Every organisation does public relations – whether they admit it, manage it themselves, or pay someone else to handle it.
Plenty of companies get a bit shy about the actual term “Public Relations.” You’ll see big outfits calling it Corporate Communications, Public Affairs, or some other fancy title instead. But Corporate Communications isn’t some grand, all-encompassing upgrade. It’s just one slice of the bigger public relations pie.
The truth is, everything an organisation does contributes to how people see it. The way the receptionist answers the phone, how complaints are handled, the way it manages a crisis. All of it adds up, or chips away, at reputation.
We’ve always described public relations as the job of managing goodwill like the valuable asset it actually is.
Organisations that ignore their public relations don’t just miss opportunities – they quietly waste the goodwill they’ve already built, often without even realising it.
Another way we like to put it is that public relations is basically “applied common sense.” A lot of what we do for clients is just helping them do the obvious things properly.
The good news is that every organisation, no matter how small, can run a decent public relations program. And it doesn’t always need a big budget, just some basic, common-sense steps.
Here’s what that looks like:
- Document how you want to be seen. Write it down. Spell out exactly how you want people to perceive you and what your real strengths are. Until you define yourself, you leave it up to everyone else to decide.
- Tell your people. Make sure every staff member knows how the organisation wants to be seen and what its key strengths actually are. If your own team can’t explain it clearly, don’t expect outsiders to get it.
- Identify your key messages. Boil it down to four or five clear points. For example, we don’t call ourselves a “leading public relations company.” We say we’re “financial services communications and public relations specialists.” That tells people exactly who we’re for and what we’re good at.
- Define your publics. Know who actually matters to your success. Who are the groups that can help or hurt you? What do you need to say to them?
- Be consistent. Nothing kills a reputation faster than mixed messages. If you keep changing who you claim to be depending on the audience, you just end up confusing everyone –including yourself.
Growing businesses are especially guilty of this. They twist and reshape their positioning every time they chase a new piece of work, trying to look like whatever they think the prospect wants. Sure, consistency might mean you miss out on some jobs. But it also means you’re far more likely to deliver brilliantly on the ones you do win – and keep the client happy.
- Be proactive. Don’t just react. Put some structure around it. What networking actually makes sense for you? Are regular client functions worth doing? Would a simple newsletter or update program add value?
Asking these questions keeps you focused on activities that actually work instead of burning time and money on stuff that feels productive but delivers nothing.
Do these six things properly and you stop leaving your reputation to chance. You take control of it.
