Key Differences Between Marketing and Public Relations

1. Key Differences Between Marketing and Public Relations You will often find Public Relations Firms that also offer marketing. Yet, most marketing firms do not offer public relations. In many instances, general information about promoting your company or brand will use these worlds almost interchangeably. However, public relations and marketing are two very different things. Let’s begin by examining the basic definitions. Public Relations: The professional maintenance of a favorable public image by a company, other organization, or famous person Marketing: The action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising Part of the confusion between the two is a result of our ever evolving and technological world. Social media, especially, can make the distinction a bit blurry. In small business and for entrepreneurs, it is even becoming more common to hear the terms combined into, “marketing and PR” as though they are one cohesive thing to be concerned about. While

2. they can overlap, there are some key distinctions. Audience & Purpose Intended audience and the purpose for reaching them is one of the first places where social media muddies the waters between the two disciplines. In the basic term, the intended audience for marketing is potential customers. The purpose of the message is to get them to purchase a product or service. On the other hand, the audience for public relations is anyone who is aware of or has an interest in your company or brand. The purpose of a Public Relations Specialist is simply to grow brand awareness and foster a favorable opinion of the company. This is often done through sharing press releases about the company or providing some sort of information that establishes the company as an expert in their given field. So, let’s say a company shares a social media post on Facebook. Is it marketing or PR? If it is done with the intent to directly sell, it’s marketing. If it’s done simply to inform your audience more about the company without specifically selling something in that moment, it’s public relations. While public relations can lead to marketing, there is a distinction. Audience and immediate intended purpose can help decipher this. Measurement & Metrics The intended purpose of either marketing or public relations is, of course, a return on investments. However, how these are measured is quite different. In terms of marketing, there is typically a designated activity that can be tracked to see how many sales it generates. There is also a return on investment inherent in public relations activity or hiring a public relations firm but, it is not always as easy to track and specifically measure. Let’s return to the social media example. If you run a specific Instagram or Facebook advertisement to gain immediate clients or sales for your product, that is marketing. In this case, your return on investment is easily measured in dollars of sales versus the amount you

3. spent on the ad. However, a Public Relations Specialist may also run a paid ad just to generate more interest in your business or get your business page more followers and attention. Here, the metric would be the number of new followers or interaction. While that is a quantifiable measurement, it’s not a monetary measure. It’s not something that can be easily analyzed against the amount of money spent. Whether looking for a marketing or Public Relations Firm, or both, or even going it alone, beginning to understand the difference between the two can help you successfully plan the correct strategy and understand the outcomes you should expect.