PR professionals often lament that their families don’t really understand what they do. That’s because public relations means different things to different people. In 2011, the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) crowdsourced the following definition from PR pros across the nation: “Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.”

Browse this list of questions to determine whether it’s the right time to add public relations to your communications arsenal.

  1. Who are your audiences, i.e. “publics,” i.e. primary and secondary stakeholders? Patients, clients, employees, customers, NGOs, etc. You can even get more detailed, for example, clients aged 40-50 who live in an urban environment and make upwards of 150K annually.
  2. What do you want to accomplish? In other words, what are your goals in launching a public relations effort?
  3. What does “PR” mean to you? What does success look like?
  4. Do you have spokespeople in mind that are ready to speak with media or willing to attend a media training workshop? If applicable, do you have a Spanish-speaking spokesperson?
  5. Do you have a PR budget in mind? We can help you determine what is realistic based on your goals.
  6. Which publications would you love to be in? Local? Regional? National? Are your target audiences reading these publications?
  7. What do you want your audiences to know about your business?
  8. What makes your company newsworthy? What are you doing that no other company in your industry is doing?
  9. What makes now a good time for you to add PR? Are you adding a new business segment? Are you moving to a new location? Launching a new product?

You don’t need a concrete answer to each of these questions before starting a conversation with us. We can help you refine your answers and determine whether it’s time to enhance your business with a public relation strategy.

Important side note:  The above definition of public relations refers to a “communication process.” We understand that many companies are eager to see results but public relations is indeed a process of building relationships over time. We see the best results for clients after six months of effort.