Marketing vs. PR for Small Businesses
There is a lot of overlap between marketing and PR which makes it hard to define exactly what makes them different.
Even as a bonafide publicist, many of my clients have had me report directly to their marketing lead.
But trust me, marketing and PR are different.
In general, I think of marketing as an umbrella term for all things communication and PR is a specific type of communication involving earned media.
To have a successful communications plan, businesses need both. Imagine getting a wave of great media attention but not having a great website for your customers to shop or an email marketing campaign to keep their interest. All of these pieces fit together to get the word out there and customers in your door.
Let’s look at a few key ways marketing and PR compare.
Marketing vs. PR Goals
Marketing and PR both have the same goal of getting the word out there about a company’s products and services.
They differ in the type of attention they are seeking.
Marketers speak directly to the customer through an advertisement or some other direct campaign. Publicists will work to get media attention, which amplifies and gives credibility to the company’s message and expertise.
Simply put, the goal of marketing is to directly connect with the customer and the goal of PR is to use the media to connect with the customer.
Marketing vs. PR Strategies
Marketing and PR use very different strategies to achieve their goals. The main difference between the two is that you generally need to pay for marketing whereas PR is earned.
Most marketing strategies require money to get started. Think of buying air time for a commercial, launching an advertising campaign on social media, or hosting an event for your customers. There are so many creative ways to market your brand to customers, but they’re going to cost.
With PR, you may need to pay for a PR course or hire a publicist to get started, but from that point on, there’s rarely any cost associated with getting media attention.
Media attention is earned when your story is newsworthy and all it takes to get your story in the news is typically just a few emails.
Marketing vs. PR Metrics
There is a huge difference in how marketing and PR are measured. Generally, marketing is more quantitative, and PR is more qualitative.
For example, if you are running a Facebook campaign, you’ll be able to measure exactly how many likes, clicks, and customers you get from that advertisement. This makes it easy to calculate your ROI and see how well the ad connected with customers.
Great PR will boost your brand awareness and credibility. The way you measure your success in PR is:
A) How many placements you earn
B) The quality of those media placements
C) How well the public reacts to it
All of these are relatively subjective. For example, landing ten media placements across various niche blogs may be quantitatively larger, but a single placement on the front page of a national magazine may do more for your business. Then again, if those ten niche blogs have the utmost respect of their followers, that could translate into more sales than the magazine placement that raised awareness among a general audience.
Still, you can always mine for more precise metrics such as the number of page views or if you have more advanced analytics set up, you might be able to track where your traffic is coming from to determine if a placement is getting traction for your brand.
Marketing vs. PR Costs
You can equally spend a little on marketing and PR or a lot. A DIY PR campaign will cost virtually zero. Sending a marketing email will also cost next to nothing. And on the other end of the spectrum, you can throw unlimited amounts of money at marketing just as much as you can at a PR firm to get you media attention.
The difference is what happens after you finish the campaign. When a marketing campaign is over, the ads are taken offline, the event is over, and it all comes to an end. Media placements, however, have longevity. With most media being online, that placement continues to live on well after you have ended your campaign.