By Mohamed Daramy
Public Relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics. At its core, public relations is about influencing, engaging and building a relationship with the stakeholders to contribute to the way an organization is perceived. Public relations really makes the difference between an organization success and failure by influencing its reputation and relationships with the public. As you might expect, in Sierra Leone, public relations is a popular but complex and wide spread field that is unfortunately often misperceived and misunderstood as well.
The importance of public relations in organizational growth is premised on a broad range of factors. To start with, public relations boosts brand visibility/awareness. For an organization to be liked by consumers and also to be trusted by consumers, that organization must achieve a public relations objective for itself. Public relations professionals’ effort get your brand in front of a wider audience in the media and online platforms. You can’t PR an organization or company as a public relations person if you are unable to PR yourself or make yourself visible. The public relations professionals should position themselves in a light that they can be accepted and be trusted. A strong brand presence in the public realm boosts a brand’s visibility and brand awareness, creating its desired image in the eyes of the audience.
Additionally, Public Relations increases brand credibility. Whatever the organization, trust plays a monumental role when it comes to determining the success of an organization. Without trust, a business leaves potential sales on the table. To bridge that gap between a business and it would be clients or customers, the business can hire someone in the public relations. When an organization is well known by its mandate but lacks the trust of its potential clients or customers, is called cheap popularity. Credibility has different interpretations in public relations. Where an organization says this is what happens, but it’s not what really happens, it will question its credibility. If an organization claims quality, but consumers or clients don’t see reality will also hamper its credibility. Credibility is important in any organization growth because that’s what brings about most PR engagement in Sierra Leone and not so much visibility. The public relations professionals work on increasing credibility within their given organization and increasing their overall reputation.
Moreover, public relations increases profits, sales and leads. Integrating PR with marketing strategies is essential for organization aiming to elevate their market presence and solidify their brand. PR professionals play a pivotal role in this dynamic. They harness their expertise to craft and disseminate messages that resonate with their target audience, ensuring that the organization’s narrative is both persuasive and relatable. In a symbiotic sort of relationship, the PR professionals strategically positioned the organization’s stories in the media by using various PR tools and channels, these amplify the organization’s voice in a crowded market place of information. The integration of PR and Marketing is about creating a coherent and attractive brand image that speaks directly to consumers’ needs and preferences. In the digital age, there’s a concept of privacy in individualism which communication ethics is promoting. This digital revolution has expanded the coverage available to PR professional, enabling them to use social media, influence partnerships, and content marketing to reach a wider audience more effectively.
Furthermore, public relations also enhances online presence. We are now in the digital world; thus, everyone is digitally connected in today’s world. Public relations helps organizations to create a strong online presence that is highly visible, accessible and responsive to their targeted audience. PR agencies provide organizations with support and guidance to help them market themselves online while being constantly ready to step in when disaster occurs or something threatens to damage the image of the organization has been building. With the right PR professionals assisting organizations, brands to have a much higher chance of reaching the targeted audience.
Conclusively, public relations communicates social values. PR professional communicate an organization’s values and building trust with customers and their audiences. It is also important to note that in Sierra Leone, consumers are more likely to shop from a brand that they believe practices empathy. By employees taking deliberate action to maintain the brand’s reputation, they will go over and beyond to grace their external customers with positive customer.
