To become a public relations professional, knowing the related terms and their importance is very much necessary. As PR involves gaining new clients, its equally important in understanding and supporting clients. In the field of public relations, maintaining and managing reputations is another milestone and here key public relations terms explained:

List of key Public Relations Terms

1. Coverage:

Media coverage is the total exposure which is gained by a brand, company or an individual. It is the sum total of the exposure that is gained by them across online, print and broadcast media.

2. Press Release:

A press release is an official statement given by a brand, organisation or an individual regarding a major launch, event or a major announcement.

3. Target Media list/ Indicative media list:

It is to increase the chances of obtaining media coverage.

4. New Business Development:

It helps in generating profits with a new product or service and is very important for making strategy in boosting revenue and lowering its costs.

5. Morning/News Updates:

It is the information about something that has already happened and delivers to the viewers in the morning.

6. Crisis Management:

It is the process by which an organisation deals with major unpredictable event that threatens to harm the reputation of the organisation, stakeholders and the general public. It is essential as it helps to identify potential threats and plan the tasks in order to prevent them.

7. Circulation:

The total number of copies of publication that is available to the reader through subscriptions or news stands. It is one of the factors that is shared with the clients and let them know the relevancy of the coverage they have received.

8. Earned media:

It is the written material about you or your business that is created or paid for. It is important because it helps to reach to larger target audience without the need to use paid media channels.

9. Briefing Book:

It is a compilation of information about any upcoming media event. It can be an event that attracts lots of media coverage. Any press conference is an example of briefing book.

10. Press kit:

It is a set of materials that provide information about a person, company, organization or cause which is distributed to members of the media for promotional use.

11. Dossier:

A consolidated document that comprises news coverage for a particular announcement across media platforms, be it your online news portals,print publications or even TV channels. A dossier can be created in both word document as well as a ppt format.

12. Relationship building meetings:

It is the process of developing social connections of a business skill that is the basis for maintaining reputation, influencing.

13. Influencers:

A person who influences the target audience by recommending a product or service in the social media platforms. These influencers are present across all beats, be it beauty, fashion, lifestyle, food, social impact and politics. There are two types of influencers: a macro influencer and micro influencer.

14. Reach:

It is the number of people in the media market who are exposed to the information or news.

15. Barcelona Principles:

In the set of seven principles that provides framework for effective public relations and communications measurements. For example, including outcomes instead of outputs. Each principle highlights many of the qualitative and quantitative approaches that communications practitioners must use and it also includes accepted methodologies put these principles into practice.

16. Familiarisation Trip:

Tour offered to the media on behalf of an organisation to get the media familiar with their destination and services. It is common in the PR world and they are organised to provide transparent view and to knowledge about the company or brand.

17. Press Note:

It is a written communication that reports specific but brief information about an event, circumstance or other happenings. It is usually sent to relevant stakeholders that is the media to inform them about the latest developments and is usually to the point.

18.Key Messages:

As communication professionals it is very important to keep your messages relevant to target audience in order for them to connect and take action. So a key message would be the core form of any information that you would want your audiences to hear and remember. It is essential to build your brand communication around the consistent key message.

19. Crisis Playbook:

In the present times it does not take much time for an issue to become a crisis and to flow out of proportions unless its controlled. So a crisis playbook comes handy in such a situation because it is customised according to various situations and is created with great detail by crisis experts and communication  experts.

20. Lead Time

The amount of time needed by reporters to gather information for their story; the time varies by type of outlet with magazines having the longest lead times and online the shortest.

21. Campaign Planning:

The goal of a public relations campaign is to create a media narrative or control the spread of information about your business to attract customers. It can also be used as a tactic to generate awareness about a specific event or business venture.

22. PR Storytelling:

PR storytelling is about attracting the attention of the media by telling that story in an engaging and thought-provoking way.

23. Engagements:

The total number of interactions with a piece of content or communication. Types of interactions include likes, comments, shares, views, etc.

24. Pitch:

A highly targeted message that is crafted and sent to a journalist to gauge their interest in your client; this can include photos, videos, and ends with a call-to-action.

25. Reputation Management:

Reputation management is one of the important public relations terms. It is the practice of influencing stakeholder perceptions and public conversations about an organization and its brands. It includes monitoring perceptions and conversations, responding to reputation threats, and proactively seizing opportunities to boost reputation.

26. Boilerplate:

A boilerplate (also known as an “about us” statement) is a short, standardized paragraph at the end of a press release that provides journalists with a high-level background on your company.

27. Content Marketing:

Another public relations terms you should know. Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience.

Content marketing and public relations are two very different terms, however, they can work together to help create an unstoppable marketing powerhouse.

28. Launch:

A launch is an official announcement typically for a company, campaign or product and involves promotional efforts with the end goal of increasing awareness amongst the public. A launch is executed through a promotional marketing strategy and is initially announced through a press release.

29. SEO:

SEO is an abbreviation for search engine optimization, which is a collection of strategies aimed at improving the visibility and placement of web pages in organic search results.

30. Whitepaper

A whitepaper is a persuasive, authoritative, in-depth report on a specific topic that presents a problem and provides a solution. White papers help PR agents add to their list of instruments. One way that white papers help us set our goals is by serving as an easy and cost-effective way to reach our target, giving these ‘documents’ a big power up for the PR industry.

Watch the video explanting these Public Relations terms by our students here –

Public Relations Terms explained

This list of Public Relations terms is ongoing. Knowing these few terms will aid in your communication efforts in PR industry. We hope you find this helpful in you Public Relations journey!