Social Media and Public Relations

Question: Discuss about the Social Media and Public Relations. Answer: Introduction Public relations is commonly referred to as a deliberate, sustained and planned attempt to demonstrate and enhance mutual understanding as well as exceptional understanding. It is through public relations that an organization can strengthen its relationship with its internal and external publics to foster long term interaction. Organizations require having a powerful public relations department which does not overlap the functions of the marketing department. There are various issues that are addressed in the above definition. Among them include necessity for planning, why sustained communication is significant, who the stakeholders are in a particular company, importance of mutual understanding, and the role of communication in determining relationships. I will discuss each of the issues below (Romano, 2011). Necessity for planning Planning is an essential management role which involves formulating one or more detailed procedure to attain desired balance of demands or needs utilizing the available resources. When planning , a PR practitioner should identify the goals to be accomplished, come up with strategies to accomplish them, organize the resources required, and apply, control, and watch all the stages in the appropriate sequence. Planning strengthens communication goals in an organization. For effective determination of the correct PR tactics and strategies, one should be able to solidify the communication objectives through reasonable planning. At this moment, PR expert should review the target audience and primary messages to ensure the goals set are relevant to the organization. While planning, a PR officer should meet with a designed team to brainstorm and come up with brilliant ideas that can support the communication goals. If for example, Fletcher Building Limited is organizing to upgrade its analyst program; then as a PR officer, you should engage in teamwork to brainstorm the creative ideas to achieve this objective (Mersham Peart, 2009). Planning is significant in developing a strategic program which maps out the main activities for every quarter. A considerable PR plan will implement every quarters scheduled activities. Nevertheless, it is significant to be adjustable as the timing of the activities may change depending on the situations that may arise at that given time. It is also necessary to seek the plan approval several months before its occurrence. Why sustained communication is significant Sustained communication in an organization plays a vital role in both the internal and external publics who are the companys stakeholders. When there is effective communication over a long period of time, trust is built between the publics and the business itself. Appropriate long term interaction between the organization and its publics enhances mutual in-depth understanding that can help maintain the customers forever. It is through such communication that the firm can partner with various community development projects that would increase its reputation and brand building. The maintained effective communication is the main strategy to retaining the current clients or publics as well as attracting most new publics through recommendations by the current stakeholders. For instance, Google adopted this strategy long time ago. Due to its effective sustained communication, the publics it had, continued recommending more people for Google. As a result, it went ahead of other search engines like Yahoo and Bing even though they started earlier that it could. Therefore, any step or milestone that is made by an organization should be communicated to all the stakeholders so that they feel belonging to the firm and valued for their contribution. It through this practice that the stakeholders are likely to messages regarding new products in the market, happy wishes during holidays and festivals and most importantly give them something that is relevant to those occasions. Who the stakeholders are in a particular company As a Public Relations officer, one requires to identify all the stakeholders and what their needs are in association with the organization. After identifying their needs, then it will be easier to understand on the best way to approach them individually or as a group. I am taking Fletcher Building Limited as an example. It has various stakeholders who play an important to its operations. Its stakeholders include the community, sponsors, shareowners, employees, and the clients. The community that Fletcher Building Limited dwells in has various needs it has to address. For example, the community may require job opportunities from the company and support in fundraising or developmental projects. If the company cannot consider their grievances, there might be demonstrations that can affect its operations. Sponsors are important people who fund the operations of the company; they should be involved in all the programs that the firm undertakes. In so doing, they will build more trust in its operations. Employees are the workforce whose needs should be addressed effectively on an immediate effect. I cannot say they are the most important, but they are responsible for handling all the processes that lead to stakeholders and customers satisfaction. Finally , the clients; they are reason for the companys existence. Without them there will be no profits which can be realized by its operations. All the products and services should be designed to fit their needs and preferences (Sriramesh, Ver?i?, 2009). Role of communication in building relationships Communication plays a significant role in an organization especially in enhancing mutual understanding between the organization, its publics and stakeholders. Mutual understanding refers to harmony between individuals; in this way anything that impacts one correspondingly impacts the other. Therefore, mutual understanding serves as a tool to bridge the gap between individuals with misunderstanding within the organization, or to strengthen a two-way feel. Communications, thus, undertakes a crucial duty in every step of relations. It can be from organization to organization, interpersonal or group communication. A PR expert should identify the suitable channels of communication that can lead to appropriate communication. Whenever the manner in which messages are conveyed through is defined then messages will be delivered efficiently. In any organization, there could be conflicts, either among employees, between the organization and another company or between the organizations itself to the client. Fostering of mutual understanding will enhance the conflicting parties to understand one another and acknowledge the issue affects both sides. Through mutual understanding, resolutions can be reached at and enhance the sustained communication for both participants in the conflict. An ideal PR practitioner should have various strategies to problem-solving that are effective and competent. Most of the time, problem-solving is done through enhancing effective communication and mutual understanding among all the publics. The case involves public interests versus the companys privacy policies. The organizations mission is to care for stray dogs, train, and define their temperaments as they wait for the public to adopt the dogs. Since Jenny was gorgeous friendly, loving and favorable for a family, many people are likely to call and confirm about her. If I will be called for an inquiry regarding Jenny, I will describe the case in a suitable way that can balance both the employer and the public. Even though the role of the PR officer is to serve the public interest, I will advise the client that Jenny has been adopted and recommend other dogs that are likely to have good behaviors. The decision to create balance is based on PRINZ code of ethics of fairness. It requires that a PR practitioner be able to represent the employers and clients fairly. It will be unfair to the employer if I tell the clients that the dog had bitten some of the handlers and got euthanized as a result (PRINZ, 2010). Similarly, I have to protect the organization because its reputation should keep growing for the effective growth. Based on the PRINZ code of ethics of privacy, I should keep the secret and alternatives to the clients whenever they inquire about Jenny. It is ethical to protect the public against any torture that the dog can cause to them. I therefore would not promise any client about Jenny because it may endanger their lives, a situation that can degrade the organizations image and mission (PRINZ, 2011). How marketing is distinguished from Public relations Marketing and public relations may be considered same but there are various differences defined between the two. The differences are based on the following. First, tactics/activities; marketing commonly involves direct advertising and marketing which aims to regain direct sales whereas public relations is projected on the reputation of the company through creating a positive media coverage and stakeholder effective communication. Secondly, the target audiences; marketing as a practice seeks to reach potential and present clients to the business services and products while Public Relations focuses on building and keeping positive relationships with any individual who shows interest to the organization or their brand. Public relations practice covers wider audience across the media and customers, to shareholders and employers. Thirdly, two separate objectives; the aims for marketing groups are to arrive at the customers and facilitate them to believe, think or undertake some type of tr ading focused action. In essence, this regards selling the services and products. On the other hand, Public Relations aim at selling the company and its brand through a positive way buy controlling the communication platforms between the organization and the stakeholders. In general, marketing practices are attempting to attain direct revenue, while the Public Relations activities tend to enforce positive reputation by an appropriate Public Relations strategy (Breakenridge, 2013). Public Relations support to marketing initiatives Incorporating a public Relations effort with a marketing plan can ameliorate the appropriateness of the marketing initiative by making sure that communication with groups of individuals who determine the buying of the services and products, indirectly or directly. Initially, organizations have managed to have the two practices separately. Nevertheless, various market-leading businesses like Aviva, Renault-Nissan and Unilever, have acknowledged the significance of incorporating public relations and marketing by selecting chief executives with duty for both roles (Motion Cliff e, 2009). For instance, your marketing drive targets the clients and expectations for services and products with campaigns like email, direct mail, advertising, or other kinds of communication. To utilize your marketing budget quote appropriately, you should communicate with the most prominent persons of the target publics-majorly purchasing managers or consumers. Nevertheless, other individuals such as retailers, journalist, colleagues and friends can determine the purchasing decision. With the little budget, you may not communicate with every influencer. A public relations campaign focused on the other determinants gives significant assistance for your marketing potential. The accessibility of services or products information on the internet has shifted the relationship between the customers and the marketers. Currently, internet users go online to find information about a service or product before purchasing it. Other kinds of marketing and advertising are no longer the only sources of information for the prospects or consumers. To keep influence on the internet users, press release should be placed online so that internet users can utilize them as sources of information for the services and products they may need. The converging parts of public relations and marketing The key parts in Public Relations that are really converging include press releases and informative campaigns. Currently press releases are done in different ways. First, they can be done through the internet, broadcast or print media. Therefore, this can widen the audience coverage. In essence, the messages move from one point to another at a greater pace. In seconds, thousands or hundreds of audience are likely to read what has been released by a particular company. The convergence has resulted in increased awareness than the previous times. Secondly, informative campaigns; audience get informed easily and at high rate. Presently, the campaigns are undertaken on the internet through social media platforms such as WhatsApp, twitter, Facebook and even Yahoo. On the other hand, the part of selling in marketing has greatly advanced. Nowadays, the audience can have all the information regarding the services or products a company offers including their possible prices. The marketing teams are able to enhance online marketing and selling. The customers assess all the information and place an order for a product or service. This saves time and space. Due to increased interaction regarding selling and buying the products and services, the marketing teams in well planned organizations can experience increased sales. The power of marketing has moved to the online platforms. Bibliography Mersham, G. Peart, J. (2009). Public relations and communication management: An Aotearoa/New Zealand perspective. North Shore, NZ: Pearson. Motion, J. Cliff e, S. (2009). 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