Public Relations Writing and Types of PR

Outranking
by Outranking
Updated On: October 30, 2023
Public Relations Writing and Types of PR

Public Relations Writing and Types of PR

The difference between public relations and journalism is a fine distinction.

Public relations, sometimes also called PR, combines the best of both information gathering and storytelling to spread an idea or message about a business, person, or industry.

A journalist gathers news from their sources that they can then use as evidence to present articles. These are written for people who have some interest in the subject matter but are not necessarily experts. This distinction goes back years; journalists are traditionally trained professionals, while PR professionals often take a different, business-oriented path.

The traits of a journalist and PR professional overlap on some levels, but each has their own specialties that make them stand out in the market.

In this blog post, I will go over the three main types of public relations: content-based, informational, and promotional, as well as distinguishing between these areas when you write for clients or yourself.

What is public relations writing?

Public relations writing is a type of communication used to build and maintain relationships with the public. PR includes, but is not limited to, informational writing that keeps the company’s image positive through various means, such as press releases, speeches, and social media posts. Public relations can also be done for other purposes, including recruiting new employees or donors.

Why should you consider public relations writing?

why is pr writing important

A trusted third party is more credible than advertiser content due to public trust in a reliable third party’s messages. PR writing has become increasingly popular as it can be used for all types of businesses, from small-scale startups to large corporations such as GSK and Coca-Cola.

Public relations is a medium of marketing that deals with the public image and perception of an organization by publishing content to various news outlets for the intended audience. This can be done through print, digital, or social media. PR writing helps companies reach more people and help them understand what they’re trying to do in terms of reputation management; this includes use cases like organic touchpoints, which are hard to use otherwise but possible through this method.

Public relations writing is a cost-effective technique to reach a large audience as compared to paid promotion. Public relations is also a great way for businesses to get the word out about their offerings, especially when they want help with managing their image and marketing campaigns.

Public relations writing is more than just engaging in conversations with a reporter; it’s about presenting the right message to your target audience. This type of communication is beneficial for both the creator and recipient because messages are conveyed across time frames. PR writers have access to different channels that can be used as tools when managing public perception, which makes them an important part of companies’ marketing strategies.

What are the different types of professional PR writing?

There are seven types of professional PR writing, which include press releases, blog posts, white papers, and social media posts. The goal of each type is different, but they all have the same ultimate goal in mind, which is to get your company talked about positively.

1. Business events

Events often serve for people to gain exposure for their businesses, promote new products or services, and make sure accurate information reaches targeted customers. Event marketing materials help you build customer confidence and research your market and competitors. Business events are opportunities to market your products or services and gain exposure for your brand.

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Trade shows are an opportunity to share ideas with people who might be in the same industry. Trade show attendees also have a chance to learn about your business, as well as increase brand awareness for their own company or organization.

2. Corporate social responsibility press release

Professional PR writing can be used to help build a company’s reputation. It can also be used for charity and ethics purposes, as well as in the public relations field.

The Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 requires corporations to hold to a code of ethics and report on their socially responsible conduct.

3. Employee relations press release

Internal PR is a sensitive form of PR. This type of writing is less about image and more focused on action within a company.

Employee relations is about giving a positive view of the company to employees. It also includes keeping workers satisfied, motivated, and loyal to encourage them to continue to work for the company.

An employee relations press release is an announcement to the public about an internal dispute and what management is doing about it. A company can only offer as much money, time off, or other benefits as business conditions and higher-ups allow. It is often difficult for employees to put a positive spin on what happened and how it could have been avoided if there were better communication between the parties involved in making decisions.

4. Media relations press release

There are different types of professional public relations writing. The main media tools include releasing press releases and fact sheets to the media. There are many other potential PR writing tasks like managing risks and crises affecting your business, but those require more technical skill than a release or a fact sheet.

To create a successful media relations press release, one must have the technical skill to produce public relations materials called outputs. Public relations is a largely technical function, and this means that it is based on the production or creation of various types of outputs, such as news releases, videos, or images.

5. Social media PR

There are different types of professional PR writing, including social media PR. This type of PR can have the same KPIs as other types of marketing: brand mentions, conversions, domain authority, and sentiment. Your PR manager is often responsible for social media on behalf of your company.

However, social media PR is different from regular marketing campaigns and influencer marketing. Employees should collaborate with these fields to share the same goal of promoting a positive image for a brand or product.

Social media press releases live on the web as an online newsroom. This means that journalists and other influencers can find your press release via a simple Google search, link to it, and share it with their followers.

People are continuously searching for ways to improve their social media presence. If viewers do not find your content helpful, it won’t matter how hard you try or how the format is presented. Social media releases should contain everything necessary to share and discover a story in a way that complements your original intent. Social media PR plays an important role in promoting an organization’s voice as content on platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

6. Community relations

Professional public relations writing is not the same as community relations. The field of community relations is much broader and deals with building customer loyalty by building relationships with stakeholders in a local area. Professional public relations writing emphasizes engaging people via word of mouth, while community relations focuses on connecting organizations to their communities and making sure they stay informed, often through various means on social media such as Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

Community relations officers work to develop a company’s relationship with the local community. They are responsible for building relationships, facilitating events and programs, and engaging people with their company’s products or services.

Businesses should take an active interest in community problems, sponsor youth activities, and participate in local government. They can also join business or service groups to support their industry as well. Businesses should purchase materials from local companies to increase their profit margin while supporting a growing economy.

Community relations is the planned, active, and continuing participation with and within a community. In community relations management, press releases can be used to mitigate internal crises or negative external press. Community relations is also the tool of choice for companies that want to show their commitment to maintaining good relationships with the communities they serve.

7. Strategic communications

Different types of PR writing are available for public relations professionals: strategic communications, crisis communication, and issues management. There is a difference between these three categories, as each focuses on different aspects. Public relations covers issues both inside and outside the company with a structured approach to real-world contingencies.

Strategic communications is a business practice that includes owned media, such as news releases on the company website. This can help increase your brand’s image and improve your industry standing by showing milestones you’ve hit, staying on top of trends, and benefiting the community.

How to learn professional PR Writing?

how to become a professional pr writer

The main type of PR writing is news releases or press releases. A public relations writer must keep the audience in the forefront; a press release’s main purpose is to promote particular news and alert reporters to increase their interest in the story.

Writing for who? The target audience

While writing a press release may seem easy, it is important to target the audience before you get started. A local newspaper will have different expectations and focus than an international news publication. Furthermore, other versions of releases should be made for different audiences, such as print or social media outlets. Additionally, research is important because it provides information on how your story can reach each individual in the community that is impacted or has concerns with the problem at hand.

Regardless of the type, PR writing is a skill that involves identifying and targeting journalists who are most likely to write about your company. This requires researching different media outlets, as well as understanding how they select stories for publication. Press releases are also important to building relationships with potential customers or stakeholders by providing them with information on their favorite topics and related news.

Press release structure

To write an effective press release, it is necessary to understand the structure of a press release. There are four key parts:

1) The headline

2) The first paragraph (introduction)

3) The second paragraph (body)

4) Boilerplate

The heading is critical and should be catchy, with a specific topic or proposition in mind.

The most important part of writing a press release is crafting the lead and introduction. The first sentence needs to be convincing and engaging enough for journalists to want more detail but not so long that it becomes difficult for them to understand what’s going on without reading the whole document.

When it comes to public relations writing, a press release is an important tool that companies can use to work with journalists.

In the body, you should include details about why this announcement is relevant or interesting, which is something journalists need if they’re interested in following up with an article or podcast segment on their site. When the writer uses quotes and photographs in their releases, they can provide a lot of perspective about the topic at hand and deliver more information for recipients who want research-related materials.

A press release is used to announce something new or provide information about an event. The boilerplate usually summarizes information on the organization releasing the statement. When announcing a product launch, this is often called a pre-release because it goes out before the full details. If you want to get more people interested in what you’re doing, then this is how you do it!

Press release medium or format

Press releases are a type of PR writing that is most commonly used for branding and maintaining a company’s image.

The traditional medium or format is printed, but this has been changing to PDFs as journalists prefer to read and write on a computer screen rather than receive a release on paper.

As the first impression really counts, it’s important to make your press release stand out by providing content that’s easy to digest and visually appealing. It should be formatted properly with clear fonts and information such as who you’re targeting, what the release is about, and what important content it provides.

Other forms of PR writing include emails and social media posts, but keep in mind the key difference that emails and social media posts are less formal than a press release.

Emails are a safe choice for PR writing. Because of the simple plain text format, the content can be shared easily with no issue and still stand out from other emails reporters receive on the same day because of its style.

Good PR examples

Public relations efforts vary from the over-the-top antics of celebrity spokespeople to the more subtle but effective way of getting your message across by turning down the volume. PR is everywhere, and it can be used effectively in many different situations.

1) In one campaign, Uber committed to providing 10 million free rides and food deliveries in the coming year. It also released thank-you cards for passengers who made use of its services. The company takes PR very seriously because it is one of many different types of media that can be used as an effective communication tool.

2) The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty was an advertising campaign launched by the multinational consumer products company Unilever.

The marketing campaign’s purpose was to promote the idea of “real beauty” as opposed to a perception of unattainable beauty.

PRWeek named it their 2006 Consumer Launch Campaign of the Year.

3) Red Bull had a successful campaign in 2012. It was watched live by 8.3 million people on YouTube on October 14th, 2013, when Felix Baumgartner broke the sound barrier in freefall from a height of 128,100 feet (39 km) above ground level to raise awareness of their brand via extreme sports and skydiving. This was a very popular campaign that I remember as well.

Bad PR examples

When it comes to PR, failures are much more memorable than successes. In fact, the first few headlines following a PR success can be largely forgotten in comparison to one that fails. This is because attention-grabbing stunts and conversation starters are more likely to go viral on social media than cautious and well-thought-out content marketing campaigns.

For your company or organization to succeed in public relations writing, you must consider the different types of PR that exist today: press releases, blogs posts, and social media.

This is because each type of PR requires a different approach to achieve success.

1) The bulletproof truck reveal was a little frivolous, and it became a difficult-to-manage PR stunt for Tesla. The company’s reputation wasn’t damaged much, even though the reveal didn’t go according to plan. It serves as a great example of the importance of testing out your product multiple times before claiming anything publicly. You can experiment and see how well people react and what they think to fine-tune your idea or marketing campaign.

2) Burger King launched a vegan burger for Veganuary, and they received criticism for cooking the patties next to meat. The launch sparked a minor backlash.

To expand its business, Burger King has been launching new products for vegans. The soy-based burger included genetically modified crops and was not fully accepted by the audience, receiving mixed reviews on social media.

PR tactics

Public relations tactics have changed over time, becoming more sophisticated and diverse. PR professionals manage your brand’s public presence, whether through business events or community relations. They also write press releases and handle crisis communications to ensure quality in their writing before publishing.

PR has many different goals and requires a wide range of skills to be effective. Companies need to explore the basics like marketing strategy, public relations, and advertising before creating their own PR campaigns.

What does PR mean in writing?

Public relations is a set of techniques and strategies to manage information dissemination. Public relations has three primary goals: disseminate news, maintain brand image, and put a positive spin on negative events. PR can be in the form of writing or video production, but it primarily consists of communication directly from the company in an attempt to portray a positive image.

Moreover, PR can take the form of a company press release, interviews with journalists, or other venues. Every individual or entity operating in the public eye faces the spread of information about them. Public relations can happen through many venues, depending on what is being done and what the impact is, either for good or bad reasons.

What writing style does PR use?

Public relations writing adopts a variety of styles. These can range from straight-laced to artsy to even showing a disregard for rules. The editor who controls the gateways of information flow may not appreciate this, however, as it undermines their authority. Their audience might be suspicious if they disregard conventions of style or substance.

What is a very important function of PR?

Public relations is a marketing and communications field that encompasses all of a company’s relationships with its external stakeholders, including consumers, competitors, and business partners.

The forward-thinking function responsible for identifying problems is known as issues management. Issues management includes functions such as researching companies’ needs and public perception, uncovering growth opportunities, and conducting negotiations with stakeholders to meet their demands.

PR can be used to manage crises to create positive outcomes by promoting solutions or highlighting risks instead of focusing on the problem itself.

The core of public relations is the idea that companies are more than their product and services. To manage this, a company must take care of its image to stay competitive in the market.

PR professionals need to have knowledge in research, environmental monitoring, the organization’s industry, and their business model, as well as management strategy so they can effectively deliver impactful news stories. They seek to promote brand awareness or change perceptions about certain topics by using traditional media outlets like newspapers or television shows.

Public relations is a communication process between organizations and the public. This can be achieved through advertising, news coverage, or social media sharing. PR agencies help their clients with these processes by assisting them in areas of expertise such as marketing communications and crisis management.

This can be a sub-function within an organization that reports to different departments, or it could have a narrower purpose. For example, efforts might focus on recruitment or product development rather than external publicity.

Conclusion

PR is a great tool to publicly communicate with business partners and users. It will save you during a crisis and will help you build a bond between your company and other stakeholders.