PR - Manager

SUMMARY:

Public relations managers play a critical role in protecting and improving a firm’s image. They monitor social, economic, and political trends that could affect the firm, looking for ways to enhance the firm’s image based on such trends. They also look out for the interests of top management by evaluating advertising and promotion plans to verify compatibility with public relations efforts.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Public relations managers may meet with financial managers to draft company reports and with labor relations managers to write internal company communications, such as newsletters about employee-management relations.
• Drafting & editing in-house magazines, case studies, speeches and articles.
• To maintain and update information on the organization’s website, commissioning market research.
• To plan, develop and implement PR strategies.
• To devise and coordinate photo opportunities, collating and analyzing media coverage.
• Setting up interviews and maintaining other types of public contact.
• They assist in organizing company archives and they respond to requests for information.
• Some are responsible for special events management—directing charity tournaments, organizing parties to unveil new products, and working on other events that can help indirectly promote the firm.
• Identify main client groups and audiences and determine the best way to communicate publicity information to them.
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with local and municipal government officials and media.
• PR managers often confer with other top management officials to produce annual reports on the financial status of the firm.
• They also direct publicity programs that are designed to improve the public image of the organization that employs them.
• Supervise a company's archives, or respond to information queries from news media, stockholders, and the general public.
  

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS REQUIRED:

• For public relations management positions, some employers prefer a bachelor’s or master’s degree in public relations or journalism.
• A prospective PR manager's curriculum should include courses in advertising, business administration, psychology, sociology, public affairs, political science, journalism, creative and technical writing, word processing, and graphic and audiovisual production.
• A public relations manager should participate in seminars and continuing education programs to stay up-to-date in the field.
• Public relations managers often have advanced degrees in the field in which they work.
• Ability to use every available communication medium to maintain the support of the specific group upon whom their organization’s success depends, such as consumers, stockholders, or the general public.
• Computer skills are vital because marketing, product promotion, and advertising on the Internet are increasingly common.
• The ability to communicate persuasively, both orally and in writing, with other managers, staff, and the public is vital.
• These managers also need tact, good judgment, and exceptional ability to establish and maintain effective personal relationships with supervisory and professional staff members and client firms.
• Because of the importance and high visibility of their jobs, public relations managers often are prime candidates for advancement to the highest ranks.
• Regardless of education, the most important qualities in public relations managers are written and oral communication skills, imagination, enthusiasm, managerial style, charm, and an intimate knowledge of the field and of the organization for whom they work.