Public relations is a strategic communication process companies,

individuals, and organisations use to build mutually beneficial

relationships with the public.

A public relations specialist drafts a specialised communication plan

and uses media and other direct and indirect mediums to create and
maintain a positive brand image and a strong relationship with the
target audience.

In simple terms, public relations is a strategised process of managing

the release and spread of organisation-related information to the
public to maintain a favourable reputation of the organisation and its
brands. 

Functions Of Public Relations

1. Anticipating, analysing, and interpreting the public

opinion and attitudes of the public towards the brand
and drafting strategies which use free or earned
media to influence them.
2. Drafting strategies to support the brand’s every
campaign and new move through editorial content.
3. Writing and distributing press releases.
4. Speechwriting.
5. Planning and executing special public outreach and media
relations events.
6. Writing content for the web (internal and external
websites).
7. Developing a crisis public relations strategy.
 8. Handling the social media presence of the brand and
responding to public reviews on social media websites.
9. Counselling the employees of the organisation with
regard to policies, course of action, organisation’s
responsibility and their responsibility.
10. Dealing with government and legislative agencies on
behalf of the organisation.
11.Dealing with public groups and other organisations with
regard to social and other policies of the organisation
and legislation of the government.
12. Handling investor relations.

Types Of Public Relations

According to the functions of the public relations
department/agencies, public relations can be divided into 7 types.
These are:

 Media Relations: Establishing a good relationship with

the media organisations and acting as their content
source.
 Investor Relations: Handling investors events, releasing
financial reports and regulatory filings, and handling
investors, analysts and media queries and complaints.
 Government Relations: Representing the brand to the
government with regard to the fulfilment of policies like
corporate social responsibility, fair competition, consumer
protection, employee protection, etc.
  Community Relations: Handling the social aspect of the
brand and establishing a positive reputation in the social
niche like environment protection, education, etc.
 Internal Relations: Counselling the employees of the
organisation with regard to policies, course of action,
organisation’s responsibility and their responsibility.
Cooperating with them during special product launches
and events.
 Customer Relations: Handling relationships with
the target market and lead consumers. Conducting
market research to know more about interests,
attitudes, and priorities of the customers and crafting
strategies to influence the same using earned media.
 Marketing Communications: Supporting marketing efforts
relating to product launch, special campaigns, brand
awareness, image, and positioning.

WHAT IS PR EVENT PLANNING? 

Many companies use public relations (PR) events to increase brand

awareness, launch a new product or gain the attention of potential
customers. Event managers, PR specialists and other public relations
professionals help coordinate and execute these events to achieve
company goals. 

Public relation (PR) event planning is the coordination and execution

of a PR event that helps a company, customer, product or service
gain the attention of potential customers and the community. This
can help promote a positive image of the entity hosting the event
and promote brand awareness. Many professionals align PR events
with current company PR strategies to ensure that the event helps
the organization reach its goals. Some companies host PR events to:

 Promote a new company product

 Inform customers about company promotions

 Foster positive media attention

 Gain the attention of potential employees

 Encourage company investments

How to accomplish PR event planning

Here are some steps you can follow to help you coordinate a PR event for your
organization:

1. Review your current PR goals

Examining your company's current PR strategies can help you determine what the topic
is for the event. This can help ensure that the event aligns with current strategies and
can also help provide direction for the event's activities. For example, if your company
has a current PR goal of increasing awareness about a new product release, your event
might promote the new product and offer samples of the product to event attendees.

2. Create an event timeline

Developing an event timeline early can help you complete each event task prior to the
event. This can also help inform event team members about specific deadlines and when
the event is to take place. Some important timeline events to consider incorporating in
your timeline include:

 Order deadlines
  RSVP timelines

 Invitation distribution

 Event setup schedule

3. Determine event activities

Determining what activities to include in your event can help generate interest and can
provide direction for event team members. Finding activities that relate to the event's
theme can also help contribute to your organization's PR goals. Some events to consider
incorporating into your PR event include:

 Food and beverage service

 Silent auction

 Product presentation

 Formal dance

 Company raffle

4. Communicate event responsibilities

Informing team members about their responsibilities for the event can help ensure that
each aspect of the event is complete in time. This can also help you clarify team
member expectations, which can prevent confusion and improve individual productivity.
Outlining specific event deliverables can also help you track event coordination and
provide direction to team members to ensure they complete their responsibilities.

5. Advertise the event

Advertising your event can increase community awareness of your company and the
event. Social media, digital advertisements, TV advertisements and print media can help
you inform individuals and other organizations about your company's event. This can also
increase sales as your organization's brand awareness increases. Some advertising mediums
you might consider include:

 Social media

 Targeted email advertisements

  Content marketing

 Mailed printed media

 Search engine marketing (SEM)

6. Monitor the event planning process

Monitoring the event planning process can help you ensure the event is within the
established timeline. This can also help you quickly resolve any conflicts or coordinate
other event activities. You can also review consumer engagement reports and ticket
sales to determine the effectiveness of your advertising campaigns. You can use these
progress reports to help debrief company stakeholders about the event's performance.
Progress reports can also help you generate ideas to improve the effectiveness of future
PR events.

7. Increase the event's appeal

Increasing your event's appeal can increase consumer engagement and gain the attention
of local or national media outlets. Partnering with specialized publications that relate to
your company and PR event can help you increase your event's appeal with your target
audience. Some ways you might increase the appeal of your event include:

 Adding a keynote speaker

 Scheduling a celebrity appearance

 Including a philanthropic aspect

 Offering perks and incentives

8. Create contingency plans

Developing secondary plans for event activities can help ensure event attendees have a
positive experience. This is useful if keynote speakers or other individuals involved with
the event have emergencies or busy schedules. Reviewing the additional offering of your
event's venue can also help you understand venue capabilities, which can help you
effectively develop contingency plans. Establishing a communication plan can also help you
and your event team communicate throughout the event, which can improve response
times to event obstacles.
9. Create a follow-up strategy

Encouraging influential members and media outlets to discuss your event can help
improve your company's brand awareness after the event. Interviews, videos and
photographs can help your target audience connect with your PR event and company
after the event's completion. This can also generate interest in future PR events, which
can improve the likelihood of important guest appearances during these events and
increase future media coverage.

Tips for PR event planning

Here are some tips to consider when planning and executing PR events for your
organization:

 Collaborate with others. Communicating with other PR professionals and event

planners can help you develop a unique and appealing PR event. This can also help
you identify improvement opportunities in your event's planning.

 Use online tools. Digital tools and spreadsheets can help you monitor your event's
progress and timelines. This can also help you incorporate third-party vendor
information into your tool, which can help you quickly find their information if
you want to contact them.

 Review past PR events. This can help you understand what activities and
strategies your organization has implemented in previous events. This can help
you understand which strategies were effective and can provide inspiration for
your own event.

For every event, it’s important to consider public relations during the early stages of
planning. Before you launch a PR campaign, think about your goals and objectives for
the event, the tactics and strategies you want to use to achieve them and the target
audiences you want to reach. Following are some tips for incorporating PR into the
event planning process.

1. Tailor the PR plan to the event. Create a PR plan that’s centered on the

purpose of your event. The plan should outline targeted communication channels
(media outreach, social media, email marketing and website updates), key
 messages for each target audience (media vs. public), a schedule for deliverable
deadlines and a list assigning each of the responsibilities.

2. Start PR efforts as early as possible. As soon as the date and venue are secured,
you should start your public outreach. Typically, local print reporters and
photographers have a packed schedule that fills up months in advance, so contact
them early. Actively reaching out to key community members also helps generate
ticket sales, secure sponsors and advertisers, and creates a buzz and public
awareness. Finally, contact television and radio stations early on the day of the
event because assignments are typically determined in the morning.

3. Plan your work and work your plan. Create a working schedule that clearly
defines roles and responsibilities for everyone involved. This will not only help
keep the PR push organized, but also help the entire event team stay focused.
Status reports leading up to the event and a post-event debrief report will
track and document your efforts and better prepare you for the next event.

4. Identify your media target audience. Research which media would be most

interested in attending your event. Submit details to event calendar websites
and publications for additional public awareness. Also, hire a professional
photographer and distribute photos post-event to media that couldn’t attend.

5. Craft messages for each communication channel. Use different social media

platforms for teaser posts to hype up the event and engage customers/followers.
Create and promote a specific hashtag during the event and encourage attendees
to post about their experiences. Use targeted e-mail blasts for reminders, major
updates or specific subscriber-based perks/contests. Distributing media advisories
and releases can also boost media interest and attendance.

6. Have an angle or hook. To make your event stand out from the crowd, you need
to focus on the benefits your event has to offer and give both the media and
public a reason to attend.

7. Be prepared for anything. It’s important to create a detailed crisis

communications plan in the event unforeseen circumstances arise. Knowing how to
communicate effectively during a crisis can be the difference between failure and
success.
 PR plays a critical role in the success of any event and there’s a variety of
channels available to take advantage in the promotion of an event. Cooksey
Communications has helped turn good events into great events by maximizing the
value of the event through strategic PR campaigns. At Cooksey, we’ve helped
build successful PR campaigns for a variety of client events, including:

 Media Tours, Previews and Open Houses

 Milestone Celebrations

 Product Launches

 Appreciation and Recognition Ceremonies

 Groundbreakings, Ribbon Cuttings and Grand Openings

 Monthly Meetings, Annual Conferences and Summit

Public Relations and Event Management - They Go Together

Why a public relations position over your event management background? Or vice verse.

The real question recruiters and hiring professionals should consider is, how can both skill
sets (public relations and event management skills) effectively help the organization?

Now public relations is not event management and event management is not public
relations. But they do work hand in hand.   

Let's talk about both shall we...  

Public relations is a strategic communications process that helps build and maintain
mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and its publics. Event
management (which requires detailed logistics and appealing aesthetics) is one
component, enhancing the public relations efforts of an organization. An event in it self
is a project which requires project management skills. It can range from a virtual
webinar, conference, seminar, fundraiser to a launch party or a 3-day volunteer
cruise. But with both skill sets,  a creative "think-out-of-the box" mindset will
help execute great events everyone will want to attend.   
With the rise of social media websites, monitoring posts and comments, public
relations is an integral part to how well an event is marketed and received by the
public. In this new age, the saying "all press is good press" doesn't quite work
anymore. Anything on the internet is fair game for positive and negative backlash that
may impact your event and company reputation.  It's now more important
for professionals in both fields to be able to engage prospective and former stakeholders;
through various marketing channels to better clarify misperceptions, rectify the spread
of misinformation and address any event issues (pre, during and post) at the drop of a
dime. 

Public relations and event management go together and they work! 

How do you plan a PR event?

Much like any event, define your goals and budget first, and fill in the rest. Especially
important for a PR event will be how the press and media are handled, so be sure to
take special care to ensure they have a great experience.

What is a PR event?

A PR event is meant to showcase a company, client, product, or service to the general

public.

What does PR mean?

PR stands for public relations, and is the practice of managing the distribution of
information from an organization to the public.