How Public Relations Works: 8 Types of PR Jobs

Public relations is the art of disseminating public information on behalf of a client. Corporations, nonprofits, government agencies, and individual citizens enlist public relations agencies (PR agencies) to conduct outreach and shape public opinion.

PR professionals often serve as a company or agency's spokesperson to the general public. In some cases, PR professionals work full-time for the entity they represent. In other cases, they come from PR firms that craft public relations campaigns on a contractual basis. Organizations like the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and the Chartered Institute of Public Relations represent consortiums of public relations managers and publish codes of ethics for PR firms.

Skilled PR professionals craft beneficial relationships between the organizations they represent and the audiences they aim to serve. Public relations strategies can be used for:

1. 1. Earned media: Some PR campaigns target newsrooms in an effort to get coverage of an organization, which can effectively function as free advertising.
2. 2. Fundraising: Startups may use PR campaigns to recruit new stakeholders and venture capital.
3. 3. Reputation management: Businesses and government agencies may wish to highlight their social responsibility and environmental policies as a way to win favor with the general public. PR professionals help facilitate those messages.
4. 4. General marketing: Many PR campaigns exist primarily as marketing communications to find new customers and build brand awareness.

Many PR firms and individual PR professionals have areas of specialty within the larger world of public relations.

1. 1. Media relations: Public relations managers who specialize in media coverage often send press releases to newsrooms with the goal of getting coverage in newspapers, magazines, and television programming. Well-crafted news releases can lead to free marketing for a new product or increased awareness for a small business.
2. 2. Digital media specialists: Some public relations professionals focus on digital content marketing. They often build relationships with online influencers to promote their clients' brands or causes to a target audience. Digital marketing professionals often monitor trending subjects and help clients develop multimedia campaigns to tap into those trends.
3. 3. Government relations: Government relations professionals craft PR campaigns aimed at influencing politicians and regulatory agencies. PR strategies in this arena include press conferences and special events highlighting businesses and nonprofit organizations that may be seeking government funding or regulatory approval.
4. 4. Corporate communications: Some public relations managers work exclusively with private corporations, as opposed to governments or nonprofits. Their goal is often to influence the general public and cultivate a positive image for the corporation.
5. 5. Crisis communications: This specialized form of public relations helps companies with crisis management. For example, an energy company might face a crisis due to an oil spill, or a nonprofit might face a public image crisis if its donations are mismanaged. Crisis communications specialists work on mitigating these problems and preserving an organization’s reputation in the aftermath.
6. 6. Internal communications: Some public relations work is done within organizations. Internal communications specialists focus on communicating company-wide updates with internal employees and stakeholders. These communications can involve new policies, rules enforcement, notice of mergers, and notice of layoffs.
7. 7. Community relations: Some public relations practitioners focus on public perception within local communities. They help craft messaging that resonates with local stakeholders such as neighborhood associations, trade unions, religious leaders, and small business owners.
8. 8. Financial public relations: Often based in financial hubs like New York, these PR practitioners specialize in the realm of banking, markets, and corporate finance. Their intricate knowledge of finance lets them articulate messages that general PR professionals might not be able to.

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