What does a public relations manager do?

A public relations manager is responsible for monitoring the public relations department to boost its brand image and attract potential clients through press releases and media coverage. They work closely with the marketing team, developing marketing campaigns and promotional strategies for creating brand awareness. Public relations managers maintain the company's presence on various social media platforms, responding to the customers' inquiries and concerns regarding the company's goods and services. A public relations manager must have excellent communication and leadership skills, especially in identifying business opportunities to increase revenues and profitability.
Public relations manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real public relations manager resumes:
- Manage social media - provide content ideas, monitor FB and Instagram activity.
- Manage events and promotions; create Christmas event, manage twitter account and make marketing plans.
- Lead a successful rebranding effort to transition the organization into a premier corporate training provider in SoCal.
- Lead a rebranding and revitalization of the intranet by focusing on improving internal communication, search capabilities, and branding elements.
- Interview featured alumni, manage copywriting staff and editorial calendar, and coordinate photography.
- Maintain strong working relationships across all departments to manage successful on-site opportunities, content and multimedia asset development and spokesperson requests.
- Network with prospective clients on LinkedIn.
- Define strategy and content for online presence, including firm web site, LinkedIn, Wikipedia.
- Compose and edit press releases, pitches, save the date, biographies, radio spots and messaging documents.
- Work with technical, sales and marketing teams to develop and analyze ROI, CPC, SEO and other success metrics.
- Outline speeches and PowerPoint presentations for company executives.
- Create PowerPoint presentations; arrange executive speaking engagements.
- Maintain website by blogging and revising company material.
- Implement all marketing and advertising for fraternity recruitment.
- Create and maintain company Facebook page with active community engagement.
Public relations manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 20% of Public Relations Managers are proficient in Press Releases, Web Content, and Pr Campaigns. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Leadership skills, and Organizational skills.
We break down the percentage of Public Relations Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Press Releases, 20%
Supervised public relations firm and graphic design freelancers to generate compelling campaigns, marketing collateral, press releases and media opportunities.
- Web Content, 5%
Served as copywriter and editor for internal and external newsletters, web content, video and presentation scripts, etc.
- Pr Campaigns, 4%
Directed initiative to allow internationally located market teams to define unique, region-specific media and PR campaigns.
- Marketing Campaigns, 4%
Increased targeted online following by 310 percent using Facebook and Twitter marketing campaigns that strengthened brand awareness and competitive position.
- Digital Marketing, 4%
Managed digital marketing efforts leveraging social media to inform fans of upcoming shows.
- Facebook, 3%
Created and maintained company Facebook page with active community engagement.
"press releases," "web content," and "pr campaigns" are among the most common skills that public relations managers use at work. You can find even more public relations manager responsibilities below, including:
Communication skills. One of the key soft skills for a public relations manager to have is communication skills. You can see how this relates to what public relations managers do because "managers deal with the public regularly; therefore, they must be friendly enough to build a rapport with, and receive cooperation from, their media contacts and donors." Additionally, a public relations manager resume shows how public relations managers use communication skills: "provided a wide range of media relations and crisis communications services for public sector clients, nonprofit organizations and professional associations. "
Leadership skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling public relations manager duties is leadership skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "public relations and fundraising managers often lead large teams of specialists or fundraisers and must be able to guide their activities." According to a public relations manager resume, here's how public relations managers can utilize leadership skills in their job responsibilities: "advised division and state leadership on crisis communication issues and policies. "
Organizational skills. public relations managers are also known for organizational skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to public relations manager responsibilities, because "public relations and fundraising managers are often in charge of running several events at the same time, requiring superior organizational skills." A public relations manager resume example shows how organizational skills is used in the workplace: "manage social media plan, writing, seeking images and maintaining organizational message for facebook, twitter and instagram. "
Problem-solving skills. A big part of what public relations managers do relies on "problem-solving skills." You can see how essential it is to public relations manager responsibilities because "managers sometimes must explain how the company or client is handling sensitive issues." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical public relations manager tasks: "evaluated roi focused market pricing and market price solutions for entry into commercial markets. "
Speaking skills. A commonly-found skill in public relations manager job descriptions, "speaking skills" is essential to what public relations managers do. Public relations manager responsibilities rely on this skill because "public relations and fundraising managers regularly speak on behalf of their organization." You can also see how public relations manager duties rely on speaking skills in this resume example: "produced press conferences, delivered media training and performed as spokesman with business and trade press. "
Writing skills. While "writing skills" is last on this skills list, don't underestimate its importance to public relations manager responsibilities. Much of what a public relations manager does relies on this skill, seeing as "managers must be able to write well-organized and clear press releases and speeches." Here is a resume example of how this skill is used in the everyday duties of public relations managers: "directed the public relations efforts for clients, including writing press releases, developing pitching strategies and creating media lists. "
The three companies that hire the most public relations managers are:
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Public relations manager vs. Manager of corporate communications
A manager of corporate communications is primarily responsible for overseeing the external and internal communications in a company, ensuring everything is running smoothly. They are also responsible for managing marketing communications and public relations, and even developing various marketing content. There are also instances where they must handle a company's social media platforms, review communication materials, and provide progress reports of different projects and programs. Furthermore, as a manager, it is essential to lead and encourage team members, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a public relations manager are more likely to require skills like "web content," "digital marketing," "instagram," and "press materials." On the other hand, a job as a manager of corporate communications requires skills like "project management," "strategic communications," "employee engagement," and "executive communications." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Managers of corporate communications earn the highest salaries when working in the manufacturing industry, with an average yearly salary of $104,720. On the other hand, public relations managers are paid more in the technology industry with an average salary of $114,540.The education levels that managers of corporate communications earn slightly differ from public relations managers. In particular, managers of corporate communications are 3.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a public relations manager. Additionally, they're 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Public relations manager vs. Director, customer relations
Director of Customer Relations is responsible for leading the design and improvement of an organization's overall customer service experience. Their duties include developing customer service budget, driving customer service process improvements, implementing customer service agents, managing email and telephony customer service routing, and creating training programs for customer service staff. They are responsible for improving customer service performance metrics, overseeing key change management projects, and establishing a customer service roadmap. The Director of customer relations also helps in developing recruitment initiatives to attract top talents.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that public relations manager responsibilities requires skills like "web content," "pr campaigns," "marketing campaigns," and "digital marketing." But a director, customer relations might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "customer relations," "leveraged," "government relations," and "payroll."
Directors, customer relations earn a higher average salary than public relations managers. But directors, customer relations earn the highest pay in the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $124,365. Additionally, public relations managers earn the highest salaries in the technology with average pay of $114,540 annually.directors, customer relations earn similar levels of education than public relations managers in general. They're 2.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for public relations managers in the next 3-5 years?
Public relations manager vs. Campaign manager
Campaign managers are responsible for developing, executing, and managing marketing campaigns for events, products, and services targeting consumers or organizations. These professionals typically collaborate with external agencies in the preparation and execution of campaigns. They perform other duties that may include managing the measurement and tracking of marketing campaigns, writing, proofreading, and editing copy for promotional materials, and maintaining regular measurement of the campaigns' ROI. Campaign managers are also expected to evaluate existing marketing campaigns and be up-to-date on the latest marketing trends.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, public relations managers are more likely to have skills like "web content," "fact sheets," "external communications," and "corporate communications." But a campaign manager is more likely to have skills like "email marketing," "email campaigns," "integrated marketing," and "campaign management."
Campaign managers make a very good living in the technology industry with an average annual salary of $86,390. On the other hand, public relations managers are paid the highest salary in the technology industry, with average annual pay of $114,540.When it comes to education, campaign managers tend to earn similar degree levels compared to public relations managers. In fact, they're 1.7% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.3% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Public relations manager vs. Communications director
A communications director is responsible for monitoring and supervising the overall media relations from internal to external communications. A communications director's duties include managing campaigns, providing organizational updates to the employees, supporting social media marketing, developing effective communication strategies to build the organization's reputation, and efficiently leading team members in handling events that represent the business. Communications directors must have strong leadership and communication skills to provide support for the company's daily operations and strategies.
Types of public relations manager
Updated January 8, 2025











