Essay Sample on Public Relations Role in a Firm

Introduction

The public relations teams play a critical role in raising the profile of organizations globally for they assist in advertising a company and making it known in the market. The issue is one of the measures that ensure that an organization is performing optimally and it leads to an improvement in the sales level. Additionally, they assist in managing any crisis that may hit a business making sure that its image is not tainted for this can have adverse effects that can be irreparable (Leggetter & Rockland, 2015). If the public relations team fails in its mandate to protect a company, there is a possibility that it will collapse which is not the objective of starting an entity. The PR team is crucial, and it plays a significant role in the achievement of the set goals and objectives.

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The success of any firm and its growth is tied to the various activities that it has been doing over the years like the way that it started its operations and the way that the services that are being offered are assisting the customers in the market. The growth is further supported by activities like the way that the products being sold by the organization fit the latest trends in the market. There is no better way to let the clients in the market access this information than through the social media engagement and the media coverage activities that are run by the PR team (Lake, 2018). However, there is a need for the public relations teams to ensure that they are working in excess of Advertising Value Equivalents (AVE). The PR teams need to have a minimum measurement standard that will enable them to understand when they are offering quality services that are having a positive effect on the organization (Reicherter). This will call for the need to introduce new models that are working with the latest trends in the market that will manage to measure the outcomes of the PR team. The work of such a group is not tangible, and it does not have physical results meaning that it is difficult to access and measure the outcomes of the work that is being done by the team (Russell & Sinha, 2016). However, in the long run, the results may be portrayed through increased sales volume, but the gist of the issue is that the advertising equivalencies and media impressions are not enough services by the PR team; they need to offer more.

The public relations team personalizes the brand of an organization, and it presents the consumers with something to relate with when they are buying goods in the market. They pass the message on what the firm stands for and policies and products that define its activities (Jain, 2014). The customers get to fully understand the position of an organization regarding the services and quality of commodities it is offering. The profile of an organization is only known by the relevant stakeholders like the employees, employers, and shareholders who are interested in the affairs of the business (Bilinski et al., 2017). It is the responsibility of the PR team to ensure that the rest of the market gets to learn about the firm and the commodities it is selling. In this case, it can be noted that expertise, credibility, and knowledge of the team are essential in driving this issue forward. The groups can rely on tools like the medial blogs, social media interactions and seeking engagements. However, all these activities do not always give positive results, and there is a need for the PR team to go beyond advertising the company and ensure that they are determining the real impact on their activities (Patel & Reinsch, 2003). They need to rely on tools like the return on investment that wish to show the changes in the earnings made by the firm over a given period. It will be apparent to understand the improvements that have been happening in the business over time. They need to employ the cost-benefit ratio, a measure that help to determine if the expenses incurred by the organization are giving favorable returns (Dietrich, 2017). It will be possible to find if it is worthwhile to continue offering the services of the PR team or if a firm is incurring expenses that are not providing positive returns. It is critical to employ the Cost Effectiveness Analysis (CEA), a tool that is useful in running the alternatives to a given process that has been adopted by a business. In this case, the PR team should introduce different strategies and select the ones that are earning the firm better returns (Boujaoude et al., 2018). The process will enable an entity to prioritize resource allocation through the identification of projects that can have the highest yield levels. The fact that it is difficult to monetize the outcomes of the PR team, the CEA strategy tends to work well and offer the desired procedures to measure their performance. The public relations policies and processes should be connected with the communication performance management and control processes, as well as, the outcomes realized.

Bilinski, A., Neumann, P., Cohen, J., Thorat, T., McDaniel, K., & Salomon, J. A. (2017). When cost-effective interventions are unaffordable: Integrating cost-effectiveness and budget impact in priority setting for global health programs. PLoS medicine, 14(10), e1002397.

Boujaoude, M. A., Mirelman, A. J., Dalziel, K., & Carvalho, N. (2018). Accounting for equity considerations in cost-effectiveness analysis: a systematic review of rotavirus vaccine in low-and middle-income countries. Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation, 16(1), 18.

Dietrich, G. (2017). Beyond Media Impressions: Measuring real PR impact. International Association of Business Communicators. Retrieved from http://cw.iabc.com/2017/12/05/beyond-media-impressions-real-pr-impact

Jain, A. (2014). Emerging models of PR measurement. Retrieved from https://www.prweek.com/article/1303749/emerging-models-pr-measurement

Lake, L. (2018). Public Relations: Explore the Benefits. The Balance Small Business. Retrieved from https://www.thebalancesmb.com/public-relations-explore-the-benefits-2295945

Leggetter, B &Rockland, D. (2015). Barcelona Principles 2.0.

Patel,A &Reinsch, L.(2003). Companies Can Apologize: Corporate Apologies and Legal Liability. Business Communication Quarterly, Volume 66, Number 1, pages 9-25

Reicherter, B. Measurement Approach. Finn Partners.

Russell, L. B., & Sinha, A. (2016). Strengthening cost-effectiveness analysis for public health policy. American journal of preventive medicine, 50(5), S6-S12.