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there's oftentimes a a disconnect between what people think public relations is and what public relations actually is so and this is a very common misnomer that public relations is all about media relations they think about it it's just publicists and things but the reality is that public speaking involves a lot of different things there's a lot of different areas that you can get into in public relations and some people work in all of them some people specialize in others so before we get into anything else with public relations though let's talk about what we mean by public relations what is public relations and make sure we're all on the same page there so our definition of public relations is going to be the public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics so a couple of key things here public relations is strategic it is a process and it builds mutually beneficial relationships meaning it's not all one-sided this is a two-way process between an organization and they're public so key and on those things as we talk about the rest of what public relations is and as we continue through this whole series some key characteristics of public relations to be aware of things we need to know that are true about public relations first of all it's deliberate public relations is not an accident again public relations is strategic meaning it's thought out there's a process there and it is it is very deliberate it's something that is indeed planned right it's it's it's intentional which means that we have a at least a plan in place now that plan doesn't always go through a hundred percent and doesn't you know turn out exactly how we thought it would or go exactly the way we thought it would but but there is at least at the outset there is some deliberation some thought about what we want to accomplish and then there's a plan for how we're going to achieve that public relations is also about performance it's about doing the thing and it's about achieving those results it's measured in certain ways and it is you know able to be quantified the success of public relations is able to be quantified uh if you're talking about a public relations campaign so it's important that we keep in mind that performance is how we measure public relations whether or not we're achieving those goals and and then going out and doing those things public relations also involves public interest it involves first of all watching out for the public interest having the public in mind again this is a mutually beneficial relationship between the organization and its public so we ought to keep in mind the public interest in other words what is good for me is good for you so to speak right when we when you know a rising tide lifts all ships as the old saying goes so we want to be conscientious of the fact that when we serve the public we're also serving our organization it should be that kind of relationship as we think about it in a public relations sense i've mentioned a couple times now the public public relations involves two-way communication advertising and marketing really focus on one-way communication they're interested in getting the message out and just having it heard and responded to but public relations is a two-way street it really does involve listening to that public and adjusting then and making that a part of that deliberation and that plan and the performance of that thing measuring it in terms of as much as anything else how does this affect the public and is this mutually beneficial so it's very much a two-way process a two-way sense of communication there and finally it is a management function that's how we want to think of public relations it's really a management function it should be something that is involved in the highest management levels of an organization it should be involved in strategically involved in all the areas in which that organization works so in all the different functional areas public relations has to have at least an idea of what's going on and have some input there and it should be a part of that management function at the highest levels of decision making and planning for that organization so those are just some key characteristics that define public relations and kind of separate it and somewhat we're going to talk a little bit about that here just coming up right next but what separates public relations from advertising for example these are some of the key characteristics that do that so let's just jump into what you know what is the difference then between for example advertising and public public relations marketing is another area that gets compared a lot to public relations and sometimes you find public relations in the marketing department of an organization but but they are different things and they're different than advertising different marketing so let's just take a look at some key differences here in the two so first of all advertising about is about purchase whereas public relations is about persuasion so advertising is about you know you're purchasing these blocks of time and you're making investments in getting people to to buy your product or to attain your retain your services or to believe the same thing you do whatever but you're buying those opportunities right whereas public relations is about persuading the public not buying air time not buying media time not buying advertisements not buying you know or or bribing people who would get not bribing innocent advertising is not necessarily bribing but you know without giving free things away and this quid pro quo this this for that type of situation public relations is about persuasion it's about sharing your message telling your story and convincing the audience why this is best for all of us and why they should be interested and involved and so forth so public relations is about uh persuasion in that sense we've already established that advertising is really a one-way process and public relations is a two-way process when you advertise something you're aware of the demographics of your audience and what might appeal to them and so forth but you're not expecting feedback in terms of uh other than you know sales numbers and things like that advertising is a one-way street it's it's it's a one-way process of communication whereas public relations is two-way you're very much seeking out that public input and and using it as as part of your throughput part of that decision-making part of the planning and so forth and and it very much impacts the way that you conduct yourself as an organization and conduct your public relations and so forth so public relations is a two-way process of communication and in the inter advertising is transactional whereas public relations is relational because you're purchasing thing because it's a it's a one-way street advertising is about that transaction i'm going to give you this money to promote my product or to to put on my advertisement and so forth it's transactional so you're paying for that service public relations is about building those relationships it's not about paying media for their time it's about you know can i build a relationship with this new news organization and and have them be interested in what we're doing and convince them that what we're doing is good for the public and want to do that can i build a relationship with my public with my audience and and help them understand what we're doing and why it's important why they should be involved and why they should care and why they should you know whatever support our organization public relations about building that relationship with all those different audiences it's not about purchasing that airtime or purchasing someone's loyalty or interest it's about building that relationship in other ways so now we have a better hopefully a better understanding of what public relations is and maybe what it isn't and those are important distinctions as well but public relations involves a lot of different areas and it can be involved in all these types of different things right we're going to get more into what some of the roles of public relations are in another video so be sure to check it out but we just wanted to in this video define what we mean by public relations if you have questions about public relations or about anything related to it please feel free to email me i'd be happy to chat with you that way in the meantime i hope you now again have a better understanding of what public relations is and we're on the same page for that as we move forward and continue to explore this fascinating area