Community Relations Is Vital to Public Relations

Public relations are all about the mutually beneficial relationship between an organization and its publics. In every organization in the world, the community is included as a public. Because of this, organizations and the public relations professionals who represent these companies, must identify, establish, and maintain a strong, trusting relationship with their communities.Building a relationship with the community will create positive results in the reactions to your company's promotions. The community will become a supporter and user of your company's products and/or services. Community relations are a huge part of brand building as well. Building brand awareness with your company's community can become viral, which can result in national brand awareness of your products and/or services. This relationship will also come in handy in times of a company crisis. If you've already established a valid, two-way, trusting relationship with your communities then they're more likely to be understanding and forgiving when your company makes mistakes (as all companies do from time to time). The benefits to building a corporate-community relationship are endless.

Now that you understand this importance, you may be wondering, "How can I go about creating this relationship from scratch?" Building a real trusting relationship can take time, but any company can do it. Here are my top three tactics used in creating a community-company relationship:I'd first recommend talking to the CEO or President about becoming a part of local organizations. For an example, becoming part of your local Chamber of Commerce. By joining your local Chamber of Commerce, your company will network with other local businesses, potential customers, and the community. Your company will be informed of any upcoming events within the community, of which your company may want to be a part of.Next, participate in local philanthropies. By becoming a donor, sponsor, or volunteer for local charities, your company will put out the image of being community oriented and a helper. Your company won't come across as greedy or money hungry. On the charities' websites, they will usually have a page with sponsors' logos, which may even link to your company's website. This will get your company recognized within the community.Last, get online! In today's society, the internet and social networking are everywhere and your company must participate or get lost. As I've mentioned before, you not only have your local community, but also an online community, which consists of the local community and others. Building an online presence is the best way to create that two-way communication. Create a company Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Blog, LinkedIn, etc. Make your social networking interesting and of use to your communities. Give them information they want to know, provide fast news, create contests, and make giveaways. All are incentives for the community to follow your social media outlets and engage in communication with your company.

These are my favorite concepts in building relationships with communities, though there are many more. Beginning with these three tactics will be of great use and success for you. Remember these tactics and the benefits they can bring to your company when expanding your company's image! How to save your marriage