The Many Masks of PR Professionals
By: Andrea Trapani
At trick-or-treating time when costumes aren’t easily identified, you commonly hear the question, “What are you exactly?” At many points when I share with others for the first time that I do public relations for a living, I commonly hear “What are you exactly?” I am happy to say that although I decided to graduate in the crux of this uncertain economic climate, I picked a profession that dressed me for success.
In honor of Halloween, I started thinking about the many masks of PR pros—masks that enable us to be anything we want to be. We can carve our craft however we would like. Depending on what exactly our job entails, we may even wear several masks on any given day. Here are a few examples:
Newsmaker mask
When we know the potential of a story—the audience it can reach and who can be affected by it—we can make it news.
Artist mask
When we see a piece of marketing collateral that needs to make an impact, we can create a design to evoke an emotion.
Buzz creator mask
When we want to create communities and conversations about a notable person, place, product or service, we know how to activate the channels to get the right people talking.
Relationship seeker mask
We can create connections to form mutually beneficial relationships for sharing expertise, resources and creating new partnerships.
Community manager mask
We learn about communities of new and traditional media and track their evolution to stay up-to-date on who’s sharing and obtaining information where and why. We often times also serve as the voice, problem solver and brand monitor for our companies and clients online.
Message molder mask
We help companies put their thoughts and news into stories that will effectively reach the right people at the right time.
Brand builder mask
We can guide the process of making all internal and external company communications consistent and compelling, as well as the process of defining and communicating differentiators. We help companies and organizations shape the perception they want their audiences to have by helping them discover not just what they do and how they do it–but why they do what they do.
What are some other masks PR pros wear that I didn’t discuss?
