Public Relations Roles in Improving Company's Image Among Stakeholders
Posted on Aug 20, 2021 at 03:08 PM
A company's reputation is critical. Every company has many relationships, and they must be positive for the benefit of the company. Hence, there is a great need to protect this reputation by providing the correct Information to the public.
Public Relations are the various activities that the company undertakes to promote and protect its image, products, and policies with stakeholders. Stakeholders are the interested parties with the company, such as customers, suppliers, shareholders, and employees.
Public Relations advises the management to adopt rules that improve the company's image publically, focusing on people to think positively about it and what it offers to achieve the purpose because public relations set the company's goals.
Public relations objectives
The objectives of public relations clarify the results required to achieve the organization's goals, and these goals are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timed (SMART). The following are some of these objectives:
Awareness-building
Public Relations help to continuously create awareness about the company, its objectives, products, and services through the media and events, to remind the public of it, maintain interest, trust in existing products, to attract the attention of customers, to raise awareness when introducing new products, or to make adjustments to current products.
Building interest
Public Relations aims to manage people's opinion of the organization to make it acceptable to the public and employees in particular. It also aims to draw customers' attention to the company's offerings and build attention to try the company's products.
Providing Information
Public relations provide correct Information about several things related to the organization, such as new legislation and the way a particular product is used at a time when there is a concealment of Information. This strengthens the credibility of the company and increases build trust.
When public relations use advertising efforts, this will reduce the costs of promoting, giving journalists the Information about the company's issues, products, or services to get radio, print, and press conference coverage.
It may organize tours for a group of stakeholders to the factory facilities, helps employees develop, disseminate Information to customers on the media starting from articles, magazines, websites, etc., to help stakeholders understand the product, provide information on a new product, or modifying current products, and eliminate misconceptions, prejudices that they have.
Activate the order
Studies have shown that customers usually make a decision of purchasing based on the company's reputation. Sometimes, talking positively about products in an article, on TV, or online will increase the sales, and help the company to sell their products quickly, so this reputation is a part of advertising to promote current and new products.
Strengthening the brand
Public relations aim to build and maintain its reputation among stakeholders, strengthen relationships with them, and provide a good image by focusing on corporate social responsibility. It aims to achieve media fame and provides a positive impression of its products that it is reliable. It promotes the brand and improves its reputation through charitable acts, newspapers, and speeches at various events.
Public relations parties
Public relations develop relationships with many parties appropriately in normal and hard times, including:
Relationships with the community
There is a large part of the community that is not clients of the company, but they are potential ones, and this requires building a respectable image of the company in the long term, potential customers, draw attention to the corporate social responsibility. So, there is respect for the rights of different parties, eliminate monopoly, and inform the public of the company's contribution in the development of industry, the economy of the country, such as the promotion of self-sufficiency, export, replacement of imports.
It also informs the public about the company that it offers compensation, facilities, rewards, luxury, etc., to its employees. It develops relations between them to be more harmonious, and finally, it conducts programs for charitable acts in the community.
Relationships with employees
Human resources are the most critical assets of the company, and public relations work to satisfy employees and improve the company's reputation. This makes them more productive, and have a greater desire to achieve the benefit of the company, through its efforts to improve the working environment, taking care of education facilities, health, welfare, training, employee awareness, and providing Information in various matters such as health, safety, family planning, appreciation of exceptional achievements, and development of communication within the company such as communication with higher management levels, using communication tools such as magazines, company newspapers, bulletin boards, company presentations, identification of grievance procedures, and employment policies.
Customer Relations
The company's relationship with clients influences the behavior, attitude of customers, and the company's image. Public relations recognize how customers think to influence them by conducting reconnaissance and searching for Information—this help the company modify products to conform with customers' expectations.
Customers should be informed about the availability and quality of products to overcome their fears that the company will offer inferior products, especially in the lack of supply. They should also be informed of introducing new products, modifying current products, and differentiating their products from those of competitors.
Financial relations
The company has financial relationships with individuals and other companies such as shareholders, creditors, financial analysts, and investors. It is vital to improve the company's image to increase the value of the shares. There should be programs of financial relations such as expansion plans, capital raising plans, annual financial reports, and meetings with the company's shareholders
A tour inside the company, continuous communication, and e-mail can generate interest in the financial community and the emergence of potential investors and financial analysts.
Government relations
The company operates under government policies and rules. It has to form appropriate relationships with various parties and government offices to facilitate the company's work and dealings with government rules and laws.
Communication during crisis
Responsibility during a crisis such as bankruptcy, natural accidents, financial fraud, and the emergence of product defects lies on public relations in delivering accurate, correct Information to the public interested in the company during the crisis period to reduce risk, and to take the proper measures to control the crisis.
Experts recommend a proactive plan to deal with potential risks.
Conclusion
One of the objectives of public relations is to strengthen the brand, activate demand, provide Information, build interest, build awareness of the product. To achieve these objectives, public relations constantly develop and strengthen their relationships with stakeholders such as customers, employees, society, and those interested in the company's finances. In the time of crisis, it communicates with them, and provides Information appropriately.
Public relations provide recommendations for the company's policy, and decisions to manage it, especially those related to communication, building relationships, to improve the company's image among stakeholders.
To learn more about Public Relations, check our Public Relations Training courses in London page.
