The Stakeholders in Public Relations

Stakeholders play a cent­ral role in pub­lic relations.

In pub­lic rela­tions, we typ­ic­ally seg­ment three dif­fer­ent types of audi­ences: pub­lics, influ­en­cers, and stake­hold­ers. They over­lap to some extent — but are used for dif­fer­ent purposes.

The stake­hold­er mod­el (as described in detail below) is so import­ant that our pro­fes­sion­al spe­cial­isa­tions are named after each major stake­hold­er group.

Here we go:

The PR Stakeholder Model

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The Stakeholders in Public Relations

In pub­lic rela­tions (PR), we often dis­cuss stake­hold­ers. And our PR spe­cial­isa­tions are named based on which PR stake­hold­er group we’re respons­ible for managing. 

“In a cor­por­a­tion, a stake­hold­er is a mem­ber of ‘groups without whose sup­port the organ­isa­tion would cease to exist’, as defined in the first usage of the word in a 1963 intern­al memor­andum at the Stanford Research Institute. The the­ory was later developed and cham­pioned by R. Edward Freeman in the 1980s. Since then it has gained wide accept­ance in busi­ness prac­tice and in the­or­ising relat­ing to stra­tegic man­age­ment, cor­por­ate gov­ernance, busi­ness pur­pose and cor­por­ate social respons­ib­il­ity (CSR).”
Source: Wikipedia ¹Stakeholder (cor­por­ate). (2023, October 27). In Wikipedia. https://​en​.wiki​pe​dia​.org/​w​i​k​i​/​S​t​a​k​e​h​o​l​d​e​r​_​(​c​o​r​p​o​r​ate)

The PR Stakeholder Model

• Corporate Communications = External and intern­al pub­lics, busi­ness journ­al­ists, reg­u­lat­ory insti­tu­tions, part­ners, sup­pli­ers, vendors, etc.
• Investor Relations (IR) = Shareholders, fin­an­cial mar­kets, mar­ket ana­lysts, fin­an­cial insti­tu­tions, trade journ­al­ists etc.
• Media Relations = Journalists, edit­ors, influ­en­cers, etc.
• Digital PR = Inbound web traffic, brand com­munit­ies, sub­scribers, fans, fol­low­ers, influ­en­cers, social net­works, etc.
• Public Affairs (PA) = Voters, polit­ic­al journ­al­ists, polit­ic­al ana­lysts, colum­nists, interest groups, etc.
• Lobbying = Politicians, legis­lat­ors, gov­ern­ment offi­cials, com­mit­tees, influ­en­cers, etc.
• Internal Communications = Coworkers, poten­tial recruits, etc.
• Crisis Communications = Crisis vic­tims, wor­ried pub­lics, the gen­er­al pub­lic, cowork­ers, journ­al­ists, influ­en­cers, cus­tom­ers, share­hold­ers, etc.
• Marketing PR = Potential cus­tom­ers, exist­ing cus­tom­ers, trade journ­al­ists, mem­bers, affil­i­ates, etc.
• Industry PR (B2B) = B2B cli­ents, B2B pro­spects, trade journ­al­ists, trade organ­isa­tions, niche influ­en­cers, etc.

Developing and main­tain­ing rela­tion­ships with vari­ous stake­hold­ers is a sig­ni­fic­ant chal­lenge for PR pro­fes­sion­als since their inform­a­tion needs are typ­ic­ally very dif­fer­ent. ²A wide­spread mis­con­cep­tion is that the PR func­tion only deals with journ­al­ists (Media Relations) and product pro­mo­tion (Marketing PR). However, such work rep­res­ents only a tiny frac­tion of all the … Continue read­ing

“Public rela­tions dis­tin­guishes itself from mar­ket­ing by focus­ing on the stake­hold­er-organ­iz­a­tion rela­tion­ship, which com­prises mutu­al ori­ent­a­tion around a com­mon interest point and a mul­ti­pli­city of stakes.”
Source: Public Relations Review ³Smith, B. (2012). Public rela­tions iden­tity and the stake­hold­er – organ­iz­a­tion rela­tion­ship: A revised the­or­et­ic­al pos­i­tion for pub­lic rela­tions schol­ar­ship. Public Relations Review, 38, 838 – 845. … Continue read­ing

Learn more: Stakeholders in Public Relations

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Groups With Information Needs

The PR func­tion is not just about man­aging media rela­tions or mar­ket­ing PR; it’s about com­pre­hens­ively man­aging rela­tion­ships with diverse stake­hold­er groups, each with unique inform­a­tion requirements.

The PR stake­hold­er mod­el includes vari­ous groups such as busi­ness journ­al­ists, reg­u­lat­ory insti­tu­tions, share­hold­ers, fin­an­cial mar­kets, polit­ic­al entit­ies, and intern­al cowork­ers. Each of these groups has dis­tinct inform­a­tion­al needs and priorities. 

For instance, while investor rela­tions (IR) focus on deliv­er­ing fin­an­cial per­form­ance and strategy inform­a­tion to share­hold­ers and fin­an­cial insti­tu­tions, digit­al PR tar­gets brand com­munit­ies and online fol­low­ers with enga­ging con­tent that enhances brand image and loyalty. 

Similarly, intern­al com­mu­nic­a­tions cater to the inform­a­tion­al needs of cowork­ers and poten­tial recruits, ensur­ing they are aligned with the organ­isa­tion’s goals and cul­ture. This mul­ti­pli­city of stake­hold­ers neces­sit­ates a PR approach that is diverse in its reach and spe­cif­ic in its messaging.

The chal­lenge for PR pro­fes­sion­als lies in effect­ively identi­fy­ing and address­ing these var­ied needs. It involves craft­ing tailored com­mu­nic­a­tion strategies that res­on­ate with each stake­hold­er group while main­tain­ing a cohes­ive over­all mes­sage that aligns with the organ­isa­tion’s objectives. 

This requires under­stand­ing each stake­hold­er­’s per­spect­ive, interests, and com­mu­nic­a­tion preferences.

PR Resource: More PR Theories

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Doctor Spin’s PR School: PR Theories

• Public Relations Definition
• The Four Models of Public Relations
• PR Approaches: Excellence, Rhetorical, and Critical
• Priming in PR: The Subtle Art of Pre-Suasion
• Framing in PR: How To Bypass Confirmation Bias
• Kirk Hallahan’s Five Types of Publics
• The Stakeholders in Public Relations
• The Influencers in Public Relations
• The Publics in Public Relations
• The PESO Model: Paid, Earned, Shared, and Owned

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