Although public relations and marketing often share the same short- and long-term goals and overlap in some activities, some differences exist.
Marketing: The action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising. A primary way to measure B2B marketing success is lead generation — the more viable leads that marketing brings in, the happier the sales team will be. The marketing team works diligently to drive leads through the funnel until they are handed over to sales to close the deal.
Public Relations: The professional maintenance of a favorable public image by a company, other organization, or famous person. A primary way to measure the success of PR is by tracking media coverage, social media presence and sentiment, and overall brand awareness.
What do these two different fields look like on a daily basis? Well, for marketing, it might be planning an advertising campaign, drafting a newsletter, or conducting market research.
A publicist might be pitching to the media to secure an interview, drafting a press release or contributed article, or securing a speaking session for a client for an upcoming event.
Another way to view it is through different situations. If a crisis happened, such as a problematic viral tweet, PR would have to come to the rescue and be reactive to resolve the issue, minimizing the damage as much as possible.
If there was a drop in sales for a particular product, marketing would be to go-to to brainstorm new ways to promote the product to stand out from competitors.
A strong foundation for a company consists of both; PR and marketing must work together to identify target audiences and align their respective tactics and key messaging to best reach each. A combination of both will help build credibility, reach new audiences, keep consumers engaged, and much more.
Contact us to strategize the best PR and marketing tactics to help you reach your goals!
