The fundamental task of public relations is to connect and build mutually beneficial relationships for a company or brand to the public and the desired target market. In comparison, marketing creates, communicates, and distributes offers of value to the public. The two may seem similar to someone outside of the communications field, but they are fundamentally different and must work hand-in-hand to be most effective.
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Refine and Amplify
The goal for marketing is to create content and messages to distribute to a target audience. It is then the job of public relations experts to amplify the messaging and refine it to appeal to the target market effectively. For example, say a shoe store claims to have the best shoes with the best deals and centers its campaign efforts around that idea. Alone, that is “salesy” enough for marketing, but from a PR standpoint, there is not much that can be used to create a unique conversation with the public. It would then be the job of PR specialists to take a more creative approach to the subject by creating other engaging campaigns or finding a unique quality of the company to start an engaging conversation with the public.
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Reach your Target Market
No matter the brand, public relations has a variety of methods to reach a target audience. PR experts know how to define a specific target market and further continue to approach them by taking advantage of the target’s ads and consistently monitoring social media. Public relations experts have access to communication and media outlets and have worked to develop those relations in a way that an average marketing team may not. PR experts are necessary to get the marketing team’s message out to the public.
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Build Relationships
A well-developed PR strategy will generate positive media for a brand, increase online traffic, and create demand. Furthermore, positive brand awareness makes it easier for brands to build mutually beneficial relationships. For instance, influencers will want to become involved with a brand if they believe it will positively affect their image.
In addition, a good relationship with an influencer could increase a brand’s social media mentions or product/service reviews, acting as an additional steady source of media coverage outside of the brand efforts.
