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The Powerful Link Between PR and Politics

Do we understand why political parties have so much influence in our society? That is because of the usage and power of Public Relations. By leveraging on communication strategies and tools given by PR firms, political candidates are able to alter the perceptions of South Africans successfully.

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The role of Public Relations in shaping political campaigns

Political campaigns are efforts that a party uses to gain visibility and trust of the public in order to influence their voting decisions. They usually target a specific community and therefore, will try by all means to do good in their eyes to earn trust and showcase their service delivery capabilities should they be voted to rule.

Public relations serve as the backbone of political campaigns, shaping perceptions, moulding narratives, and ultimately influencing outcomes. Let us dive into the steps PR Professionals take to ensure a successful political campaign shall we.

Step 01: Public Relations professionals must start by researching and understanding the political landscape, know current and prospective voters of a political party to determine what they can do to address their issues, assess past elections to see where to improve and lastly look at their viable political opponents to see what they have achieved and how they can better improve on what they have touched on. By compiling all this information, they can use it as a foundation of their campaign strategy.

Step 02: They must come up with a goal the political party must obtain by the end of the campaign. For example, they must check the total number of the population in different districts, the number of votes they need to accumulate to win the elections plus the expected turnout they are aiming for.

Step 03: When PR professionals understand the party’s number of voters and prospective ones, they will have a targeting strategy that will influence the public voting decisions. The analysis and use of different and relevant communication channels will be a valuable starting point because their voters user behavior will be crucial for this step. For example, digital media will be beneficial to the younger and business focused targets as this is a realm they spend most of their time in. On the other hand, traditional media will cater to the older generation and those without internet connection usually in villages and informal settlements.

Step 04: Public relations practitioners must develop a message that will resonate with voters, be truthful, highlight the positive aspects of the party as well as the candidate. The best way to do this would be raising a problem and propose a solution with actionable steps. This is where PR practitioners must use empathy in their communication strategy to show the prospective voters that the party cares for their concerns and needs therefore, will ensure service delivery they have been longing for. An example of this is seen on political manifestos and door to door initiatives.

Step 05: PR Practitioners will build a contact list of valuable journalists, media outlets and influencers that will push the message and build trust from their followers, by posting publications and hosting live videos using the party’s branding. At its core, PR in politics revolves around strategic communication which is crafting messages, managing media relations, and building and protecting the image of candidates.

How companies and CEO's can benefit from understanding the power of Public Relations in politics

  • Opportunities: Understanding PR in politics allows companies and CEOs to identify opportunities for collaboration, partnerships, and business development within the political landscape. By staying informed about political trends, initiatives, and developments, they can leverage opportunities to expand their influence, market presence, and competitive advantage.
  • Reputation Management: Political events and decisions can significantly impact public opinion, which in turn can affect the reputation of companies that collaborate with political parties and their leaders. Understanding PR in politics helps companies and CEOs navigate potentially sensitive issues, mitigate negative perceptions, and build a positive public image. This includes being transparent in times of adversity and timeously addressing public concerns or suspicions that may lead to crisis.
  • Effective crisis Communication: Political controversies can create crises for companies and CEOs, affecting their operations, finances, and public image. PR expertise in politics enables them to respond easily and effectively to crisis situations, managing communication with stakeholders, preserving trust and credibility.

Companies can follow these 5 PR strategies for their own campaigns and initiatives

  • Extensive Research: Public Relations practitioners conduct thorough research before going through with any initiative. This is to better understand the loophole in the topic of interest, the audience that will receive the message and why, to outline the prospective impact of the message on the audience and find relevant channels (whether digital or traditional) their audience is using to share the message. Their research strategy usually includes media monitoring, experiments, surveys and interviews. This will help develop a clear communication strategy for a business campaign.
  • Creating quality press content: The power of quality content is unmatched. It differentiates a company from others, provides free value to the audience and leads to brand trust and credibility. Media is always ready to pick-up unique and eye-caching content, you can easily build relationships with journalists and media personalities that can enhance your company/brand presence. In this new digital age, companies must leverage on the benefits of SEO friendly content, which yields traffic to your website and social media pages, keeping your audience engaged and ultimately drive sales if that’s your end goal. It is advisable for companies to think like their audience to better create relevant and compelling messages.
  • Monitor and engage: Everyone has their own unique opinion about any campaign they come across, so it is very important to monitor the public perception of your campaign to determine the impact it has even before it ends. It is advisable to keep a record of how people respond to your messages and how it makes them feel. Whatever the outcome, it is best to engage with them and you will find the grey areas that your team might have missed or overlooked. Although it is not easy to change your campaign objectives midway, you can alter your approach. This may involve, using an easier language tone your audience is comfortable with or uses on a daily basis.
  • PR event planning: Public Relations events may be costly but they are one of the most important factors of brand building. They leave a long-lasting impression if done well. Consider things people expect when attending events, so food, an air-conditioned and an aesthetically pleasing venue and an organised team of ushers goes a long way. Your guests will be excited to stay longer and create connections while sharing your event on socials, which in turn creates buzz for your brand.
  • Measure results and improve: Depending on where your campaign took place (digital or physical), always remember to measure the impact of your initiative. This will help see your achievements and areas that need improvement in terms of the tactics and tools used to share your message. Looking at the share of voice, new website traffic and conversions, sales, social media engagements, market surveys, evaluating influencer engagement, Return on Investment and competitor analysis will determine the success of your campaigns and give you new strategies you can employ on your next campaign.

Ethical considerations that should be taken into account when using Public Relations tactics in politics

Ethics are the most important principles to consider when engaging with other people. Therefore, PR professionals must always involve a code of ethics in every tactic they employ, especially in politics. The South African political landscape has always been seen as unethical by South Africans because the ruling party has never delivered on the “promises” they make as they ask for votes. PR practitioners must consider the following ethics in their practice:

  • Honesty: It is unethical to promote political agendas through lies. Therefore, Public Relation practitioners must share honest information to gain organic and long-lasting public trust because people will be able to relate to your party objectives only if you tell the truth. It is easier to fulfil promises that were made in truth as they always remain realistic.
  • Loyalty: A PR practitioner must be loyal to those they wish to represent because it makes their roles easier to navigate. Imagine your representative is serving two parties, it is easy to mix-match information during press conferences which will lead to the public questioning the credibility of your political party and further damaging the reputation of the practitioner.
  • Advocacy using Channels of Communication: Practitioners must always communicate with their audience in a manner that shows who they are representing especially on social media, to avoid corrupting the integrity of channels and backlashing other competitors unethically.
  • Fairness: The PR practitioners must always ensure their messages remain fair and free of racial discrimination. This highlights the objectives of a political party clearly without having to drag others through the mud to gain votes.

Thank you for reading our blog, you’ve made it so far because of your interest and resilience.

Please give us a call on: 010 065 2667 /+27 73 375 6375 and we’ll deliver PR strategies on a silver platter.

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