UNIT 3

PR Writing

What is public relations writing?

Public relations writing is a type of communication used to build and maintain

relationships with the public. PR includes, but is not limited to, informational writing
that keeps the company’s image positive through various means, such as press releases,
speeches, and social media posts. Public relations can also be done for other purposes,
including recruiting new employees or donors.

What are the different types of professional PR writing?

There are seven types of professional PR writing, which include press releases, blog
posts, white papers, and social media posts. The goal of each type is different, but they
all have the same ultimate goal in mind, which is to get your company talked about
positively.

1. Business events

Events often serve for people to gain exposure for their businesses, promote new
products or services, and make sure accurate information reaches targeted customers.
Event marketing materials help you build customer confidence and research your
market and competitors. Business events are opportunities to market your products or
services and gain exposure for your brand.

2. Corporate social responsibility press release

Professional PR writing can be used to help build a company’s reputation. It can also be
used for charity and ethics purposes, as well as in the public relations field.

The Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 requires corporations to hold to a code of ethics and
report on their socially responsible conduct.

3. Employee relations press release

Internal PR is a sensitive form of PR. This type of writing is less about image and more
focused on action within a company.
Employee relations is about giving a positive view of the company to employees. It also
includes keeping workers satisfied, motivated, and loyal to encourage them to continue
to work for the company.

An employee relations press release is an announcement to the public about an internal

dispute and what management is doing about it. A company can only offer as much
money, time off, or other benefits as business conditions and higher-ups allow. It is
often difficult for employees to put a positive spin on what happened and how it could
have been avoided if there were better communication between the parties involved in
making decisions.

4. Media relations press release

There are different types of professional public relations writing. The main media tools
include releasing press releases and fact sheets to the media. There are many other
potential PR writing tasks like managing risks and crises affecting your business, but
those require more technical skill than a release or a fact sheet.

To create a successful media relations press release, one must have the technical skill to
produce public relations materials called outputs. Public relations is a largely technical
function, and this means that it is based on the production or creation of various types
of outputs, such as news releases, videos, or images.

5. Social media PR

There are different types of professional PR writing, including social media PR. This
type of PR can have the same KPIs as other types of marketing: brand mentions,
conversions, domain authority, and sentiment. Your PR manager is often responsible for
social media on behalf of your company.

However, social media PR is different from regular marketing campaigns and influencer
marketing. Employees should collaborate with these fields to share the same goal of
promoting a positive image for a brand or product.

Social media press releases live on the web as an online newsroom. This means that
journalists and other influencers can find your press release via a simple Google search,
link to it, and share it with their followers.
People are continuously searching for ways to improve their social media presence. If
viewers do not find your content helpful, it won’t matter how hard you try or how the
format is presented. Social media releases should contain everything necessary to share
and discover a story in a way that complements your original intent. Social media PR
plays an important role in promoting an organization’s voice as content on
platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

6. Community relations

Professional public relations writing is not the same as community relations. The field
of community relations is much broader and deals with building customer loyalty by
building relationships with stakeholders in a local area. Professional public relations
writing emphasizes engaging people via word of mouth, while community relations
focuses on connecting organizations to their communities and making sure they stay
informed, often through various means on social media such as Facebook, Twitter, or
Instagram.

Community relations officers work to develop a company’s relationship with the local
community. They are responsible for building relationships, facilitating events and
programs, and engaging people with their company’s products or services.

Businesses should take an active interest in community problems, sponsor youth

activities, and participate in local government. They can also join business or service
groups to support their industry as well. Businesses should purchase materials from
local companies to increase their profit margin while supporting a growing economy.

Community relations is the planned, active, and continuing participation with and
within a community. In community relations management, press releases can be used to
mitigate internal crises or negative external press. Community relations is also the tool
of choice for companies that want to show their commitment to maintaining good
relationships with the communities they serve.

7. Strategic communications

Different types of PR writing are available for public relations professionals: strategic
communications, crisis communication, and issues management. There is a difference
between these three categories, as each focuses on different aspects. Public relations
covers issues both inside and outside the company with a structured approach to real-
world contingencies.

Strategic communications is a business practice that includes owned media, such as

news releases on the company website. This can help increase your brand’s image and
improve your industry standing by showing milestones you’ve hit, staying on top of
trends, and benefiting the community.

What are the steps/ process in publishing the ad?

1. Acquisitions
2. Editing
3. Structural editing
4. Content editing
5. Technical editing
6. Design and typesetting
7. Proofreading
8. Printing
9. Sales
10. Marketing
11. Publicity
The different types of body copy in advertising
Take a look at these 6 key body copy examples when writing for sales and advertising:

1. Factual
Factual body copy gives the reader just enough information about a product or service to
persuade them into buying it.

Because it solely focuses on the facts, it can be quite short, but there is no hard and fast rule
about the length of advertising text.

One of the common misconceptions about advertising is that consumers aren’t interested in
the facts, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. After all, the more you say, the more you
tend to sell.

“People do read lengthy advertisements if they are skillfully written.”

– Daniel Ogilvy

2. Narrative
Narrative body copy draws people in by telling a story before offering a product or service
that can help solve their problem. Only a handful of us react well to being told to buy a
product, so the power of narrative advertising is that it’s a soft sell, enabling the reader to
relate to the story and generate positive feelings towards the brand.
The Florida Department of Transportation’s One Foolish Act ad is a great example of
narrative advertising. The headline describes how a drunk driver killed a cyclist on his 16th
birthday, but the body copy talks about the consequences:

“He also killed the first guitar his parents would have given him that night. The band he
would have played in during his first year at the University of Texas in Austin…”

Although it isn’t selling a product, the message is still important. The ad really pulls on the
reader’s heartstrings and supports the advert’s slogan, which says: “One foolish act can kill a
thousand great ones.”

3. Human interest
The purpose of human interest copy is to appeal to the reader’s emotions, so rather than
talking directly about the features and benefits of a product, it capitalises on an individual’s
senses to sell to them indirectly.

As such, body copy that takes on a human interest angle will often be humorous, promoting
affection, love and fear. Essentially, it acts on any emotions that ignite our sense of sight,
hearing, smell, taste or touch.

4. Testimonial
Usually, testimonial copy comes from customers, experts, celebrities or the spokesperson of a
brand or product. Although it’s there to persuade, it must be truthful.

The benefit of a testimonial is that the copy is usually already written for you – all you need
to do is figure out what it is they like best about your product and build an advert around this
that better suits your target audience.

A great example of testimonial body copy is Aveeno’s January 2019 campaign with Jennifer
Anniston. Alongside some standard information about the lotion and body wash, Jennifer’s
testimonial reads:

“When my skin feels good, I feel good. Healthy, confident. That’s why my morning routine
includes AVEENO Daily Moisturizing Lotion. Because feeling good in your skin is what it’s
all about.”

5. Humour
Getting this right requires a copywriter to really understand their target audience. It’s a tried
and tested strategy and can ensure a campaign remains memorable and impactful for a really
long time.

Take a look at Krispy Kreme’s ‘Doughnuts are bad for you’ advert for an example of
humorous advertising done well.

On the surface, it seems to commit an advertising faux pas by highlighting that the product is
bad for you. But they’ve turned this disadvantage into an advantage by using the remainder of
the copy to showcase it’s not just doughnuts that are unhealthy. For example, the first line
says: “So are cream cakes, lie-ins and loud rock music. So is sugar. If you take it in your tea,
stop immediately.”

6. Institutional
The aim of institutional copy isn’t to sell products or services, but to promote a brand’s
trustworthiness or reputation instead. Essentially, it should showcase the philosophies,
objectives or policies of a company in the hope that this will resonate with readers and
encourage them to get in touch.
Like any other type of advertising copy, it’s important to understand your target group,
message and expected results before you begin writing.

Institutional advertising is usually reactive PR and typically appears after a situation or event
has damaged a company’s image (take a look at KFC’s ‘We’re sorry’ advert here). However,
other firms carry out planned and proactive institutional advertising to complement their
marketing strategies.

What are ad campaigns?

Ad campaigns are a form of marketing that allow you to reach your target audience with

sponsored messages.You can launch online ad campaigns via numerous channels, which we’ll

discuss below, and you can use ads to achieve goals like increasing brand awareness, leads,

or conversions.To better understand what ad campaigns are, let’s look at some ad campaign

examples.

6 creative ad campaign examples to inspire your own

Ad campaign example #1: Starbucks – Instant coffee

Starbucks is notorious for creating drool-inducing ad campaigns that advertise their new drinks

and products.In this ad campaign example, they showed off different combinations of coffee

drinks people can make with their instant coffee.They also gave viewers an inside look at how

to make their instant coffee to encourage them to click and purchase the product.

What makes this ad a good advertising campaign example?

These ads from Starbucks feature high-quality, engaging visuals, earning them a spot on our list

of the best ad examples. Adding enticing visuals to your ad campaigns helps viewers visualize

themselves using your products or services, making them more likely to buy.

Ad campaign example #2: Dunkin’ – #DunkinAtHome

One of the best examples of ad campaigns that work comes from Dunkin’. The coffee franchise

ran a campaign to promote people using their products to make Dunkin’ from home, as the

campaign’s #DunkinAtHome hashtag shows.Dunkin’ took this campaign a step further by using

Rapunzel as a theme throughout their ads. Instead of letting the prince save her like in the

classic fairytale, Rapunzel says she doesn’t want to be saved and instead, wants to stay home

with her Dunkin’.Dunkin’ carries this theme with Rapunzel throughout the ad campaign as a

unique way to catch viewers’ attention.

What makes this ad a good advertising campaign example?

Dunkin’s #DunkinAtHome campaign is a great example of taking a creative and engaging

approach to advertising. They use a classic story and put a modern, branded twist on it to
convince people to buy and use their Dunkin’ products at home.

Ad campaign example #3: Target – Hearth and Hand

Next on our list of ad campaign examples is Target. Target distributes products from the well-

known Hearth and Hand collection by Chip and Joanna Gaines. To help promote it when people

are looking for those products, they created search ads.

One of the best aspects of this ad is the use of ad extensions. Ad extensions enable you to

include more information in your ad to entice people to click. This ad in particular uses location,

sitelink, and structured snippetextensions to provide helpful information.

What makes this ad a good advertising campaign example?

Target’s ad campaign provides the helpful information users need to learn about Hearth and

Hand. It utilizes ad extensions to create more reasons for people to click on their ad, which

helps boost engagement and leads.

Ad campaign example #4: Chewy — Pet prescriptions

One of the advertising campaign examples you can take inspiration from is Chewy. Chewy

creates ads for animal lovers to get them to buy the products from their website. In this ad

example, the focus is on Chewy’s pet prescription services.

The ad features a video showing a box that gets delivered to the doorstep of the dogs’ home.

The one dog thinks it’s a box with peanut butter, while the other dog tells him that it’s their

prescription box from Chewy.

What makes this ad a good advertising campaign example?

This ad campaign from Chewy is a great ad because it entertains while delivering essential

information. The video ad uses some humor to promote their prescription services and the fact

that it comes right to the owner’s doorstep. It’s a fun ad that still passes along the core message

of the ad.

Ad campaign example #5: Hydro Flask — Award-winning bottles

Hydroflask runs plenty of online advertising campaigns to promote their insulated water bottles.

In this pay-per-click (PPC) ad, Hydroflask highlights the benefits of buying their

bottles.Hydroflask highlights important must-know information, like free shipping when you

spend a certain amount and the variety of sizes and colors. You get all the information you need

to know when looking at Hydroflask’s ad.

What makes this ad a good advertising campaign example?

This PPC ad is a great ad campaign example because it provides a plethora of information that

informs searchers about their product efficiently. They also use sitelink extensions to direct

people to relevant pages for their products.

Ad campaign example #6: HelloFresh — Free meals

Last on this list of advertising campaign examples is Hello Fresh. This Gmail ad promotes

Hello Fresh’s meal service to users in their inboxes.The ad offers a unique code that users can

use to sign up for 16 free meals. The ad also promotes their food as being fancy dining at home

with no dress code.

What makes this ad a good advertising campaign example?

HelloFresh is a great example of creating an engaging ad campaign that entices people to take

advantage of their offer. The tagline is creative and appeals to users who want to have good

food but don’t want to have to go out to get it.

Types of advertising campaigns

 Search engines: One of the most popular places to run online ad campaigns is

through search engineslike Google. These text-based ads, known as pay-per-click (PPC)

ads, appear at the top of search results to drive qualified traffic.

 Third-party websites: Display ads are visual advertisements that appear on other websites.

These websites are part of Google’s Display Network. You can create visual ads that appear

in the margins of these websites, within the text on their pages, and more.

 Social media: Social media ads are visual ads that appears in users’ newsfeeds as they scroll

through content. These ads are highly targeted, so you promote your business to people most

interested in what you offer.

 YouTube: YouTube ads are a form of display ads where you showcase video ads within ad

content on YouTube. These ads can appear at the beginning, middle, or end of video content

people watch.

 Email: Gmail ads are ads that appear at the top of users’ inboxes and look like another email

in their inbox. These ads only appear on desktop inboxes.

In addition to online advertising campaigns, you can also run ads through traditional channels

like:

 Print ads: Print ads appear in places like newspapers or flyers. These ads enable you to

promote your business to people in your local community.

 Radio ads: Radio advertisements are played between songs on a radio station. These ads can

help you reach people as they commute to work, school, and more.

 Television ads: TV ads enable you to reach people as they’re watching their favorite

programs. You can also invest in in-stream ads to promote your business to people as they

stream shows through apps like Hulu.