There are many people out there who have no idea what public relations are, and even fewer people have a general understanding of how important it is to business, according to Ronn Torossian, founder of 5WPR. Depending on what the company is trying to accomplish, there are multiple definitions of this term, and each has its value. It’s important to recognize that public relations are an evolving field and industry, and today, the only way to determine what public relations are and where it begins or ends is based on what it does.

The process of overcoming a negative reputation can take up to seven years. To maintain and improve their positive relationship with their target audience, companies must begin investing in the right public relations strategies and campaigns as soon as possible. As Ronn Torossian points out, public relations companies do not create marketing campaigns or marketing strategies, so public relations efforts are quite different from marketing and advertising.

Communication between companies and the public that is designed to create mutually beneficial relationships is public relations. Investing time and effort into staying on top of the right public relations strategies and tactics has also become one of the most effective ways for companies to build a good public reputation through communication efforts. More than 60% of the value of a business is determined by its public image, and when that image starts to deteriorate, it can adversely affect the entire organization.

As a whole, public relations are primarily about promoting a company’s products or services through editorial content published in newspapers, magazines, websites, TV programs, and online news outlets. A company can gain a lot of benefits and opportunities through the use of free and earned media.

This type of promotion is conducted by third parties, so it is not subject to skepticism or mistrust on the part of the public. It is the responsibility of public relations to anticipate, interpret, and analyze the opinions of target audiences toward businesses and to devise strategies to influence them using both free and earned media.