What does a public relations consultant do?
A public relations consultant represents an organization and is the company's way to communicate to the public their plans, decisions, and motivations. They both advertise and show the company's personality and create familiarity and trust. The public relations consultant's role is to create all the PR materials needed to accomplish these goals. It means writing press releases, online content, speeches, and also working with the marketing and advertising team to create copy that will evoke the interest of the public. The ultimate goal is to gain customers and thus increase sales.
Public relations consultant responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real public relations consultant resumes:
- Maintain strong working relationships across all departments to manage successful on-site opportunities, content and multimedia asset development and spokesperson requests.
- Create the first official Instagram account for the fine arts galleries.
- Create highly visible content by utilizing a wide variety of social media platforms and SEO trends.
- Plan and execute all web, SEO, PPC, email, and social media campaigns.
- Leverage Facebook to create digital referral network and increase visibility in consumer market.
- Foster an energetic public discussion through Facebook and videos, exciting visual displays, carefully target humor and thought-provoking questions.
- Maintain strong working relationships across all departments to manage successful on-site opportunities, content and multimedia asset development and spokesperson requests.
- Supervise design, editorial and production of internal staff newsletter and additional CSS publications/communications materials for print/electronic media.
Public relations consultant skills and personality traits
We calculated that 19% of Public Relations Consultants are proficient in Press Releases, Web Content, and Strategic Communications. They’re also known for soft skills such as Interpersonal skills, Organizational skills, and Problem-solving skills.
We break down the percentage of Public Relations Consultants that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Press Releases, 19%
Crafted press releases and organized publicity efforts for the international educational advocacy group.
- Web Content, 12%
Crafted original web content for site launch and created a comprehensive media library of photographs, video and performance.
- Strategic Communications, 10%
Partner closely with each company's executive management team to lead and execute strategic communications, public relations and marketing programs.
- Community Outreach, 5%
Develop public relations and branding strategy for clients * Coordinate community outreach and networking opportunities * Design special events and conferences
- Facebook, 4%
Fostered an energetic public discussion through Facebook and videos, exciting visual displays, carefully targeted humor and thought-provoking questions.
- Event Planning, 3%
Coordinated marketing and public relations initiatives, including special event planning, for ten pharmacies throughout Pennsylvania and Arizona.
Most public relations consultants use their skills in "press releases," "web content," and "strategic communications" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential public relations consultant responsibilities here:
Interpersonal skills. The most essential soft skill for a public relations consultant to carry out their responsibilities is interpersonal skills. This skill is important for the role because "public relations specialists deal with the public and the media regularly." Additionally, a public relations consultant resume shows how their duties depend on interpersonal skills: "provided the highest level of customer service and client relations which are based on outstanding communication and excellent interpersonal skills. "
Organizational skills. Many public relations consultant duties rely on organizational skills. "public relations specialists are often in charge of managing several events or communications at the same time, which requires excellent skills in coordinating arrangements.," so a public relations consultant will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways public relations consultant responsibilities rely on organizational skills: "developed a seminar series as a community outreach effort, resulting in goodwill and advancement of organizational mission. "
Problem-solving skills. This is an important skill for public relations consultants to perform their duties. For an example of how public relations consultant responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "public relations specialists sometimes must explain how a company or client is handling sensitive issues." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a public relations consultant: "administrated online solutions (including website development, facebook page)".
Speaking skills. public relations consultant responsibilities often require "speaking skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "public relations specialists regularly speak on behalf of clients or their organization." This resume example shows what public relations consultants do with speaking skills on a typical day: "spearhead strategic communications and serve as an on-camera spokesperson. "
Writing skills. A commonly-found skill in public relations consultant job descriptions, "writing skills" is essential to what public relations consultants do. Public relations consultant responsibilities rely on this skill because "public relations specialists must be able to write well-organized and clear press releases, speeches, and social media posts." You can also see how public relations consultant duties rely on writing skills in this resume example: "provide businesses and organizations in a wide range of sectors with high-impact marketing and public relations consulting and copywriting services. "
The three companies that hire the most public relations consultants are:
- Cambridge Health Alliance2 public relations consultants jobs
- Trinity Health2 public relations consultants jobs
- Health Alliance2 public relations consultants jobs
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Compare different public relations consultants
Public relations consultant vs. Social media internship
In a social media internship, the primary role is to take part in managing a brand's social media platforms for public relations. One of their primary duties is to craft informative and captivating content while under the supervision and guidelines of a manager or supervisor. Furthermore, there may also be instances where an intern must participate in devising strategies that would bring more public recognition to the brand, such as social media campaigns to boost sales and improve client base.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, public relations consultant responsibilities require skills like "strategic communications," "facebook," "press materials," and "external communications." Meanwhile a typical social media internship has skills in areas such as "facebook insights," "social media marketing," "hootsuite," and "google analytics." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Social media interns earn the highest salaries when working in the education industry, with an average yearly salary of $33,136. On the other hand, public relations consultants are paid more in the media industry with an average salary of $55,422.The education levels that social media interns earn slightly differ from public relations consultants. In particular, social media interns are 7.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a public relations consultant. Additionally, they're 0.6% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Public relations consultant vs. Account coordinator
An account coordinator assists account executives by providing day-to-day administrative support such as preparing and filing sales contracts and reports. As coordinators, they must maintain a good relationship with their clients and vendors by addressing issues and with regular communication. Account coordinators must possess essential skills such as a strong business administration background, adept at both written and verbal communication, and excellent time management. They are also responsible for researching prospective clients and produce client feedbacks to their account management teams.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, public relations consultant responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "web content," "strategic communications," "community outreach," and "external communications." Meanwhile, an account coordinator has duties that require skills in areas such as "customer service," "data entry," "account management," and "project management." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
On average, account coordinators earn a lower salary than public relations consultants. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, account coordinators earn the most pay in the professional industry with an average salary of $46,894. Whereas public relations consultants have higher pay in the media industry, with an average salary of $55,422.account coordinators earn lower levels of education than public relations consultants in general. They're 6.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.6% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for public relations consultants in the next 3-5 years?
Stefanie Leiter
Assistant Professor of Public Relations, Anderson University
Public relations consultant vs. Marketing communications specialist
A marketing communications specialist is an individual who is responsible for creating all the marketing materials that are distributed to customers to increase brand awareness for the company's products or services. To create these materials, marketing communications specialists must collaborate with graphic design teams. They are required to track their marketing performance so that they can identify ways to improve their marketing strategies. Marketing communications specialists must also set up interviews and press conferences as part of their marketing campaign.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from public relations consultant resumes include skills like "strategic communications," "community outreach," "press materials," and "public relations strategies," whereas a marketing communications specialist is more likely to list skills in "digital marketing," "project management," "marketing campaigns," and "channel marketing. "
Marketing communications specialists make a very good living in the technology industry with an average annual salary of $70,324. On the other hand, public relations consultants are paid the highest salary in the media industry, with average annual pay of $55,422.When it comes to education, marketing communications specialists tend to earn similar degree levels compared to public relations consultants. In fact, they're 1.8% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.6% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Public relations consultant vs. Public affairs officer
Even though a few skill sets overlap between public relations consultants and public affairs officers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a public relations consultant might have more use for skills like "web content," "press materials," "instagram," and "business development." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of public affairs officers require skills like "public affairs guidance," "community relations programs," "news articles," and "government agencies. "
In general, public affairs officers earn the most working in the government industry, with an average salary of $72,319. The highest-paying industry for a public relations consultant is the media industry.public affairs officers reach higher levels of education compared to public relations consultants, in general. The difference is that they're 6.6% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.5% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of public relations consultant
Updated January 8, 2025
