution of PR is the acquisition and interpretation of information, as well as its translation, as a result of which they materially support the development of the strategy, e.g. they define the necessary changes or indicate the target groups to whom they can be turned.

What is the purpose of Public Relations?

The aim of PR is to attract the attention of people important to the company, influencing the company or who are subject to its decisions. The basis of PR activities is communication with groups that can support the achievement of goals and with those that can hinder it.

The goals of PR have various goals: from providing entertainment to telling painful truths. The job of PR people is to influence opinions and behaviors. The goal of PR may be to reach millions or one person. Public Relations covers many threads, including public information, so telling people what they need to know.

Public Relations brings harmony where there is disagreement. PR aims to elicit a reaction, it wants to close the communication loop as effectively and competently as possible. Public Relations aims to make its messages credible. He must be prepared to defend his own opinion with his head held high.

PR aims to ensure that the problem does not turn into a crisis and that there is a positive attitude in the organization when it is necessary to deal with it. The purpose of Public Relations is to identify problems and trends, analyze them, determine the direction of their development, predict the consequences and plan actions accordingly.

Public Relations employees act as a link between the organization and external audiences and individuals, help other departments of the organization communicate with the outside world, and help other departments communicate with each other.

Good PR brings the expected results and leads to effective communication. PR is good when it makes a favorable impression on us, when we think well of people and accept the information they give us. Perfect PR would be about genuine dialogue between the party that sends the message and the party that receives it.

The concept of "perfect PR" involves negotiating and reconciling differences. Most PR activities seem random, but they are designed to create that impression. Good planning in PR is badly needed, and even more important is its implementation.

Good Public Relations activities must be well thought out, planned and properly organized. They cannot be accidental, nor are they the result of giftedness or instinct, innate talent, or "gibberish".

There are four types of PR strategies:

• creative - for image development and reputation building,
• expansive - increasing competitiveness and improving the functioning of the company,
• adaptive - taking into account changes and extracting values,
• defensive - countering inaccuracies and hostility.

What does effective PR mean?

The success of Public Relations activities depends on the favor of those whose opinions are important. PR works best when it is ahead of the present and worst when it lags behind.

In order for PR to fulfill its role, it must be a part of continuous communication, using all kinds of media of various ranges. None of the Public Relations activities will be effective if they are carried out irregularly.

Effective Public RelationsBy supporting marketing, it is vigorously involved in the matters of customers and potential customers, providing them with additional information about products and services, dealing with their problems and communicating with them. It seeks feedback to close the information loop and can provide a lot of front-end data about brand attitudes and perceptions.

In order to communicate your company's brand in a truthful, attractive and effective way, you need to answer the following questions:

• What is your company's approach to the customer?
• What are your company's goals?
• What good does your company's activities bring to the lives of customers and the environment?
• What are your company's values?
• What problems does your company solve?
• What do your clients, competitors and employees say about your company?

Is Public Relations for Everyone?

It may seem that Public Relations is an area close to large corporations and politicians. Yes, big players have large financial resources and contacts that allow them to influence social consciousness. Building a brand on an authentic message, showing yourself in what you swear is one of the most effective ways to reach the hearts and wallets of your potential customers the fastest. Thanks to authentic presentation of oneself, every company, regardless of its size and strength, gains a human dimension.

Every company has to show that it exists, by all means, because business cannot do without customers. All organizations have communication needs, want to be understood, benefit from being self-confident and strive for a good reputation and a positive image. Each organization wants to create the best conditions for development for itself.

PR operates both in conventional hierarchical structures and in informal groups in which re-rankings are constantly taking place. PP can support a brand, regardless of its size. By giving it greater credibility thanks to the support of opinion leaders.

By increasing engagement through related activities, strengthening its relevance by emphasizing its connections to current news, trends and fads.

Public Relations professionals search the community to identify and assess the likely impact of political, economic, social, technological and legal factors on day-to-day operations. PR analyzes the plans and activities of the organization in terms of the information it has about the external environment and warns the organization when events arise that could hinder or support its development.

What is the reason for the increased interest in PR activities?

The equivalents of the term Public Relations in Polish are: relations of the organization with the environment, creating the company's reputation, creating the prestige of the organization, reputation management and dialogue between the company and the environment, as well as shaping the image of the company.

The growing interest of enterprises in Public Relations activities results, among others, from from high market saturation with traditional advertising. Due to the fact that customers became resistant to advertising content, companies began to look for new promotional techniques. The increasingly fierce competitive fight on the market forced the necessity to use unconventional actions.

More and more companies decide to emphasize the social responsibility of their business, integration with the environment and the need to refer directly to the problems that this environment has to face on a daily basis. Moreover, PR techniques such as sponsorship in PR and lobbying. This is favored by the growing role of financing certain projects by companies and influencing certain political decisions at various levels.

An important type of public relations is crisis PR. Crisis PR can be divided into three stages:

1. pre-crisis management – actions to prevent an image crisis; crisis management includes monitoring the functioning of the company, analyzing the situation, examining potential threats, creating crisis scenarios, conducting appropriate training for employees,
2. crisis management - actions at the time of the outbreak of an image crisis, i.e. the organization of a crisis team, rational management of crisis communication, monitoring mentions of the company in various communication channels, an attempt to stop the crisis development,
3. image repair - actions aimed at restoring the company's former image, repairing its tarnished reputation and preparing it for possible future crises.

Corporate PR - an important tool in business management

One of the types of classical public relations is Corporate PR, which applies to people standing highest in the corporate hierarchy, i.e. owners, presidents, vice-presidents, managers, etc. The assumption of the corporate variety of public relations is the idea that it is the most important people in the company that determines the effectiveness of its functioning, including its image, competitive advantage, trust lower-level employees, credibility and the loyalty of all business partners. Interestingly, corporate PR is not only intended for large corporations. Its potential can also be used by smaller companies that want to consciously create their image on many levels.

Corporate PR in general is long-term activities aimed at obtaining and strengthening the reputation of a given company in the country and abroad. Activities are targeted at various target groups, including the media, investors, customers and lower-level employees.

In the corporate version of public relations, professionalism is what counts. Messages created by the most important people in the enterprise should be reliable, substantive, perfectly prepared, and at the same time understandable for the recipients. In corporate PR, dynamics and regularity are what count. Messages should be created on a regular basis in order to constantly emphasize the interest in the interests and needs of representatives of individual target groups.

Remember about employees, i.e. internal PR

Did you know that even 70% of crises in enterprises is the result of negative opinions of current or former employees? The dissatisfaction of employees may affect the proper functioning of the entire company and, consequently, reduce its chances of market success, inhibit its development and even lead to serious problems. Satisfied employees are the company's best ambassadors! As a conscious entrepreneur, you should ensure the satisfaction of your team, cultivate a good working atmosphere and create positive relationships with your employees. The key to success is thoughtfulness Internal PR.

The main goal of the internal variety of public relations is to build a positive image of the company in the eyes of employees. Internal PR focuses on improving the broadly understood internal communication and maintaining it at the highest level.

As part of internal PR, the employer may use various methods and tools, including:

• employee mailings - a way to inform employees about the situation in the company, current events, etc.,
• information boards - as above,
• employee meetings - a chance to discuss important or problematic issues related to the functioning of the company and everyday work,
• team integration - meetings conducive to building friendly relations and relaxing the atmosphere in the company,
• idea boxes into which everyone can throw their own ideas about specific areas of the company's operation - a way to involve employees in the life of the company.

PR on the Internet, or a few words about the power of e-PR

Nowadays, the Internet is of great importance in image management. Through the network, you can easily reach various target groups, easily build and maintain relationships with recipients and create the desired image of the company in many ways.

Online PR, or e-PR, is all public relations activities that use the tools available on the Internet. Among them we can mention:

• official website of the company - it is a specific showcase of the brand, therefore it must be attractive, optimized for SEO, legible and comprehensive; the website is a way to present the company and encourage potential customers to use its services,
• company blog - valuable content is worth its weight in gold; running a company blog optimized for SEO and containing entries attractive to recipients is a great way to promote your brand and create a positive image,
• online press office - a tool for the company's communication with journalists,
• mailing - a form of advertising in the form of messages sent via e-mail,
• newsletters - a form of a newsletter sent to interested recipients via e-mail,
• social media - social media give customers a chance for direct contact between customers and the brand; in addition, they are a great marketing, promotional and image tool,
• word of mouth marketing - a method of reaching recipients by means of "spontaneous" messages on external websites (eg in social media, on forums); effective form of advertising i PR activities on the web.

What is public relations – summary

Public Relations, or PR for short, is a key element of the marketing strategy of every company, the main goal of which is to build a positive image of the brand and maintain good relations with its environment. In practice, the answer to the question "what is PR" is complicated. It combines both traditional communication methods and modern approaches, such as content marketing.

Thanks to effective PR activities, companies are able to not only cultivate relationships with customers, but also increase their commitment and loyalty. Moreover, PR also plays an invaluable role in the area of employer branding, helping to attract the best talents on the labor market and build positive relationships with current employees. In the era of digital transformation and constant changes on the market, the ability to communicate effectively and create a consistent brand image through public relations becomes the foundation of the success of every organization.