MANAGEMENT SKILLS - Examples of Public Relations Campaigns

by Kate McFarlin, Demand Media

Many types of public relations campaigns can be used by small businesses. Whether you decide to hire a consultant or a firm or you have your own in-house public relations team, understanding how the different campaigns work will help you create an effective public relations strategy for your company.

Print Campaigns

Print public relations campaigns typically are comprised of a process in which a public relations representative sends out press releases to various media outlets. These releases promote a company change, a new product or a new service. Members of the media may then use the release to write a story, or they may contact the company for a more in-depth interview. High quality PR agents will have a list of media contacts that can be relied upon to publicize the story. New agents may not have built up their personal contacts in the media yet and may not have as much luck placing stories.

Radio and Television Campaigns

Radio and television campaigns are similar in essence to print campaigns. Releases and notifications are sent out to programs that are related to what is being promoted. Radio hosts are typically in need of guests and will be open to scheduling a speaker for an interview, particularly if they are an established expert or have an excellent track record in business. National television interviews are more difficult to land, but local media may be interested in doing an interview.

Online Campaigns

Online public relations campaigns are becoming increasingly popular and work in a variety of different ways. The first is very passive. A release is written and optimized with keywords that are related to the product or business. This release is then posted on a variety of different websites that are, in turn, crawled by search engines. The company's release is then pulled up when users look for those keywords. Social media and podcast campaigns are also becoming more common in this arena. PR agents seek out podcasters in a related field and try to schedule phone interviews for their clients.

Reputation Management Campaigns

Reputation management campaigns are common, but are never publicized well -- a direct dichotomy in public relations. These campaigns are used to shape or reshape public opinion and operate behind the scenes. They may rely on posting positive comments on sites where a company has been maligned, or they may be more aggressive and actually attack another company that has publicly maligned them.