As leading PR and Marketing professionals, our clients often ask us what the main differences are between each sector – and, more importantly – what will yield the best results. Both prove effective for increasing brand awareness and, in truth, you can’t market without doing a little PR, and you can’t do PR without a little marketing, particularly with the ever-evolving digital landscape.
In essence, both PR and Marketing demand the same outcome, engaging target audiences in your products or service, whilst making people fall in love with your business. So, to give you greater insight we’ve decided to put PR and Marketing under the microscope and detail what we think are the top 4 biggest points of difference:
The main focus is different
In hindsight, the end game is always the same, to ensure your business is being talked about and seen in all the right places. However, the final outcomes within the PR and Marketing sectors are actually different. The main part of a marketing strategy is to reach target customers and make them think, believe or do some kind of sales focused action. PR, however, is about selling the company or brand by positively managing the communication channels between a company and its stakeholders.
Longevity
Although both sectors can take a large amount of time to put together, marketing campaigns tend to see results in a shorter timeframe than PR. Not that it’s necessarily a bad thing. An effective PR strategy will reap excellent benefits and can be viewed as a long-term investment to consistently develop and promote the reputation of a business, brand or individual across as many relevant communication channels as possible.
Up to date
Both sectors are continuously growing, especially with the rise of digital over print in PR and the ever-changing Google and Social Media algorithms in Marketing. As a result, both PR and Marketing professionals have to be on the ball at all times – where PR professionals have to be readily tuned into the media and latest news announcements, Marketing professionals have to be tuned into the latest tech updates and digital developments.
Different media outlets
Although there are blurred lines between PR and Marketing, there are certain areas in which both professionals will be fluent in. Earned or “free” media is a huge part of the PR professional’s playbook whereas the marketing professional will implement a budget for several activities. For example, paid media plays a major role in the marketer’s campaign strategy and consumes the bulk of most marketing budgets, whereas PR focuses on the creation of engaging content, to be published through third parties including bloggers, journalists and other social influencers.
Whatever sector you operate in, PR and Marketing is vital to your brand’s future growth strategy and in accomplishing your goals and objectives.
If you’re looking to refresh your current brand strategy or want to know more about our PR and Marketing services, get in touch on 0121 306 0996 or email hello@makemorenoise.co.uk for more information.
