Public relations is the skill of building a relationship between a business or organization and its clientele and prospects. PR is needed to improve communications with the media, to spread good information about an individual or business and reduce misinformation that is often spread around. Your PR team may seem to work optimally, but there are some areas where it needs improvements.
Integrate the public relations and marketing departments
Public relations work is so similar to marketing that the two industries can be merged into one. Both departments deal with the creation and spread of information to the public. Your marketing team can share valuable tips for success to your PR team and vice versa. There are many different marketing software tools that your PR professionals can benefit from using. Similarly, your marketing professionals can work with the PR experts in using the media to find new customers.
Integrate positions within the PR department
There are so many job titles in public relations that interpreting it all is confusing to most people. Some jobs sound very similar to others, so it’s difficult to tell which professional to hire for your team. For instance, an account coordinator sounds similar to an account supervisor, but the duties are different. Ideally, hire only a few highly trained PR professionals instead of hiring dozens of professionals whose duties you’re unsure of.
Hire a social media manager
Social media is the perfect place of business for public relations providers. There are millions of visitors to social media sites, and many are looking for businesses to connect to. For many entrepreneurs and high-profile individuals, social media is the best place to deliver fast, concise information to the public. A high-profile business should be able to collect thousands of followers in no time. For the best results, hire a social media manager who is experienced in connecting to people who visit these sites.
Improve team meetings
Every professional team has meetings that occur on a weekly, monthly or yearly basis. For most businesses, their meetings have disastrous results with the events being too long, too repetitive or too boring. There are always ways to improve the efficiency of meetings.
Start by hiring a timekeeper to keep track of when the meeting starts, how long it lasts and when it ends. Starting too late is an all-too-common problem. It’s important to start on time and not make it an inconvenience to everyone.
Another tip is to increase team participation among all members. It’s common for the team leaders to be the only ones allowed to speak. But it’s important for everyone present at the meeting to provide some personal input. If only two people talk, then only two people control what happens to the business’s success.
Clarify the roles of team members
Most teams that have been working together for years have muddled roles. A supervisor may start working as an entry-level employee, while an assistant may take on the duties of the manager. This mix-up causes confusion among the workers along with instability and lack of productivity. Some people do tasks that they’re not qualified to do, while the more qualified workers forget about their responsibilities. Improve your PR team by clarifying and re-assigning the roles that are given to each person based on his or her qualifications and years of experience.
Public relations is a field that is evolving in the face of advancing technology. As people change the ways that they communicate, businesses must change the sales tactics and tools that their PR professionals use. Individuals and entrepreneurs must work harder to maintain good reputations as they meet people online. There is always a need to upgrade your public relations team from good to better.
