The profession of Public Relations remains shrouded in myths and misconceptions for a long time. People are in confusion about PR, advertisement and publicity and professions are in the debates of measuring results of PR actions.

Today we will bust 7 such myths about public relations which are absolutely wrong and misunderstood by people.

 

1. PR is free and easy, no need to spend money and efforts on it

 

No, who says that? It’s neither free nor easy.

It takes a lot of hard work for smart organizations to curate a story of a brand and convey it to the media by talking to every journalist individually. Big brands spend a high proportion of their total budget in Public relations activities.

While one brand is underestimating the ability of PR, a competitor brand might hire the best possible person for a PR job.

 

2. There is no ROI in PR Activities

True, PR is not going to fill your bank balance directly.

It’s a medium through which you can reach up to thousands of people who love to listen to your brand story, who have an interest in your products and who are your potential customers.

PR is an authentic way to share your story in media and allow your potential customers to engage with your brand quickly. It builds trust in the public when they see your brand’s name in the news, trust leads to conversion and ultimately increases sales.

PR gives you ROI in terms of media buzz, public engagement and loyal customer base. Ultimately, this buzz will generate more sales and returns.

 

3. I only need the services of a PR agency in times of trouble

 

Why do brands go into trouble?

Declining sales or diminishing reputation. These can only happen if a brand is waiting for troubles to take services of a PR agency.

“The Rule of Seven” in marketing states that a person needs to see your ad, announcement or news at least 7 times to take any action. A person turns into your customer if he/she is aware and has trust in your brand. To do so, customers have to see your brand name a minimum of seven times to recall your brand’s name.

PR can surely help a brand in trouble but hiring a PR agency before a crisis can help you not to get into trouble.

 

4. There is no writing involved in PR

It’s a total myth. Honestly, PR is more about writing and less about anything else.

On an odd day, a PR practitioner has to write press releases, pitches, proposals, blog articles, special stories, media reports and analytics of countless PR activities.

Well, PR pros don’t have only the job of chatting with journalists and attending phone calls. There are a lot more writing efforts involved.

 

5. Only bad products need Publicity

 

It’s a typically wrong statement.

Think a brand is developing two products, one is good and one is bad. Putting up a bad product in front of the media and public and ignoring a good product; is it a wonderful idea?

No, it’s an odd and insignificant strategy. 

You need to show your best products to people. In fact, you can make good products the centerpiece of your whole marketing and PR campaigns. 

 

6. When the coverage is bad, it’s PR’s fault

Nothing like that. PR pros don’t have control over the coverage for a specific event. 

The goal of PR is to build a story and convey it to the media by using communication channels but its coverage depends on the various factors including timings, relevance, space, targeting, news value and place of event.

PR is earned, not paid. Sometimes a journalist’s opinion about a story can differ from the brand’s perspective on that.

We need more time, patience and efforts to get positive results from PR. After all, it takes time to build and maintain relations with the media and targeted public.

 

7. PR is just advertising

 

If you still believe in this phrase, you are missing the opportunities for your brand. PR and advertisements are parallel but not same activities. They have their own targets.

Advertising is the paid activity which involves promoting your products or services through TV, Print and online media by paying directly for it. 

On the other hand, PR is a systematic and strategic process which focuses on building good relations between brand and public by using targeted communication channels.

However, PR and advertisements play unique roles for a brand. Results of advertisement depend on your budget, but PR’s depends on strategy. 

 

Hope you are clear about these myths about public relations now. NewsVoir is your once place to get targeted media visibility solutions and effective communications. 

Get in touch today to know more about our news distribution services.