The 4 New Faces of PR

In September last year I drew up the PR 2010 framework. I want to add to that discussion now, because I see four distinct levels of PR emerging.

The 4 New Faces of PR

Public Relations – what we already have. A high-level overview that sees a range of connections, media, press and channels. Pretty much broadcast – pushing the message out to those who will push it out further.

Public Relationships – the mass delivery of relationships rather than relations. Using Social Media to broadcast social content that the public will actually engage with: videos, blogs, Facebook content, showcasing opinion leaders. This builds social authority.

Personal Relations – drilling down to connect into communities and smaller clusters. Schools, workplaces, local demographics, social groupings. Targeted, not mass.

Personal Relationship – through community management, maintaining personal relationships with individuals. This has to be genuinely social. Listening, responding, initiating. At this grass roots level, listening is an invaluable way to gauge how the public are actually perceiving you.

The main point: mix your PR strategy to be wide as well as deep. Don’t just perform ‘public relations’ – also work your way down into ‘personal relationship.’ The new social mindset of consumers means the general public will respond favourably to this.