This page organizes the public relations guides on this site by industry, so you can go straight to the sector you work in. Each sector has different audiences, regulators and crisis patterns, and each entry below links to a guide built around them. If you are new to the discipline, start with the section on how sector PR differs from general PR.
How does industry PR differ from general PR?
Industry PR differs from general PR because the audiences, rules and risks change by sector. A bank answers to regulators and depositors, a hospital to patients and clinicians, a casino to licensing boards and local communities. The core skills are the same, but the message, the spokesperson and the crisis plan are not. The foundations are covered in media relations, reputation management and the crisis communications foundation.
How should you use these guides?
You should use these guides in three steps. First, read the guide for your own sector to learn its audiences and rules. Second, read the crisis communications foundation, because every sector eventually needs a plan for a bad day. Third, read the AI visibility research for your category, because buyers now ask an AI engine before they visit a website. The sections below follow that order, from the most regulated sectors to the most consumer-facing.
What are the finance and fintech guides?
The finance guides cover how banks, fintech companies and financial firms earn trust and handle risk.
- Financial Services PR is the main guide to communications for the sector.
- Banking and Financial Services PR covers the banking side of the same field.
- The AI visibility research library includes the fintech, robo-advisor and crypto studies.
What are the technology guides?
The technology guides cover software companies and security vendors, where a launch, an outage or a breach can define a reputation.
- Technology Companies PR covers positioning and media for tech brands.
- PR and SaaS Businesses covers software-as-a-service companies.
- Cyber Attack Crisis PR covers communicating during and after a breach.
What are the health and medical guides?
The health guide covers communications where trust, accuracy and regulation matter most. See Medical Industry Public Relations.
What are the travel, hotel and airline guides?
The travel guides cover how destinations, hotels and airlines manage reputation across seasons and incidents.
- The Role of PR in Tourism and Travel is the overview.
- The Role of PR in the Airline Industry's Reputation Management covers airlines.
- How Delta Airlines Mastered Travel PR is a case study in crisis handling and community work.
What are the food and beverage guides?
The food and beverage guide covers launches, trade relationships and consumer trust. See Beer and Beverage Public Relations.
What are the guides for regulated and emerging categories?
These guides cover sectors where advertising is limited or the rules are still changing, so earned media carries more of the load.
- Cannabis Public Relations covers earned media as the core strategy, and the cannabis pillar covers the wider category.
- Casino Public Relations covers regulatory trust, community relations and crisis response.
- Defense Public Relations covers the audiences, trade press and scrutiny the sector faces.
What are the consumer and brand guides?
The consumer guides look at how brands earn the trust of everyday buyers and how big names handle risk.
- Parenting Brand PR covers safety rules, creators and disclosure for family brands.
- Nike Public Relations covers activism, risk and reputation.
- Event Digital Marketing covers filling seats before an event.
What are the politics, Israel and careers guides?
These guides cover public affairs, communications for Israeli companies, and the path into crisis work.
- Brexit Public Relations covers messaging lessons from 2016 to 2020.
- Israel and Middle East Communications covers regional communications.
- Getting Exposure for Israeli Companies covers media strategy for Israeli firms.
- How to Become a Crisis PR Professional is a career guide.
Where do you go from here?
For the AI side of any sector, see the AI visibility research library. For help with a specific industry, 5W runs sector programs, starting with technology PR.
Frequently asked questions
Why organize PR by industry?
Because the audiences and rules differ. A message that works for a software launch can fail for a bank or a hospital, so the guides are written by sector.
Which sector guide should I read first?
Read the one for your own industry, then the crisis communications foundation, since every sector eventually needs a crisis plan.
How often are these guides updated?
Each guide keeps its own publication date, and new sector guides are added as they are written.