How does a PR consultant work?
Public Relations
Posted 08 Nov 2022
Communication is a common phenomenon within our everyday lives, and after all, anyone can communicate, a cliché that often arises in the professional field of public relations. However, it must first be understood that communication is constantly evolving, and public relations is subject to constant change. In particular, the reality of business, society and politics sets the pace, and its communicators evolve with it according to practical necessity. At its core, public relations (PR) are the shaping of relations between companies and the public. Nevertheless, there is no general definition for public relations because the understanding of public relations changes continuously with the development of the media industry and thus represents a broad professional field with diversity.
The easiest way to describe the profession of a PR consultant is to view him or her as a link between the company and the public. Acting as a representative of interests, who creates a positive public image of his client, is central and of great significance. The focus lies on a mutual exchange of information and the promotion of a dialog.
The range of tasks of a PR consultant includes different focal points: Press and public relations, social media as well as online communication. Cooperations with the media as well as the design and planning of events take up a large part of the field of activity. The development of PR strategies and communication concepts are at the top of the list. These are intended to increase the awareness and credibility of the company. The PR consultant thus has full responsibility for a good reputation of the company. This can be successfully finalized through professional research, editing and creation of press releases as well as through a functioning relationship management with relevant groups of people, for example through investor relations or blogger or influencer relations. Structured planning and development of campaigns must also take place. With the help of public relations, the consultant would like to enable the company or the product to achieve broad approval and high liking ratings in the public.
PR consultants are often found in agencies and companies in the marketing department, in their own PR department or within corporate communications.
To be successful in the PR industry, full commitment is required. To outsiders, all the stress and hard work may not be visible; often all you see is a successful press conference, a smoothly running event or a trade show with high audience participation. However, the research, the constant preparation and follow-up of texts, crisis management, meetings and side projects that need to be coordinated pass them by.
In summary, the profession of a PR consultant is certainly a job that makes high demands on creativity and is characterized by variety. The consultant should have good time management and organizational skills. The professional field within PR allows an enormous reach, which must be used properly and represents the fastest way to play messages to individual target groups.
Do you like the job? – Then send us your application to Vibes@hbi.de!
Communication Advisor at HBI Helga Bailey GmbH – International PR & MarCom
Elena Sauter has been supporting HBI in the areas of PR and marketing since 2022.
As a Communication Advisor, her responsibilities include the creation of professional articles & the conceptualization of social media postings. Furthermore, Elena is involved in directly assisting our client work.
