20 key responsibilities for today’s PR pro
The days of penning a press release, faxing a pitch and calling it a day are over. The digital age requires diligence—even prescience—and finding meaningful metrics.
Job descriptions generally distill responsibilities and expectations, but PR and communications roles are often difficult to pin down.
This “PR scope creep” is partly due to the constantly shifting digital world in which we work. There’s often lack of clarity about goals, measurement and priorities, resulting in an inefficient, scattershot approach.
To clarify core public relations objectives and responsibilities, here are 20 areas of focus:
1. Earned media/media relations. Far from just managing a digital Rolodex, landing earned media placements in publications that resonate with target audiences is one small part of the earned-media mix. Building relationships takes time. The PR pro sends thoughtful, data-backed pitches, engages with reporters on social media, sends swag (when appropriate), maintains relevant media lists and manages all follow-through with journalists.
2. Owned media/content strategy. The flipside of earned media is owned media: publishing content on brand-owned channels such as a customer-facing blog, Medium publication and the like. PR pros either write this content themselves or help drive strategy with a team of writers/editors and/or guest blog contributors.
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