PR and advertising are both important in a company’s overall marketing mix, but the two play entirely different roles. On a number of occasions, I have had to explain to people what PR is, what PR professionals do, and how PR differs from advertising. To put it simply: PR is earned media and advertising is paid media.
With advertising, a brand has complete control to share whatever message it wants through a guaranteed, paid media placement. With PR, people work with third party sources, such as journalists, analysts, bloggers and influencers in order to secure earned media placements. In the case of PR, these third party sources write their articles or reports based on the information they gather from a variety of sources; coverage of your company are not guaranteed the way they are with advertising, but rather earned by effectively positioning and promoting your company to the media.
It is important to note that journalists need to write objective, impartial stories. They need to balance a variety of sources, viewpoints and perspectives in order to develop a provoking and credible piece. Therefore, it might not be that a journalist did not want to write about your company, but that the information was not compelling enough to include, or there were too many additional points to include in the article. Because articles in the media must adhere to editorial standards of fair and impartial reporting, it is often argued that an earned media placement (an article written by a reporter) lends more credibility to a brand than a paid advertisement could (since advertising content and messaging is written and controlled by the company paying for it).
Building Credibility
PR can also be a more subtle, non-invasive way to communicate a brand’s message when compared to disruptive banner or popup ads. A brand can communicate whatever message it wants with an advertisement, but with PR, we share brands’ messages with the media with the goal that they will include the brand (and its messaging) in an article. Why is an article more valuable than an advertisement in this context? It all comes down to trust and credibility. According to Content Marketing Institute, more than 70 percent of consumers say they prefer to learn about a product or service through editorial content rather than traditional advertising.
Audiences tend to be more receptive to messages from third parties, such as journalists they trust, than when messages come from the brand itself, such as advertisements. In terms of building trust and credibility with an audience, PR can be more effective than an advertisement, because someone your audience trusts is telling your story for you, making the message more trustworthy, and credible.
Meeting Your Business Objectives
Another key difference between PR and advertising is that PR professionals focus on supporting a company’s overarching strategic business objectives. PR focuses on long-term, bigger goals for a company, such as bringing a product to market, positioning the company for an IPO, increasing market share, and the like. Advertising, on the other hand, focuses more on short-term goals, such as increasing sales and prompting immediate action. PR and advertising both help in building awareness for brands, but the path they take, and the goals and objectives that guide them are completely different. PR can potentially be a more cost-effective marketing strategy when compared to advertising, because it can increase the perceived value of a company with third party-validated content, as well as support the bigger picture and strategic business objectives for a company.
Following is a modified chart, originally developed by PR agency owner and Forbes columnist Robert Wynne, to include differences between public relations and advertising that I felt were most important to understand:
|
Public Relations |
Advertising |
| Earned media | Paid media |
| Third party validation; credibility | Self-promotional |
| Non-invasive editorial placement | Disruptive advertising placement |
| Less/no control of content; media in control | Complete control of content |
| Helps build relationships | Helps promote something |
| Focuses on long-term business objectives | Focuses on short-term sales objectives |
| No guarantee for coverage; uses persuasion | Guaranteed coverage |
| A story only runs once | Ads runs as often as you can pay for them |
Which Comes First? Suggested Best Practice
Building awareness and credibility first through PR is a good best practice to consider. PR can typically do this more effectively than advertising can, because it can provide more information through storytelling about a product, company or person with earned media placements. This first step is critical to the success of advertisements down the road.
For example, if you saw a billboard along a highway of an unknown toothpaste brand promoting its teeth whitening solution, next to a Crest billboard promoting its teeth whitening solution, which ad would resonate most with you? Probably the Crest billboard because Crest is an established, trusted toothpaste brand. If you can build trust and awareness with your target audiences first, your future ads will have a stronger impact and be more effective in terms of prompting an action.
So, can you now tell the difference between PR and advertising?