Letter to Cousin

Dear Cousin,

I just started a new semester and am learning about the proper way to write for public relations purposes. Public relations facilitates communication between an organization and its publics, and serves the best interests of both. PR professionals work in practically every field and can be viewed as spokespersons, advertisers and interpreters.

You may think that public relations writing wouldn’t differ much from other forms of writing, but there are very specific objectives, styles and established elements that must be considered before any writing for this profession be published or given to an employer.

First of all, you must thoroughly understand the mission and goals of the organization you are writing for. Public relations writers must be knowledgeable about all aspects of the institution they work for. For example, if you are the PR person for a real estate company, you might need to know about zoning laws and homeowner’s insurance.

As a PR person you are also expected to communicate the views of the public to your organization, so it is imperative to know your audiences and their concerns or needs. It is also typically rare that a public relations message is important to everyone, so tactics for public awareness and communication processing are important when choosing the right audience, the right message, the right medium to deliver the message and the frequency and reach for attracting attention from target audiences.

Although PR writing isn’t always considered “hard news,” journalists rely on PR managers for information. In turn, PR managers also rely on the news media to distribute information about their organization to the public. Various forms of PR writing include news releases, press kits, pitch letters, news conferences, personal appearances, public service announcements, pitch letters and the use of social media outlets. All of these formats help PR persons communicate a strategically planned message with a particular purpose, for a particular audience.

I am excited to be able to apply all the things I’ve been learning about public relations writing when I’m looking for a job after I graduate this spring. I hope to hear from you soon!

Yours truly,

Kate