5 Of The Most Common PR Myths Busted

Despite public relations gaining a lot of interest during the pandemic, especially with brands looking for alternative, cost-effective ways of communicating with their customers, it’s still a misunderstood field.

Whenever I tell people I work in public relations, I constantly get asked the question “what exactly do you do?”

If I was a pilot or a lawyer, everybody would know my job function. So, why is the public relations industry doing such a terrible job of public relations?

Since there are so many misconceptions about this industry, let’s debunk a few of them right here and right now. Here are the 5 most common PR myths busted:

1. Anyone can do PR or Public Relations is easy

I hear this one most often and it’s truly the most baffling. No, not everyone can do PR, just like not everyone can be a lawyer, or a teacher, or an artist. I think people decide to take on PR themselves thinking they’ll save time and money, but they often end up biting off more than they can chew and the decision ends up costing them more of both. PR is a full-time job. Trust me. Public relations professionals do more than just write press releases or manage social media accounts, but with that said, have you ever tried to draft a press release? It’s not as easy as we make it look.

Public relations is about creating an identity for your brand and communicating that to the media, stakeholders, and target audiences, as well as creating key messages and strategies to keep your brand, product or service top of mind.

It’s not something you can set aside a few minutes each day for. It demands a strategy, consistency, knowledge of the media landscape and current events, as well as strong relationships. It’s the job of PR professionals to help brands build their presence, generate excitement and yes, it can ultimately drive sales “organically” if done right.

2. PR = Marketing = Advertising

This myth goes hand-in-hand with the general lack of understanding of what PR is. Although these three professional spheres are often used interchangeably, they are each very different.

Marketing is an umbrella term that refers to the activities of a company associated with buying, advertising, distributing, or selling a product or service.

Advertising is a marketing tactic involving paying for space to promote a product, service, or cause.

By definition “Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.”

Still confused with that answer? Me too, so let me simply it. Public relations is responsible for promoting a company, product, service, or person through earned publicity and maintaining a company’s positive public image. We do this by telling your story to the world – a story that we have carefully crafted, pitched, and placed. As people continue to receive information differently, public relations has evolved to accommodate and now includes create visibility for the brand’s people and products we work with across multiple touch points and platforms, including digital content and social media. But the end goal of reaching consumers wherever they are hasn’t changed!

While there is a cross-over between the spheres and they often rely on each other to achieve campaign success, all have their responsibilities and add value when aligned and working together under the same strategy.

3. PR is just press releases

I think part of the reason people think they can do their PR is that they think PR is just writing and sending out press releases, which will immediately generate coverage. This is most definitely not the case. PR has evolved so much over the years and is so much more than news releases. That is just a small component of media relations, and and an even smaller part of everything we/I do every day. Depending on the scope of work and the right strategy our work can include any of the following activities to generate visibility for you and secure results: event planning and visibility for your event, social media management, content development, editorial and strategic partnerships, influencer relations, crisis communications, media training, and everything in between, including but not limited to media relations and release development.

4. You only need PR in times of crises

If you are turning to PR for the first time during a crisis you might be too late. PR can help you avoid issues before they start by creating a roadmap of what to do when a crisis hits. A PR agency can help you proactively understand where issues may arise and when they do, how to handle them. The last thing you want to do is stay silent during times of crisis and let someone else fill in the blanks for you. This also goes to communicating internally.

Public relations is there to build your brand, plan for potential emergencies and handle any crisis as smoothly as possible, when it happens. Part of building your brand is building your image and reputation. Establishing your reputation and image takes time and is not something that can be done overnight. If you have a team ensuring you receive steady PR coverage that works to build a positive reputation for your company, and it’ll be easier to diffuse a crisis and handle any negative press later down the line.

Remember, communications shouldn’t start or stop when you are in crisis mode. Keep the lines of communications open and use all opportunities, positive or negative to learn, grow and share your story with customers. The last thing a brand wants to do is lose all the momentum they’ve earned by mishandling a crisis, so having a crisis plan ready can avoid that.

5. PR is glamorous (or nefarious)

Sex and the City’s Samantha Jones. Scandal’s Olivia Pope. These are just two of the most famous fictional depictions of public relations professionals on television. And they make our jobs look glamourous.

Samantha is constantly attending parties or entertaining the press.

Olivia is always rubbing shoulders with the fabulously famous and wealthy, using these endless connections to solve any problems thrown her way. Sadly, this is not the life of a real PR professional.

Although PR has its glamorous moments it also has a lot of the opposite. Some depictions of PR pros in TV and film go as far as showing us blatantly ignoring the law to get coverage, some even as far as murder to solve a problem and save their client’s reputation. While we are known to be persistent, we are far from ruthless. Often our jobs involve us working long hours including lots of thoughtful planning and pitching - far from the drama you see on TV.