What the public wants to hear is a good story. Good PR is the telling of that story. The better the story, the better the acceptance by the public and the better the public relations.

Due to it being compared with advertising, PR is the least understood of all marketing and communication tools. It includes using intermediaries to communicate with your audience and influence them. Those intermediaries may be industry spokespersons, investors, trend setters, analysts, customers and even the electronic and print media. Typically, businesses has little control over those influencers, or intermediaries, which makes public relations so difficult.

While the public part implies things like community relations, investor relations, public press conferences, media events and crisis communications, it also involves a lot of behind-the-scenes, non-public activity. It could involve simply the writing of a press release, but it could also involve coordinating media contacts for an event or conference, securing credentials and lobbying for article placement.

The business world is coming around to the view that public relations has become the most effective way to build a brand. Business owners become known in their respective fields of concentration many times through public relations and the associated media generated.

The bottom line is to get word out about you, your company, your products/ services to those who could potentially listen to what you have to say and do accordingly. Public relations is just one part of marketing, as marketing is made up of many things. The good news about PR is the cost and the effectiveness when it’s in front of your target market.