Having been around the block a while, I believe I have a good understanding of the personal characteristics that are commonly found in a successful PR professional. At a minimum, these are the traits of the folks we seek when filling key positions here at Matter Communications. In my humble opinion, PR people need to be…
Business-minded
What's the end goal? That's what PR people need to consider, frankly more often than they do typically. The PR
activities we execute daily establish a company - put it on the map - or contribute to a larger initiative designed to help it do more business. While vague, that's appropriately described. Before acting, a PR person needs to determine: how does the desired result contribute to the bigger picture of business success?
Flexible, nimble, go with the flow
I can't think of a business/career/gig that requires as much flexibility as public relations and social media. Plans,
particularly those of clients, change with nutty regularity. The successful PR pro needs to adapt and, throughout any transition, help clients achieve communications and business success no matter the programmatic direction. Social media channels present the very obvious need to be nimble: one Facebook post can change the tone of a day. In addition to being reactive and responsive, PR practitioners need to have the ability to professionally deal with whatever comes their way.
Writing
skills, a must have
To be great at PR, one needs to have decent/good/better writing skills. While content development has taken on a more expansive meaning of late, the foundation of the gig is still in keystrokes. Verbal articulation, creative thinking, and a positive personality are all obviously critical characteristics for any profession, but in PR better-than-basic writing skills are imperative, with colleagues and clients demanding everything from compelling blog posts to finely
crafted press releases and everything in between.
Early in a career, be a sponge
Becoming a well-rounded, consistently reliable and savvy PR person takes work. The ramp-up to achieving such a lofty standard varies greatly depending on the individual, but no entry-level professional punches into a new job and immediately begins counseling the world's biggest brands on the highest-profile communications issues. Most newbies make an impact – please see
my earlier post about Millennials kicking ass and taking names – but there's a difference between that impact and other more senior decision-making. There's so much to learn in PR on a daily basis, and that's one of the reasons I've loved being a PR guy since I first interned in the field. And,
there are plenty of dynamite bosses and colleagues to learn from - another reason I've loved my career. The best young professionals “get” that experience can be gained from closely watching co-workers, carefully noting their accomplishments, and learning from their challenges.
Later in a career, don't be afraid of learning more
As the expression goes, learning is endless, and that's so true when it comes to the ever-evolving PR field. There's so much to gain in every
interaction with a colleague or a client, and in every first-hand experience - from a methodical, well-laid out plan to a crisis situation. The best PR practitioners know to embrace all that is happening around them and best leverage that data to improve as professionals.
You have to care about news
No matter the market, category, or industry any PR person works within, they need to care about what is happening, both in their core sector and in the broader world. They need to
be on top of news and trends, so that they can leverage what they know to craft story ideas that best position their client, topic, etc. within the most timely, topical conversations being had in the media and on the street.
Thick skin
PR people get shot-down often. It's a common occurrence, and there's nothing wrong with that. Amid great editorial success, we get shot-down pitching more than our fair share of story ideas, bylined articles, and profile pieces. While we enjoy
much strategic and tactical success when working with clients, we also get shot down presenting ideas for new programs or programmatic approaches. It's part of the business – and you need to roll with the circumstance. Critique and criticism are common, and solid PR pros learn from their misfires and grow stronger from those experiences.
Have I missed anything important? If so, let me know.
Scott Signore is principal and CEO of Matter Communications.
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Following are the key characteristics of public relations:
1. Meaning:
Public relations activities are typically designed to build and maintain a favourable image for an organisation and a favourable relationship with the organization’s various “publics.” These publics may be customers, stockholders, employees, unions, environmentalist, the government, people in local community or some other groups in society
2. Important Managerial Function:
It is an integral part of managerial functions. Many companies operate a special department for the purpose known as public relations department to create and maintain constructive relations with different interested publics. A manager must take concrete steps to manage successful relations with the key publics.
3. Publicity and Public Relations:
It is an extension of publicity. Publicity concerns with getting favourable response from mass media about a company, its products, and its activities while public relations concerns with creating and maintaining constructive relations with various publics over a time.
4. Wide Range of Activity:
Public relations includes a lot of activities to build and maintain long-term and positive relations with a large set of interested publics. It involves a number of interactions, such as contacting, inviting, informing, clarifying, responding, interpreting, dealing, transacting, and so forth.
5. Various Parties:
Public relations covers a number of publics – formal and informal groups. These publics may be customers, stockholders, employees, unions, environmentalists, the government, people in local community, or some other groups in society. The purpose of public relations is to make these parties build positive attitudes about a company.
6. Continuous Process:
Public relations is a continuous process. It starts with inception of business unit and lasts as long as it exists. The firm has to perform public relations activities on a continuous basis. Once the company has established a good image and reputation, such image and positive attitudes may extinguish if they are not monitored or maintained. Similarly, along with expansion of business, it has to build new relations with varied parties at different places.
7. Management Philosophy:
It is fundamentally the management attitudes and managerial philosophy to build and maintain good relations with publics. A company formulates policy to establish public relations. This philosophy is based on building healthy relations with various groups for company’s interest. Management must know the attitudes of publics toward the company’s policy and practice. It considers general interest while taking decisions.
8. All Level Activity:
All the officials from the top level to the supervisory level perform public relations activities. It obvious that officials working at various levels of management can contribute in developing positive relations with different publics like shareholders, customers, traders, service providers, government, and so on. It is the joint duty of all the employees from top to bottom.
9. Routine Activity:
Note that public relations is a part of routine activities. It is not incidental or occasional. Further, it is not taken as distinct activity, but a part of day-to-day activities. It is treated as part of daily activities like purchase, administration, production, marketing, finance, and likewise.
10. Essence of Public Relations:
It is an essential function of marketing department. A company can build, improve, and maintain its image through public relations. Due to the healthy public relations with several publics, the company can smoothly carry out its operations. It is treated as important as production and marketing.
11. Public Relations as a Profession:
In relation to modern management practices, the public relations has become profession. It enjoys professional status. All the characteristics of profession such as specialized knowledge, need of formal education, ethical codes, service motive, continuous development, etc., are also prevalent in public relations.
The professional is called PRO [Public Relations Officer]. There are special courses intended to prepare and train successful professional public relations officers. There are professional public relations consultancies to guide businessmen how to build, improve and/or maintain public relations.
12. Public Relations as an Art:
It is, no doubt, an art. To make publics think positively about the company, one must know how to deal with them. The officer – designated as public relations officer [PRO] – must have skills, special qualities, and knowledge to interact successfully with different groups of society to build the long-term constructive relations. He needs special qualities to be the successful PRO.