To ensure ethical and professional standards, it is important to have strict codes of ethics. In public relations, it’s important for professionals to follow industry guidelines to ensure that their behavior is ethical. PR professionals have to be mindful of how their actions may impact the image of their clients.
Listed below are six ethics of life that closely coincide with PR:
1. Before you pray, Believe
Sometimes, it can be hard to find a path during prayer because our minds become too clouded with our daily schedules. The Bible says that faith is important during prayer and that whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
Similarly, in PR it is important to believe in yourself and your work. When you share a press release or article with the media, believe in its worth. You cannot convince a journalist about the importance of your press release unless you believe that it is indeed a great article that needs to be published. Before you approach your journalist with the release, be sure to have faith in your work.
2. Before you speak, Listen
At one point or another, you’ve probably heard someone say, “You were given two ears and one mouth for a reason: to listen twice as much as you speak.” If a person doesn’t listen properly, they are unable to react in the right way in certain situations. They may later regret it and wish they had done it differently.
The same can be said for PR. PR professionals need to keep an eye on their brand and monitor what’s going on around them. Listening is often overlooked, but it is still an essential tenet of a smart and deliberate PR strategy. Informed through listening — by focus groups, surveys, and other two-way communication — brands effectively craft messages to resonate with the audience and create a powerful impact.
3. Before you spend, Earn
It is said that you cannot learn the value of money until you earn it yourself. If you’re going to be spending your hard-earned money, you need to think about how you will earn it first. Each penny counts when you earn it yourself.
Every organisation values trust as a crucial and indispensable asset. If an organisation is to have any chance of success, it needs people to think they can trust it. Brand building takes time because earning the trust of your audience is not an easy task. Trust is built and maintained through strategies and thoughtful execution of brand campaigns and ideologies. In PR, our goal is to build brands by raising awareness of issues, driving new conversations, and shifting landscapes. But to do this, we must build trust by being real. To stand out in the crowd, you need to be authentic and genuine.
As a PR professional, earning the trust of your audience should always be your priority.
4. Before you write, think
In a society being significantly impacted by the opinion of others, people from all around the world use various mediums to publicly express their opinion on a matter. But, many times, we write things that may not be proper or, make a fool out of ourselves by not being prepared when it comes to writing, by being misinformed, or not being entirely correct when it comes to explaining what we want, leading their post to become full of “empty” words. Hence, one needs to think properly before expressing or writing their opinions.
Similarly, while curating content for your brand, make sure you have all the necessary facts and information. Think about what you want to write and start writing. Today, consumers look for unique experiences and products or services appealing to their emotions. Storytelling is a way to do so. Communicate your brand message through a well-written story to create desired impact.
5. Before you quit, try
Life is full of struggle. It is full of ups and downs. So when things go rough, keep trying and move forwards. Life is all about learning new lessons, experiencing new things, and living a full life. Don’t quit because of failure. Life is short in one sense of the word and very long when you live in the present moment.
The PR world is full of chaos. The standard challenge in PR that anyone may face is getting coverage in top media for your client. Getting anywhere on this front begins with getting noticed in journalists’ inboxes. Easier said than done, isn’t it? You need to try different ways to reach out to a journalist and get his attention. While it’s easy to get discouraged, persistence is key, and it’s important not to compromise on the kind of media coverage you want to get. The same applies to brand strategies. Not all your brand strategies can be successful. But, one failed strategy should not stop you from taking your brand to the next level.
After all, PR is all about trying and creating impact, isn’t it?
6. Before you die, live
Live life to the fullest and experience as much as you can before it’s too late. Live life by the motto “don’t die with your music still in you.” It conveys the same message of seizing the moment, being present in the now, and not waiting until tomorrow. Before time runs out, take responsibility for your life and do what makes you happy.
In PR, every moment counts. It is said that as a PR professional, you must have the ability to seize the trends and use them to the best of your knowledge to raise your brand awareness in the industry. It helps brands put forward new ideas and opportunities and allows them to communicate their values to a diverse audience.
Brands need to maintain a certain level of quality and what better way than by incorporating the newest digital trends? This will ensure you’re always on the top of your audience’s mind.
Ethics is an important factor in decision-making, and the difference between what is right and what you are allowed to do. PR professionals have an obligation to be professional, which means acting in a socially responsible manner within their communities as well as globally.
The views and opinions published here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the publisher.
Known as a very trustworthy and reliable person especially during a crisis, his persistence was well paid off. Today his team consists of more than 75 PR Professionals.
Thank you so much sir for you guidance ,I will follow you