Public relations is responsible for the well-being of a relationship between an organization or business and the public. It needs to be noted that the general public is, in most cases, the most important aspect of a business’s success as these are the people who buy the products or make use of the services that a business sells. The logic is thus that the better a business’s relationship with the public is the more the public will make use of the business’s goods and services.
The key function of a business’s public relations department will thus be to ensure that good relationship with the public is maintained. The first function of a public relations department will be to initiate a relationship by making the business visible in order for people to know that the business exists and what goods and services the business offers. This can be done by ensuring an article about the new business appears in the local newspaper or maybe by appearing on a local radio station whereby the various dimensions of the business can be discussed and made known to possible clients.
Once visibility has been established the public relations department can go about strengthening the relationship between the organization and the public. This can be done by the organization involving itself in community projects such as sponsoring the local netball team, helping to restore the old age home or buying books for the local library. The idea behind this is that the business becomes a well liked and integral part of the community to such an extent that the client base will only consider making of that particular business’ goods and services. In this manner, due to good public relations, the threat of competition is minimized.
Good public relations can also minimize the need for advertising which is often seen as costly. As a result of good public relations people will come to know and trust a business and will then tell their friends about the services offered. This in known as word-of-mouth advertising, one of the most trusted forms of advertising.
