For two terms that are often used interchangeably, marketing and public relations (PR) are actually quite different. They’re easy concepts to confuse, as they both tend to aid in the promotion of a business, brand, or individual, but the real difference is the road they take to get there. Public relations and marketing appeal to different audiences using different methods. Going over each of these strategies in some more detail should help clear up any confusion.
What is Marketing?
Marketing is basically the process of evaluating consumer needs and determining how to best accommodate them. One easily recognizable component of marketing is advertisement. I’m sure we’re all familiar with those pesky ads which always seem to pop up at the worst possible moment. Businesses using this form of marketing utilize paid channels to pitch products and services to consumers, and get a feel for what is going to generate the most revenue.
Typical channels for marketing often include print, mail, television, and telephone.
Successful marketing is crucial to a company or brand’s success; it helps businesses determine how to best serve their clients while generating a sizable profit. Marketing can be geared toward consumers or other businesses, but in either type, marketers will evaluate four key components: the orientation, the mix, the environment, and the market.
- The Orientation: Marketing orientation can be used to describe the guiding principles of the business itself. In other words, a business may choose to orient around products, sales, production, or marketing.
- The Mix: Often referred to as the “decision-making guide” for a company’s marketing efforts, the mix focuses on the four Cs; Clients, Cost, Convenience, and Communication.
- The Environment: The environment refers to the factors contributing to the company’s execution of marketing strategy. Companies should consider both the internal and external factors which affect their decision-making.
- The Market: The market defines the qualities of a company’s ideal consumer. It can be further segmented to help a company market and sell its products or services.
What is Public Relations?
Public relations, or PR, is essentially a set of strategies meant to manage how information about a company or individual is dispersed to the public. PR is especially important in the media, as this is often how information about clients is dispersed. The primary goal of public relations is to distribute key information about a company’s news or events, it can also be used to maintain brand image and give events a positive spin.
There are many different branches of public relations, each of which connects a different facet of the company’s success to another. These branches include media relations, production relations, investor relations, internal relations, government relations, community relations, and customer relations.
Someone who handles PR for a large company may take care of dispersing information to the public to paint the business in a more positive light. This individual would campaign for the company, communicate with the press, and create other PR strategies. They would manage the audiences’ feelings and emotions about a particular topic, individual, or company. In other words, public relations often attempts to alter the perception of a more general audience.
Different channels and outlets for PR work include press releases, news conferences, interviews with journalists, guest pieces, social media posting, or other venues. The most successful PR campaigns identify and address the right platform. They resonate with their target audience by finding creative ways to pitch a positive objective or goal for the company.
Key Differences Between Marketing and Public Relations
While public relations cater to a larger target audience, this strategy does not single out a target audience like marketing strategies. Marketing typically advertises to a niche audience, in other words, the audience includes people who might act as consumers of a product or service.
Public relations often deal with brand image or company reputation, while marketing communications address a focal point of interest. Like we discussed earlier, this basically means that public relations tries to alter the audience’s general perception of a company or brand. Marketing, on the other hand, involves tangible goals, metrics and business outcomes which result in feedback for how to increase the consumer base and revenue.
Companies often have separate branches for PR and marketing, but they must work together to facilitate success for the company or brand. Although there are some key differences between the two strategies, it is important to consider each of these aspects of businesses in tandem. Public relations work is meant to look organic to guide the audience to have a positive general perception of the company. Marketing strategies can then be used to promote a particular product or service to the target audience. PR and marketing goals should always be aligned to achieve the best-possible outcomes with brand equity, sales, brand awareness, and media coverage.
