How active publics contribute to the effectiveness of a PR professional’s role
The study of public relations is an interesting journey. I see this profession as a calling because you are not born for it, it is difficult to act as such despite the number of years you would spend studying it. All the people who act very well in this profession are people who have credibility and reputation. Look at the founding fathers of public relations; the likes of Ivy Lee and the others, the mention of their names alone comes with the impact they have made in history. Yes, you need to be trained but it takes an innate character to help you grab the act of relating with the public appropriately.
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| How active publics contribute to the effectiveness of a PR professional’s role by quikcounsel.com |
This is why there are some PR professionals in some organizations that are
easily bored by the public’s reactions and rebellion at times. Such people
have been educated to take the profession, they qualify but they were not born
for that. In the space of the public, there are four categories and each one
of them has a role to play indirectly which affects the roles of a PR either
negatively or positively. In this article, I will discuss the active public with you and how this public category contributes to the effectiveness of a PR
professional’s role.
Without
the public, there is nothing like public relations and there wouldn’t be the
need to create a role as a public relations officer in an organization. The
public is a diverse people who have different interests, priorities, behaviors, and attitudes. You cannot predict the reactions of the public as a PR
professional and that is why scholars came up with different groups of the public to aid PR professionals know the kind of people they are dealing with
and how they should act to fulfill their organizational goals. As a
representative of an organization, you have a role to play and the public
representing the organization’s audience also has a role to play. So, you
see, the task is done hand in hand that is why I tend to question some PR professionals
who have no regard for the public.
Active
public as their name implies are the ones who have a good relationship with an
organization, are aware of whatever transpires within the organization if only it
is publicly disclosed, take part in offering opinions, and do anything
active that an active group would do. They see themselves as the best audience
for the organization and so just like a best friend, he or she knows whatever
goes on in your life and is willing to offer solutions to your problems and when
there is the need for critiquing too, it shall be done by this best friend.
That is what active publics do in their relationship with organizations. When
you look at some of the social media pages of some organizations, you would see
that anytime they open the floor for grievances, opinions, and other concerns, some people always are active in providing feedback to the organization.
These people, when you identify as a PR professional, hold them tight.
Below are some of the ways the active publics contribute to the effectiveness
of every PR professional’s roles.
The first
contribution is feedback. This is very important for organizations especially
those that offer services and are into product manufacturing. You need
feedback to improve your services and products or know if you are on the right
track. Some businesses and organizations have collapsed because they couldn’t get
access to the public’s critiques of their products and services. It is not
everyone has the time and energy to ask you to improve your products or
services quality. It takes the active public to provide you with the feedback you need to better your organization. They are not paid for this, they are just
concerned with the well-being of the organization. Aren’t they amazing publics?
In as much
as they do the good things for you, they also keep you on your toes or serve as
a watchdog for your organization. One thing about this public is they are not
biased. When it is necessary to offer solutions, they would and when it is
necessary to check on you, they would have to. The active publics make sure
your organization is always on the right path of delivering its services.
Similar to feedback but totally different, it takes a PR professional who knows
what this type of public is capable of doing to realize where they are heading
towards to when contributing as a check on the organization. An example is when
an organization uses footage that is not permitted for their advertising
visuals; when an active public sees this, especially on social media, such a person would right away condemn the actions of the organization and like I said,
it takes a professional PR to realize what such person is aiming to do to understand their reaction.
Finally, I
will talk about the active public serving as an earned media to the
organization. Earned media is basically being recommended to other people
without you advertising to them. You earn it without paying anything and that
is a contribution from the active public. Since they are more concerned with everything
that goes on in the organization, they do not hesitate to recommend the good
sides of your organization to other people. Indirectly, they can fetch you more
customers at no cost just because they are satisfied with whatever they are recommending
to others.
Having an
active public in your role as a PR for an organization is a smart way
ahead. Sometimes, we do things we are not aware are wrong in the eyes of the public and it takes the active public to play that role even though they are not
really part of the organization. Build an active public and make your work
simple but don’t run from them when they are criticizing as well because they
would definitely do when they spot any wrong thing.
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