What are the different public relations challenges the

world is facing?
1. Proving that it is valuable
One of the biggest public relation issues businesses face is in terms of proving the value
and demonstrating the ROI. In a 2020 JOTW Communications Survey, it was found that
it becomes difficult for PR reps to to measure the impact the PR activity has created.
What this problem arises out of is the lack of knowledge in terms of what has to be
tracked in the first place.

The solution to this public relation issues is to create a system that takes in effort,
engagement, and the outcome – something that you can do simply with the help of a
project management tool or even excel and a UTM link.

2. Maintaining face-to-face relationships

COVID has limited people to their homes behind a screen, the in-office meetings have
been replaced by Zoom calls with multiple distractive events happening in the
background. This drastic reduction in meeting face to face has led to PR companies
losing out on their ongoing clients, while making it difficult to make new ones.

The solution to this can purely be to up your networking game. Get on a call with the
existing clients to touch base with what has been going on in their life, how they are
planning to move infront business-wise and give them impromptu solutions and ideas
to flourish in the post-pandemic world.

3. Explaining the importance of communication to the executives

People who make it to the executive team come from a range of different backgrounds
and skill sets, with marketing and communication not being a must-have skill. For
businesses whose executives are not well-versed in communications, it becomes
different for the PR team to educate them of what’s what and why it’s important.

The solution to this one of the most pestering public relations problems is only one – be
simple when it comes to explaining a concept to the executives who come from a non-
marketing background and be ready to be repetitive. The more you help them
understand communications, the more you will earn their respect.
4. The facelessness nature of social media
One of the biggest PR challenges that I see in the current time and world is the mob-like
nature of faceless social media. People are too quick to create an image and react to
things in an almost mob-like behaviour, giving businesses little to no time to do crisis
management. It is one of those challenges of public relations in which businesses are
holding themselves back from employing a PR team in-house in the first place.

The solution to this most universal challenges of PR is to be as politically correct as

possible. And in the instances where you slip through, choose an approach between not
ignoring the backlash entirely and not indulging with every comment.

5. Extended roles
There was once a time when PR teams had to only connect with media houses and pitch
the story. But now, the job description of a PR person revolves around end to end work
– finding the best media houses, writing content, creating creatives and collaterals, and
maintaining relations with the media agencies and influencers.

This extended role is posing as one of key problems of public relations for the people
employed in the role. The public relation solution to this particular issue is prioritizing
what is important and what can be kept in the long-term bucket. The key here, however,
would be to take the call on the basis of the activity that will give the most returns.

6. Having a lot of unorganized data

Today, the data that the public relations effort is made up of is spread across a range of
different platforms. Businesses have data coming in from social media, websites, emails,
comments on forums and what not.

The solution to this public relation issue is simply to get the right set of tools and
people to organize the data in a way that it is not just understandable but also easy to
track and analyze.

So here were the top 6 public relations challenges and solutions that a team is likely to
face for some years till we don’t settle down to this new-normal situation. At Star
trooper media, we have worked around all these 6 issues and a lot more to get our
clients mass visibility and to keep them in-trend.

We can help you too. Reach out to us to get your brand in front of the world’s eyes.
1. Listen to current customers
Clients are willing to provide honest and timely feedback, and their data
should drive how you tailor your PR approach and company policies. While
you can’t bend backward to make everyone happy, you can learn what
customers like about your operations and where they see weaknesses.
Invest in customer experience or a CX program that allows you to interact with
your shoppers and understand their needs and thoughts about your brand.
Professional input could help you bolster your image and identify significant
business trends.
2. Have a response plan ready
Don’t sit back and hope that nothing happens. Instead, get proactive, creating
a PR response plan to manage and mitigate potentially harmful press. Create
a response team of reliable, loyal and level-headed leaders within your
organization. Work with them to anticipate potential concerns and how the
organization plans to manage these troubles. These professionals should
work quickly to identify a situation and work to find a resolution.
3. Establish a positive image from the start
Companies should consistently strive to establish positive images with their
customer base. Don’t wait for something to go wrong to make yourself look
good. Start from the first day, working to create a reputation. Use social media
to your advantage, noting activities and sponsorships.
Forbes magazine reports several factors in building a positive image,
emphasizing that clients care about even small details. They stress that
seemingly superficial things such as business cards and website construction
impact the operation’s image. Choices impact reputation, credibility and brand
preference.
4. Remain honest and above board
Don’t hold back. It’s tempting to withhold details about a situation or wait to
release a story, thinking it might die in time. However, this approach may blow
up in your face if other people in the media find out about the story. It’s better
to get in early and share necessary points. This effort demonstrates a desire
to help your customers, remain honest and develop loyalty and trust.
Keeping things back leads to questions about a company’s priorities and
integrity. Customers may speculate about the general business practices and
concern for others’ welfare. Have a PR team ready to go, consulting with legal
professionals. Allow them to get ahead of something before it gets out of
hand.
5. Talk to and train employees
While you can’t stop everything, you can work with staff to minimize possible
issues. Work with HR to train staff, discussing appropriate behavior and use of
technology. Discuss potential cyber threats and review how people should
work with each other.
Host seminars on potential threats and note why PR remains essential to the
company’s reputation. Be clear about contract stipulations and implement
policies that protect the business’s image. For instance, do you want your
employees to watch what they say on social media? Do interactions outside of
the office influence customer perception? Decide what you legally ask of
people and what you desire. Then, be straightforward about your
expectations.
In addition, have a reporting system available and establish a circle of trust.
Employees should feel safe to discuss any issues they see, allowing HR and
PR committees to manage situations with early interventions.
Public relations matters. Spend time working with committees and
professionals to build a brand people love and trust. Listen to customers’
needs and remain honest and open about potential troubles.
With broader audiences, more competition and more opportunities than ever, PR professionals
are facing new challenges when it comes to attracting media attention.

In a recent Business Wire webinar, “Out of the Lab and Into the Headlines,” biotech
communicators shared the challenges they face when trying to reach and engage broad audiences
— from reporters and scientists to patients and investors — with a complicated story.
Their takeaways are applicable to any communications teams looking to reinvigorate their
current media relations and audience activation process.

GOAL: Generate a compelling story that brings new audiences along for the journey
CHALLENGE: Attract media and consumer attention
Biotech PR leaders struggle with getting media and analysts to see the potential of a company’s
developments during early-stage trials, long before FDA approval. Their dilemma — how to
break down a complicated story — requires balancing the fine line between hope and hype.

SOLUTION: Increase media and audience interest with these expert suggestions
 Simplify news release content to a high school reader’s level.
 Use analogies — especially visual analogies — to break down a complex story.
 Avoid jargon that is not useful to the reader who lives outside your space.
 Tell your story visually with images, videos or infographics that attract and educate.
 Include hyperlinks within your press release to drive traffic back to key landing pages.
 Amplify your news across social channels.
A well-written, hyperlinked release with visual and textual storytelling elements will generate
results well past the distribution date. Using a news wire like Business Wire helps to deliver your
content to the right media, bloggers, analysts and influencers quickly, allowing them to act now
and to find and use your content in the future. We have dedicated teams nurturing relationships
with audiences across the globe, building the local market relationships you need to build and
maintain a presence away from your home office.
GOAL: Extend the company’s brand value in markets around the world
CHALLENGE: A lack of resources
Many communicators in the Life Sciences sector have small teams or are simply a one-man-
band. They rarely have access to translators, media relations experts, or local market experts
which can impact their global PR efforts.

SOLUTION: Maximize time and resources by relying on trusted providers

Business Wire understands how to reach and activate markets across the globe. We leverage
local market partnership and global relationships to maximize the reach of your news within each
market. Each release includes professional translations into local market languages, allowing you
to show your commitment to a market by speaking directly to your audiences, in their preferred
language.

We provide the opportunities to include multimedia assets, allowing you to tell your story
textually and visually. For news releases with more complicated stories or that require larger
overall results, our multimedia teams build interactive assets for our clients to trigger their key
audiences through a series of visual and textual opportunities for deeper engagement, inbound
traffic and higher results.
GOAL: Connect with all audiences on the platforms they use the most
CHALLENGE: Build social presence to increase amplification
For biotech professionals, social channels allow the opportunity to connect directly with your
audience, however this can be a challenge for companies without large social followings. For
brands with large audiences, sharing news releases and editorial content alongside scientific
research, employee spotlights and industry trends can be a great way to connect. That may not be
so simple for smaller companies.

SOLUTION: Maximize your relationships across channels

Our experts recommend creating a series of content updates that outline:

 Who your company is

 Your industry position
 Who represents you
Create a posting schedule to ensure continual content promotion. Supplement each status update
with visuals, polls or engagement tools to increase reach and responses. Increase your brand
presences in industry circles by participating in relevant industry discussions via hashtags, and
share breaking or trending news.

To maximize the social impact of your news, use the social amplification tools Business Wire
provides, such as the customizable embedded tweet (making it easy for readers to share and
advocate on your behalf), your company’s live Twitter feed and links to any of your other active
social platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook — all within the release.

As pressure to improve results increases, PR professionals must look at new ways to resolve their
top challenges of connecting with customers. Simplifying language, leveraging partner expertise
and participating in new communications channels are three easy ways to move your results in
the right direction.
“Public Relations can help!” We confidently state this to prospective clients who come to us with
specific business problems or goals. And while every situation is unique and in need of a uniquely
tailored approach, there are a handful of scenarios that are the most common concerns of our
clients. Do any of these sound familiar?
“My company is the best at what it does, so why are our competitors getting more attention?”
This is a frequent question from businesses of all sizes and industries. “We are better than the
competition,” is the cry. And while that may be the case, just claiming so is not a PR strategy (it’s not
even very effective in advertising). You need to prove it. To be more precise, you need someone
outside your company – customers, journalists and bloggers, industry analysts, independent
reviewers – to prove and state it on your behalf. This is a key component of a strategic
communications plan. With each client, Newsmaker Group evaluates the business’s differentiators
– what makes them stand apart from the competition. Then through testimonials and case studies,
as well as other initiatives that position the organization and its spokespersons as innovative industry
thought leaders, we implement a proactive communications campaign that is built around credible
third-party endorsements, not those of the CEO.
“I’ve done everything possible to optimize my company’s website, why isn’t it popping on
page one of a search?”
The good news here is that along with new and evolving search algorithms, PR can be more
influential than ever at impacting SEO. Even if you do everything right in terms of optimization,
outside links and company mentions on reputable websites that bring relevant visitors to your site
are great for increasing your visibility among target audiences, and very importantly, driving your
SEO. The more your name is out there – being talked about by third-parties (e.g., customers,
industry analysts, independent reviewers, the media) – the better your search results. But these
external links and mentions must be on the right websites and social networks, and they can only be
earned – they can NEVER be bought! This is where the proper strategy and good PR execution
come in… Are you seeing a pattern?!
“Our company has some of the best talent in our field, so why aren’t prospective clients
knocking down our door?”
Talent is one of the best weapons a business has. But in addition to a talented team supporting your
business success from the inside, consider ways to showcase their expertise through a
tailored thought leadership strategy. After all, if representatives from your organization are seen
as industry experts providing foresight into trends and techniques, that reflects very well on your
business. I know your employees are busy doing their work and they don’t have the time to
research, manage and setup speaking engagements, media interviews, guest articles or a
consistent social media presence, but this is where we come in. Newsmaker Group can analyze
which opportunities will best serve your thought leadership strategy, and then secure the
opportunities, manage the logistics, arrange media interviews, ghost write articles and speeches,
organize on-site media exposure, and more.
As previously stated, every client has its own concerns and objectives and in nearly all cases PR
can help. But the right strategy must be in place, and very importantly, businesses must be patient
since PR does take some time to fully maximize opportunities! We would welcome the chance to
help with your issues. We invite you to contact us to discuss your current and future PR needs.
PR's Biggest Challenges

To learn more about the challenges facing PR, we surveyed senior in -house and agency leaders from
the U.S. and Europe. When we asked them to list the five activities they find most challenging , here’s
how they answered from top to bottom:

1. Measuring the ROI of PR campaigns.

2. Connecting with relevant media and influencers.
3. Listening to online conversations.
4. Amplifying brand awareness via social media.
5. Distributing press releases and multimedia.

How can these challenges be overcome by PR teams around the world? By working more closely
with marketing organizations and learning from them.

How Can PR Bridge the Divide With Marketing?

Historically, the C-suite has held marketing in higher standing. That remains the case today. So
perhaps the greatest value is achieved when PR truly looks at what its marketing counterparts do
better in comparison. Only then can PR establish the best poss ible partnership with marketing.

In the recent study conducted with PRWeek, we sought to facilitate that self-analysis by surveying
PR leaders from the U.S and Europe. The results not only illustrate how PR can evolve in partnership
with marketing—they also help build a foundation upon which the disciplines move forward in
unison, which is of paramount importance to the brands they both serve.

More than five out of six respondents (83.2%) agree that “the li nes between PR and marketing are
more blurred than ever.” Of those, more than half “strongly agree” with that statement.

“It used to be that marketing was about driving sales and PR was about driving reputation,” says Ben
Chodor, president of Notified. “But the two departments are no longer on opposite ends of the
building anymore,” he adds.

“They are having to work together as, ultimately, what they do drives the same result, whether it be a
spike in sales, stock price (in the case of a publicly traded company) or market share. And today it is
possible for both parties to directly link their work to it.”

Why Unification Should Be a Mindset

While the lines are blurred, more than half of respondents said their brand’s marketing and PR
departments still operate independently from one another, at least organizationally. Even so, the two
can still have a symbiotic relationship.
At Coca-Cola, “reporting lines are less important than they were in the past,” says VP of External
Communications Kent Landers. The beverage giant has adopted a “networked organization”
structure, which is designed to be cross-functional, reduce silos and improve universality of thought.

“No matter your reporting line, the same cross-functional teams are the voice of our stakeholders and
are made up of comms and public affairs and marketing people,” he explains. “It is that singular
voice that feeds back into every department of the company.”

And that isn’t just true of Coca-Cola’s consumer brands. Corporate brand work is also a partnership
between PR and marketing.

The PR and marketing departments at Southwest Airlines also have different reporting lines. Linda
Rutherford, the airline’s SVP and CCO, reports into the CEO, while the CMO reports into the chief
commercial officer. However, she says the two have a very close working relationship.

“Regardless of whether or not your departments are organizationally connecte d, one of the most
important professional relationships that a CCO can have right now is with the CMO,” she asserts.

While the PR and marketing departments at Southwest each have their own analytics team, the two
meet daily and pull from one another in their reports to their higher-ups. “Our teams are very
collaborative,” notes Rutherford.

Nearly three-quarters of respondents (74.3%) said the relationship between PR and marketing is
strong at their brands, suggesting unity is not only possible, but happ ening. Still, that leaves a quarter
of the industry with significant work to do on this front.

That said, in organizations where the two work as one, PR predominantly reports into marketing
(90% said that), not the other way around.

Paul Dyer, CEO of Lippe Taylor, says, “This reporting relationship has historically been mirrored on
the agency side. The advertising agency owned the ‘big idea’ and the PR firm drafted off it.”

However, PR has become stronger in areas such as insights and creative.

“We’re [increasingly] seeing the relationship reversed — the PR firm leads an integrated agency with
an earned mentality and the advertising agency drafts off their idea,” notes Dyer. “While this is
unlikely to change how internal reporting relationships work, it does create a new opportunity for in -
house PR pros to take on a much larger role.”

However, he advises, “they need to do the things that their marketing counterparts did to succeed.”

Where Is There Room for Improvement?

At the top of that to-do list is technology adoption, which marketing has done markedly well to
advance its profession.
Only 5.6% of respondents said PR is more effective in this regard as compared to marketing.
Furthermore, in evaluating the job PR does in adopting technology, one -fifth (20.5%) said it was
below average or poor. Just 6.1% said it was excellent.

Ellen Ryan Mardiks, vice chair at Golin, says it isn’t that PR hasn’t been able to bolster its
effectiveness with technology and tools. Rather, she says, “we haven’t been able to prove and
merchandise our effectiveness.”

That speaks to measuring ROI, which respondents identified as a particularly challenging activity.

“Marketing has been much better at that,” says Mardiks. “But PR’s commitment to measurement and
analytic tools is greater than it has ever been.”

“This is an area where we can, and need to, enhance our skills,” agrees Landers. “Measurement and
metrics in other disciplines are more of a science. If we continue to go in that direction, it will make
a difference to what people think PR can achieve for their organization.”

“A part of the issue has been that PR never had the same access as marketing to user -friendly tools
and technology,” adds Chodor. “But now the technology is there for comms to report back to their
leadership with great data reports.”

How to Find PR’s “Voice”

With the right technology, PR pros can capture the metrics that they say are most important to their
organizations.

“Marketing’s ability to track sales is phenomenal, especially in digital spaces where links, trackbacks
and source coding can all be used to give absolute knowledge about the impact of their efforts,” says
Rutherford. “Comms, though, has that same opportunity with its content and so we source code all
the content we put out there.”

When it comes to share of voice, what brand doesn’t want t o be positively mentioned more often than
their competitors on social and digital media.

“It has often been tracked too broadly and without enough context to be valuable,” explains Chodor.
“The best way to track share of voice is by product, business uni t, vertical or comms initiative, and
see how it correlates to impact such as stock price and sales, rather than just in a vacuum.”

Lippe Taylor’s Dyer has worked on measurement programs for energy drink brands Red
Bull and Monster Energy. Share of voice was critical to both.

“It helped Monster determine if it was gaining on Red Bull,” recalls Dyer. “Red Bull was so far
ahead of the pack that it measured share of voice in terms of the percent of culture it was associated
with, whether it was hip-hop, skateboarding or e-sports. It was measuring its influence on society.”

“Share of voice is one of the metrics that is key to determining the effectiveness of what we do in
PR,” agrees Mardiks. “Clients want to drive and lead conversations that are important to their
business and brands. It is a key way of determining if we’re being successful. ”
When it comes to your PR strategy, the Notified PR Cloud helps you successfully navigate the media
landscape and tap into real-time analytics from an integrated, intelligent, and easy -to-use
platform. Learn more about how you can reach global audiences, monitor brand sentiment, send
press releases, drive earned media, and measure success - all in one place.

What is a PR crisis?
Most businesses will face a public relations crisis at one time or another. Whether it’s a string
of bad reviews or a serious executive scandal, a negative incident can have a powerful impact on
a company’s reputation. No one expects you to be perfect, but they do expect you to be human.
They will judge you based on the way you handle such instances.

A PR crisis is when any negative event or review related to your business gains traction in the
public sphere. It could be related to an unhealthy business practice, a customer accident at your
location, or an internal, employee-related issue. PR crises are important because they can taint
your small business’s image in the minds of your customers.

While there are some strategies you can implement to mitigate damage, once the information is
out there, your business will have to roll with the punches and do its best to turn a wrong into a
right.

Examples of a PR crisis
Two examples of PR crises come from two well-known companies: Facebook and Uber.
Facebook had to deal with data privacy issues related to Cambridge Analytica, which may have
affected the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Uber struggled with internal issues regarding
sexual harassment and hostile work environments.

In both cases, the companies made mistakes that small businesses can learn from. For example,
they tried to deflect the issue. Facebook claimed that “something happened,” rather than
admitting responsibility, and Uber attempted to “move in a new direction,” as if solving the issue
were that simple.

Insincerity is a major concern with these responses, especially when some of the damage is
deeply rooted in discriminatory beliefs and unjust actions.

What effect does a PR crisis have on your business?

While a PR crisis’s effect may be difficult to determine at first, it will definitely affect your
business in the long run. Customers and clients want to interact with businesses they trust.
Investors want assurance that their investments will pay off. If your company is caught in a PR
storm, it puts that trust in jeopardy. All stakeholders — employees, suppliers, customers and
anyone you do business with — may start to wonder whether they should remain involved with
your organization, and worker morale is likely to suffer.

If your response is not immediate and strong, social media can spread and exacerbate the issue.
What happens next might be completely outside your control. A lack of a strong response will
likely result in the escalation of false rumors and even endanger business relationships.

Facebook is a perfect example of this. The Cambridge Analytica PR crisis changed the way
Americans viewed Facebook, and its data privacy issues play a major role in the company’s
future relationship with new and existing customers.

CASE STUDY

https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/resources/articles/product/3-case-studies-discovering-market-
problems-and-their-solutions/