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Building A Strong PR Business: 3 Skills & Character Traits For Success

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  Published in Business and Finance on Thursday, October 23rd 2025 at 9:19 GMT by Forbes
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Building a Strong PR Business: Three Essential Skills and Character Traits for Success

In a rapidly evolving media landscape, public relations remains a cornerstone of brand reputation, stakeholder engagement, and crisis mitigation. Forbes’ latest council piece, “Building a Strong PR Business: 3 Skills and Character Traits for Success,” distills years of industry experience into a clear blueprint for PR professionals looking to thrive. The article frames success around a blend of hard skills—strategic communication, relationship building, and data-driven storytelling—and softer character traits—authenticity, resilience, and curiosity. Below is an in‑depth look at the three skills, the traits that complement them, and practical steps for incorporating these insights into your PR practice.

1. Strategic Communication

What It Means

Strategic communication is the practice of aligning messaging with business objectives and audience needs. It involves planning, messaging design, media targeting, and channel selection. The Forbes article stresses that a PR strategy should not be reactive but proactive, embedding the brand’s core values into every touchpoint.

How to Master It

• Set Clear Objectives: Identify the specific business outcomes—whether it’s brand awareness, lead generation, or customer retention—that your PR efforts should support.
• Audience Segmentation: Use data to segment stakeholders by influence, interest, and media consumption habits.
• Messaging Framework: Craft a hierarchy of messages that starts with the core brand promise and drills down to nuanced talking points for each audience segment.
• Channel Mapping: Choose the right mix of traditional outlets, digital platforms, and emerging media (e.g., podcasts, short‑form video) to maximize reach.

Real‑World Example

A mid‑size tech company leveraged strategic communication by partnering with a niche tech influencer to launch a product. The partnership was built on a messaging framework that highlighted both technical specs and lifestyle appeal, leading to a 30 % increase in website traffic and a 20 % boost in social engagement within the first month.

2. Relationship Building

What It Means

Relationship building goes beyond pitching stories; it’s about cultivating trust with journalists, bloggers, industry analysts, and internal stakeholders. According to the Forbes piece, strong relationships enable smoother media workflows, higher story acceptance rates, and more nuanced insights into audience sentiment.

How to Master It

• Research and Personalization: Know each media contact’s beats, past stories, and preferred communication style.
• Consistent Follow‑Up: Develop a system for following up on pitches, providing additional resources, and acknowledging coverage.
• Mutual Value: Offer journalists exclusive insights, data, or expert commentary in return for coverage, reinforcing a win‑win dynamic.
• Internal Alignment: Coordinate closely with marketing, product, and legal teams to ensure messaging consistency and compliance.

Real‑World Example

A PR agency maintained a dedicated “Relationship Playbook” that tracked journalist preferences and prior interactions. This approach resulted in a 25 % higher placement rate in top‑tier publications compared to previous campaigns.

3. Data‑Driven Storytelling

What It Means

Data‑driven storytelling turns raw numbers into compelling narratives that resonate with audiences. The Forbes article highlights that PR professionals must be comfortable interpreting analytics, market research, and sentiment data to craft stories that are both credible and engaging.

How to Master It

• Metric Selection: Identify key performance indicators (KPIs) such as earned media value, share of voice, or sentiment score.
• Story Contextualization: Translate metrics into a story arc—explain why a figure matters and how it impacts the audience or market.
• Visualization: Use infographics, charts, or short videos to make data accessible to both media and internal stakeholders.
• A/B Testing: Experiment with different framing of the same data to see which resonates most with journalists and audiences.

Real‑World Example

A healthcare PR firm created a dashboard that tracked real‑time patient satisfaction scores. By weaving these data points into a human‑centered narrative about patient experience, they secured feature coverage in a leading health magazine, boosting the client’s brand trust scores by 15 %.

Character Traits That Drive Success

Authenticity

Authenticity is the linchpin of trust in PR. The article stresses that audiences and journalists can quickly detect a façade. Authenticity means staying true to the brand’s voice, admitting mistakes openly, and delivering messages that genuinely reflect company values. PR professionals who prioritize authenticity see higher engagement rates and stronger media relationships.

Resilience

The PR environment is fast‑paced and often unforgiving. Resilience—the capacity to bounce back from setbacks—is highlighted as a vital trait. Whether dealing with a misstep in messaging or a sudden crisis, resilient PR leaders remain composed, adjust tactics swiftly, and learn from each experience. The Forbes piece includes anecdotes of agencies that navigated public backlash by pivoting strategy rather than retreating.

Curiosity

Curiosity fuels continuous learning and innovation. The article notes that curious PR practitioners constantly scan industry trends, experiment with new platforms, and ask probing questions to uncover deeper stories. Curiosity also drives empathy, enabling PR professionals to see the world from the perspective of diverse stakeholders.

Practical Takeaways

1. Audit Your Skills
   Conduct a self‑assessment to determine which of the three skills you excel at and where you need improvement. Use metrics like media placement rates, campaign ROI, or stakeholder survey scores.

2. Embed Character Traits
   Build authenticity, resilience, and curiosity into your daily workflow. Set aside time for reflection, celebrate small wins, and create a “learning log” to capture insights from every campaign.

3. Leverage Tools
   Adopt media monitoring, CRM, and analytics platforms that streamline relationship building and data storytelling. Tools such as Cision, Meltwater, or Brandwatch can provide real‑time insights and automate pitch tracking.

4. Collaborate Across Functions
   Foster cross‑departmental collaboration. A unified approach ensures that marketing, product, and legal teams are all aligned, making your storytelling more cohesive and your relationships more authentic.

5. Measure and Iterate
   Establish a dashboard that tracks KPIs related to each skill and trait. Use the data to refine your strategy continuously, turning every campaign into a learning opportunity.

Conclusion

The Forbes council article underscores that building a strong PR business is not solely about mastering tactics—it’s about cultivating a holistic skill set supported by authentic, resilient, and curious leadership. By embedding strategic communication, relationship building, and data‑driven storytelling into your core practice, and by nurturing the character traits that amplify these skills, PR professionals can navigate the complexities of modern media, secure valuable media coverage, and drive lasting brand impact.