Why pr matters

Why it is important? Does it matter? What has it come to? How can we make sense of what we are seeing around us? In reflection, there are a number of truths that I hold up as reasons to believe this profession is one worth pursuing. Lately it may not feel that way, but it is. And so I write this for the students I have had, do have and will have in the classroom who I hope will achieve great things in their careers and not be daunted by what they are witnessing currently in contemporary society.

We understand the value and importance of each and every word. Accordingly, we work hard to effectively represent the sentiment of what we are trying to get across to our audiences and that each word has implications. We know the value of simplicity as words get translated across cultures and languages. Importantly, we recognize that it is not just what we say but also where we say it.

Not all messages should be conveyed in characters. PR has deep historical roots. Our work dates back to the ancient Greeks beginning with Isocrates, Plato and Aristotle analyzing rhetoric.

Throughout history, government and leaders have advanced these theories and supported the development of new ones. PR holds us accountable.

This is a profession in which we have to continually respond to what is being said, answer for what we have done and provide the flexibility and tenacity to see each and every issue we deal with to the end. PR seeks out the truth. Just as we are often on the front line being questioned, we also hold others to be accountable for what they have done and demand their answers. We work hard to surface what we need to know and ferret out falsehoods and innuendo that are not backed up by facts and oh my the way a fact is something that is indisputably true, the other side of that is fiction.

PR continually raises its own standards. This isn't to knock any marketing folks — powerful and creative brand messages are crucial to positioning a product and making it stand out. To have a truly robust communications strategy, however, it is important to understand the end goal of each approach and plan accordingly.

In other words, don't expect a single PR campaign to have the same results as a single marketing campaign. If you invest the time and money in great PR people or an agency that truly understands your product, the result is respect and notability. Thus, PR is most effective when it is given time to build real relationships between the media and your brand, between the media and your executives — with momentum building over time.

PR isn't just a marketing function; it supports all areas of your business if done right. Brand equity and visibility are critical to the survival of any business. This is something Bill Gates understands, as he famously said, "If I was down to my last dollar, I'd spend it on public relations. Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify? This is a BETA experience.

You may opt-out by clicking here. More From Forbes. Nov 11, , am EST. The online world allows people to say whatever they want about a business, true or not, with the business being able to do very little about it.

A large number of businesses get a bad reputation without doing anything to deserve it, while other businesses are not within easy online reach of their intended markets. Both circumstances are hardly ideal. The most effective way to fix that is through PR campaigns. PR support and the right campaigns increase awareness for a brand while maintaining a positive and consumer-resonant image.

Audiences are also more likely to listen to a message coming from an objective source, as opposed to paid-for advertising. By leveraging their connections with influencers, PR agencies can gain trust for a company.

PR agencies provide businesses with support and guidance to help them market themselves online while being constantly ready to step in when a disaster occurs or something threatens to damage the image the company has been building. Press releases, social media and influencer connections with promotional content-publishing sites are some of the tools that PR companies use to help their clients to strengthen their brand image and increase their profitability. With the right PR company assisting them, the brands of today have a much higher chance of reaching the right audience effectively.

Influencer marketing is actually fairly easy to understand.