Public relations is the discipline which looks after reputation, with the aim of earning understanding and support and influencing opinion and behaviour. It is the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organisation and its publics.
There are many different communications functions covered by the Public Relations umbrella. If you want to know your B2B from your B2C, how crisis management really can protect your business or what exactly financial PR is, take a look at our jargon buster for full explanations.
In order to demonstrate the value of their work, PR practitioners need to evaluate the outcomes of what they do and what impact these outcomes have on the organisations practitioners represent. The CIPR advocates an 'evidence-based' approach to public relations evaluation that takes into account the complexity of public relations. From the wide range of evaluation options available, PR professionals can pick and mix the tools that are most appropriate to the objectives set for any particular PR activity.
