Public relations complements an organization’s marketing efforts and is an effective way to build on marketing strategies to create a stronger brand reputation. Having an effective public relations strategy is critical for all organizations, irrespective of the industry. Learn more in our Essential Guide to Public Relations.

The primary focus of public relations is to build a positive public image of the organization and forge favorable relationships with the organization’s publics and stakeholders. The business ecosystem in which corporations operate is very vast, and each organization needs to maintain beneficial relationships with many different publics.

Here are the seven types of public relations that every organization needs to maintain:

Media Relations

Media relations refers to the relationships that an organization builds with journalists and other media professionals to spread important information regarding the organization’s policies, plans, and practices to the target audience. It includes giving press conferences and writing press releases to generate positive coverage of the company’s products and services.

An effective media relations strategy can help the company reach its most desired target audience. Maintaining good relations with big organizations is also beneficial for media outlets as they get a consistent stream of news to publish or broadcast. Building favorable media relations creates a win-win situation for both the organization and the media outlets. Learn more about the ins and outs of media relations in our guide to media relations.

Investor Relations

Investor relations is all about the communication between a company’s corporate management and its investors, government authorities, shareholders, and the financial community. The main focus of investor relations is on ensuring that a company’s investors get an accurate account of the organization’s financial affairs through proper disclosure of key facts.

While investor relations is a subset of public relations, it differs from regular public relations practices in a few ways. Unlike other public relations activities, investor relations practices are required to be integrated with a company’s legal and accounting departments. Investor relations are also subjected to more regulatory, financial, and legal requirements by governments than regular public relations.

Government Relations

A branch of public relations that specifically focuses on how an organization communicates with the various branches of government - government relations is a strategic issue for any business. Government relations policies help an organization build meaningful interactions and beneficial relationships with government officials. It deals with communications regarding regulatory and legislative issues and engaging with policymakers for lobbying efforts.

Government relations and public affairs are often grouped together. However, there are a few differences between the two. While government relations concern building positive interactions between the organization and the government, public affairs helps the organization in dealing with the government, legislators, and the media.

Community Relations

For any organization, building positive local community relationships is important for long-term survival and growth. Community relations is the part of public relations that deals with establishing and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and the communities it operates in. When organizations take an active interest in their communities and are eager to accept their civic responsibilities, they come across as more socially-conscious and credible.

Community involvement enables a company to gain community support and goodwill and build a positive public image. Organizations need to adopt a comprehensive community relations program to establish healthy relationships with their communities and gain visibility as a good community contributor.

Internal Relations

Internal relations in a company refer to its human resources, employee unions, and shareholders. These individuals and groups have a direct role in the working of the organization and contribute to its success. Improving the quality of work-life and the welfare of employees are major components of internal relations. When employees are better engaged and feel that their needs are being met, they become more productive and develop a strong sense of loyalty to the organization.

Every organization should include internal relations in its overall public relations strategy. Genuine employee engagement and good internal communications can help the organization in many ways. Team building events, informal lunches, and award ceremonies to recognize the hard work put in by the employees are some ways of internal engagement. Internal relations strategies can also include training and educational programs that aim to support employees’ growth and development.

Customer Relations

Customer relations refers to how an organization manages its interactions with its existing customer base and also its past and potential customers. The focus of customer relations is on improving the customer experience, and it includes providing answers to short-term issues and creating long-term solutions for major roadblocks. As part of a wider public relations strategy, a great customer relations strategy can help boost customer acquisition, satisfaction, and loyalty.

A strong customer relations strategy is a requisite for the sustainable growth of the company. Establishing emotional connections with the customers and employing multiple ways of engaging with them strengthens the customer experience.

Marketing Communications

Marketing communications is a complex set of methods and tools deployed by a company to communicate either directly or indirectly to the customers. It includes public relations activities, advertising, branding, packaging, direct marketing, sales presentations, online promotions, and more. Marketing communications focuses on positioning and building a brand to create and sustain demand for the company’s products.

Public relations strategies fall under the wider purview of marketing communications and include building and maintaining favorable relationships with customers, employees, media outlets, and government bodies.

Public relations encompasses maintaining favorable relations between an organization and its numerous publics and stakeholders to promote and protect the image of the company. An effective public relations and media relations strategy helps a company manage its reputation in the marketplace, build trust among its publics, and establish a positive news media and social media presence. Connecting with its target audience in impactful ways while providing value to them can go a long way in strengthening the credibility of an organization in its given industry.

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It is clear that working in public relations requires you to wear many hats and communicate with many audiences. That is why we've created our All-Inclusive Guide to Public Relations where we lay the foundation for what you need to know, from what public relations is and why it matters to tips for creating your public relations strategy.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter for the latest updates on our newest tips, tricks, and insights to help you maneuver the public relations world.

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