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There are 2 major tenets of strategic writing in public relations (PR):
Businesses must communicate with their publics like you and I communicate with each other.
Employing a strategy to become better at something doesn’t imply unethical intent.
The former addresses how PR is driven, and the latter addresses the nature of the drive.
Strategic writing is simply about using words deliberately. This concept is especially relevant to a company with finite resources. There are also many barriers to meaningful PR communications. Usually there is only one shot (the critical first impression) to get a point across. Businesses aren’t able to talk to 100% of their publics individual-by-individual either. Additionally companies are widely restricted to mediated communication—TV, telephone, internet, mail, etc.
Any business with something to lose would do well to stop and plan everything from sincere apologies to simple product announcements! How many chances do you give a business to right a wrong or respond to your issue? If you’re like me the answer is probably not forever. That’s exactly what makes strategic writing important!
I’m aware that some people think strategic writing is inherently a con job… but
that’s a stretch! Are creative writers immoral liars too? Look, writing devices have been used nefariously but no more than any other dirty business tricks (think bribes, “cooking the books”, padding billable hours and so on). What people do with what they know makes the crime not the knowledge itself.
At the end of the day it’s a craft not easily mastered for businesses to communicate with large publics at once. As consumers we don’t always give businesses credit for their communications with us; we take them for granted because “the customer is always right”. Businesses play the game too, employing strategic writing concepts to prepare their messages.