Stop Treating Public Relations Like an Afterthought: Why You Need a Professional on Your Team
Your brand’s reputation doesn’t live in a vacuum it lives online, in real-time, and in the hands of your audience. That’s why public relations and social media aren’t tasks to be tacked onto someone’s job description as an afterthought they are strategic business functions that deserve professional oversight.
Yet, too often, we see companies making a critical mistake: assigning public relations and social media responsibilities to employees with no experience or training in the field. It might be the administrative assistant who’s suddenly in charge of the company’s Instagram. Or the hostess at a restaurant who’s now running the business’s TikTok in between greeting customers. On paper, this might seem efficient. In practice, it dilutes your message, weakens your brand, and puts you at a competitive disadvantage.
Let’s be clear: public relations is not a side hustle.
Imagine asking your accounting team to handle building maintenance, or expecting your HR department to take over product development. You wouldn’t because those roles require specific training, expertise, and strategic thinking. The same logic should apply to public relations and social media. These functions are not about simply posting photos or crafting clever tweets. They’re about shaping narratives, managing reputations, creating engagement, and driving business goals.
The Risks of DIY PR
When untrained employees manage your communications, the results often speak for themselves: inconsistent messaging, missed media opportunities, tone-deaf responses to public feedback, or, worse, a public crisis mishandled because no one knew how to respond. What might seem like a cost-saving decision upfront can end up costing far more in lost credibility, missed opportunities, and brand confusion.
Moreover, when PR and social media are assigned as “extra duties,” they inevitably fall to the bottom of the to-do list. That’s not because your team doesn’t care it’s because they weren’t hired for that purpose. And when a job is nobody’s priority, it gets treated that way. Your public presence becomes reactive instead of proactive, scattered instead of strategic.
Invest in the Experts
Hiring a trained public relations professional brings clarity, consistency, and strategy to your external communications. It ensures your messaging aligns with your business objectives. It means you have someone who can handle media relations, develop campaigns, craft compelling content, manage brand crises, and engage with your audience in a way that builds trust and drives results.
PR professionals aren’t just writers or social media schedulers they are storytellers, crisis managers, brand strategists, and audience analysts. They know how to get your message heard in a crowded marketplace. They understand how to manage reputation in a digital age where perception can change in seconds. And they know how to measure impact, not just impressions.
The Bottom Line
As an executive or business owner, your job is to make smart investments that help your company grow and succeed. Treating public relations as a secondary responsibility is not just a missed opportunity it’s a strategic misstep.
If you want to compete in today’s marketplace, you need a clear voice, a trusted brand, and a proactive strategy. That doesn’t happen by chance it happens when you make public relations a priority, not an afterthought.
So here’s the moral of the story:
Don’t devalue public relations. Don’t undervalue the professionals who make it work. And don’t expect excellence from someone juggling it as a side task. Hire a pro and give your brand the spotlight it deserves.
Standard Advisors Group is a Melville, New York based Public Relations firm founded in 2014. You can contact them at Consult@StandardADV.com or (516) 373-6200.