The Importance of Public Relations

While public relations is all around us, the effect it has on wants, beliefs, motivations and attitudes often goes unnoticed. PR is not only influencer partnerships or crisis management, but rather the driving force of creating strong relationships between brands and consumers. Like the name states, the most crucial aspect of the field is the relationships formed, and PR professionals must build strong bonds, both internal and external, to be successful. PR practitioners need to understand the purpose and goals of a company while simultaneously listening to the needs of the target audience. 

Public relations is even present in our personal life. Most of us use social media to post content that depicts a version of ourselves that we think our audience, whether friends or strangers, will engage with. The selectiveness of what we choose to post and not post is public relations. 

The benefits of good public relations have both personal and professional impacts. Businesses that utilize good PR skills reap the benefits through increased engagement, and Duolingo’s TikTok account exemplifies this. By using a mascot of its owl logo to create comedic content and following trends, Duolingo’s account has amassed over 2 million followers, and over 5 million likes in some of its most popular videos. Not only does the team post content, but they also engage with their audience by responding to thousands of comments with humorous remarks, as if the owl himself is typing. By following the most popular trends on TikTok and using modern-day internet slang in its comments, Duolingo appeals to young consumers and students who are trying to learn other languages. Instead of being strictly educational and traditionally corporate, Duolingo’s TikTok shows that learning new languages can be fun and improve the brand’s identity and likeability overall.  

While dressing as a big green owl might not land you your dream role, public relations has very practical applications when it comes to hunting for a job or internship. Overall, corporations need to take after Duolingo and use PR skills to attract new employees to the company. No candidates would want to apply for positions at companies that do not have a good reputation for external relations. As a job seeker, companies will be more inclined to hire employees who can communicate well and have an outstanding online reputation. According to an article by themuse, 92% of companies are using social media when looking to hire candidates. This illustrates that creating a personal brand for oneself and practicing smart public relations is crucial in job hunting.

Public relations is not just useful for those in the profession. Good PR is essential for companies and individuals to succeed when pursuing relationships with others. Keeping true to one’s values, beliefs and images while considering an audience’s needs is essential.