When I started looking for jobs my last semester of college at Western Kentucky University, anticipating graduating with a bachelor's degree in public relations and another in Spanish language, I had no idea where to start – or what industry to choose.
Understandably so, our public relations major included journalism classes, communications classes, marketing classes, advertising classes and the occasional creative writing class. On top of all of that, I was working as an account executive for Imagewest, WKU’s creative agency. To me, the communications lines were blurred, and I wasn’t alone.
It seems like only folks knee-deep (or let’s be real here, neck-deep) in comms truly understand the difference between the various subsets and categories of communications. I have become an expert at explaining the difference between internal and external comms to family members in STEM.
Whether you’re an entrepreneur starting a business and need to know the differences, or a comms professional looking for a resource to share with others who need to know, we’re going to break it down. So, let’s get to it:
A Small Potato’s (Basic) Guide to Differentiating Communications Subsets
(Or, How Syd Explains the Difference Between Her Degree and Her Job to Her Family)
Communications (External)
Let’s start with the broadest (in my opinion) kind of communications. External comms are any and all public-facing communications where the message originates from the company or organization and the desired audience is the public, whether that’s consumers, constituents or the general public. Several subsets of communications fall under this category, such as a brand CEO’s message via social media, email newsletter blast, TV broadcast and website post to consumers.
Investor Relations
While shareholders can also be (and are often) internal, investor relations communications are public facing and available to anyone. The target audience, prospective investors, are those you want to be a part of the team. It’s an all-on-board mindset, focused on goals, meeting those goals and growth.
Marketing
Perhaps one of the most popular communication arts majors, marketing is the strategic method of making a company look good to consumers, from research to implementation. It includes several different kinds of activities and tactics. Branding and advertising fall under the larger umbrella that is “marketing.”
Advertising
Advertising is a subset of marketing. Its primary goal is to promote a product or service of a company or organization rather than the organization itself. These are the folks that shoot commercials and write those jingles that get stuck in your head. One key difference from other types of communications is that advertising is always paid for, whereas many communications methods can occur organically.
Public Relations
Public relations is the most niche and difficult to define of the communications subsets. Where marketing and advertising show off brand(s) and product, culture and fun, public relations manages reputation(s) of a person, place or thing (brand). Public relations is 100% focused on relationships and earning media coverage to manage how a brand appears to the public. In more recent years, public relations has also connected with organic social media marketing and the use of influencers (or content creators) to share their genuine thoughts regarding experiences, products and more.
Public Affairs
This subset of public relations is often most focused on legislative needs, community engagement and reputation in the eyes of constituents. These are the folks that work diligently behind the scenes to ensure that when the sh•t hits the fan, the company, person or organization is protected from potential backlash. For instance, when a candidate bows out of the presidential race, these are the individuals responsible for putting alternative plans in place, composing appropriate messaging for constituents and answering media inquiries with the utmost succinct, calm and curated answers.
Communications (Internal)
If external communications are shared from the organization to the public, then internal communications originate within the company or organization and are shared to an internal audience, usually employees and key internal stakeholders (think board members). Internal/employee communications rely heavily on a comms department’s knowledge of their employees’ values, needs and desires at every level of the organization.
Phew. And there you have it, folks. At least, for the most part.
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