If you’ve been thinking about how to boost your brand visibility and extend your reach, there’s a good chance that you’ve come across different marketing and PR solutions. However, if you’re finding that you’re not sure how PR and marketing are different, then don’t worry! This is a question that us PRs often get asked: what is the difference between PR and marketing?
On the surface, both seem to be very similar, with almost identical goals. Both are a communications technique and both are designed to maximise your brand reach, getting your name in front of as many consumers as possible. But there are plenty of differences when it comes to the execution of the campaigns, as well as slightly different end goals.
The main difference is their goals. While both want to boost your brand visibility, their reasons for doing so are very different. Marketing is designed to support the sales team: all marketing communication efforts are intended to generate as many leads as possible and increase sales.
This is why marketers will often invest in advertising and sales-focused communications. It will tend to be very product or services focused, telling consumers about them and why they should purchase it, without anything deeper. Marketing is one of the most important channels of communication for businesses as sales is where their revenue comes from.
PR, however, is a little more nuanced. It’s not purely about selling (although this can often be a happy side effect) but instead is more about creating a story around your brand. It’s designed to create a favourable image for your business in the eyes of the public and the media. Of course, there is plenty of overlap between these two goals, so it always helps to make sure your PR is supported by marketing and vice versa.
One of the key differences between PR and marketing is the type of communications they use. We’ve already mentioned how marketing uses advertising and sponsored posts to reach customers. They do this as these paid-for options guarantee that the messaging will reach a certain number of people and for marketers, that’s the most important thing, quantity of leads.
However, for PR, it’s not just about how many people see your messaging. It’s also about making sure your message builds trust and your reputation. This is why many PR activities focus on channels that are earned or gratis, rather than paid-for.
For example, if a brand has been featured positively in a national newspaper, magazine, broadcast news or another form of news media, without the company having to pay for inclusion, then readers and viewers are more likely to believe that they deserve to be featured. Therefore, they’re likely to consider them a reputable brand, with a strong level of expertise.
The reasons for PR go beyond just making sales as well. PR is diverse, as there are multiple different strategies and materials you can use, from press releases, case studies and thought leadership articles to reviews, features and much more. This allows for greater depth of messaging and lets you build your reputation with different audience groups, such as customers, the media and the wider industry.
As marketing is a sales-driven strategy, it is driven by ROI (return on investment) and brands like to see their investment pay off relatively quickly. PR, however, is more of a long-term strategy, gradually building your reputation and brand image over time.
So, if you’ve been looking to give your brand visibility a boost while making sure its public image is also looked after, then perhaps you should be considering investing in a PR campaign, rather than a purely marketing strategy. If this is the case, then why not give us a call today, and see how our PR expertise can help you achieve your goals, whatever they may be!
Email our Director Lydia Drukarz: lydia@wavelengthpr.com or call her on: 07977 454180.
Image by Markus Freise at Unsplash.