The Importance of Collaboration in Public Relations

Photo Courtesy of James Madison University

Public relations is a team sport. PR focuses on creating and maintaining relationships between a brand and its publics, but how can you do this without building and maintaining your own relationships within your team and with your clients? There is no PR without collaboration. 

Avoiding Blind Spots 

When working with a client, it’s important to represent their brand as authentically as possible, and this can be difficult from one point of view. Having a collaborative work environment brings a more diverse set of knowledge and creates more points of view. This leads to work that is respectful and accommodates every target audience.  

Generation of Ideas

Brainstorming can be a daunting task, especially in the beginning stages of strategic planning. It can be helpful to have others to discuss ideas. Bouncing ideas around with others can also lead to more creative strategies and tactics. Having a collaborative group especially helps when you have part of an idea, but can’t seem to find the missing piece. 

Diversifying Strategies

Imagine if you were a client. Would you be happy if your PR team were only able to deliver social media templates or flyer copy? Everyone has their areas of strength and areas of weakness, and working in a collaborative setting helps to give the client a diverse strategic plan, not to mention it can help you strengthen areas of improvement.

Better Brand Representation: 

The most important type of collaboration is between the PR practitioners and their clients. Without collaboration, you wouldn’t be able to translate the client’s goals properly. This can look more hands-on, such as weekly check-ins and immediate feedback, or it could be more spread out on a monthly basis. 

At the end of the day, collaborating with others is fun! It’s uplifting to share ideas and create something special. You can also learn a great deal from others about public relations. Whether you as a PR practitioner are communicating with your team or client, just know that collaboration is a good sign that you’re doing the right thing. Remember, there is no “I” in “team”.