Effective communication is an important element business owners can use to attract and retain their audience and draw customers’ attention towards their brand at the right time. One of the main focus of business owners is to discover new ways to carry their message across to a wide pool of audience. In today’s digital age, public relations (PR) and content marketing have gained the spotlight not only because they help business owners catch the attention of their audiences, but also allow them to build a stronger relationship with them.
Public relations and content marketing are among the frequently and trendy practice today.
Although both of these practices are very important to your business, they also differ in some areas. So, let’s see which of the practice is best for your business.
What is Public relations?
Public relations are a strategic communication medium companies use to create mutually beneficial relationships with the public.
Public relations describe the methods companies, individuals, and business owners use to disseminate messages about its services, products, or overall image to its customers, stockholders, employees, or other interested members of the community.
This practice aims to make the public think favourably about the business and its offerings.
Most of the commonly used tools of public relations include speaking engagement, press conferences, community service programs, and speaking engagements.
The effect of this practice is to reduce the gap between how a company sees itself and how others perceive it.
What is content marketing?
It is a form of digital marketing in which companies, individuals create transparent, honest, and educational content regularly for a perfect buyer profile.
Usually, the aim is to use the promotion and publication of content to drive organic traffic and increase qualified lead generation.
When done properly, it has a great ROI.
And unlike other types of digital marketing, content marketing can continuously deliver drive brand awareness, traffic, and leads for years.
Method of communication
Both public relations and content marketing use design, writing, and communication platforms to communicate a message to their target audience.
Each practice has the aim of encouraging its audience to take the desired action, such as visiting a website, buying a product/service, or subscribing to a newsletter.
Some of the key public relations tactics involve publicity, crisis management, event management, speaking opportunities, and awards.
Content marketing key tactics, on the other hand, include blogging, case studies, infographics, and podcasts.
However, most of the tactics associated with content marketing have been used by public relations practitioners since they were originated.
But the tactics are classified under content marketing because they involve sending messages and content outside of the traditional media.
According to JoelHouse Adwords, the main difference between content marketing and PR is that public relations communicate with an existing audience, while content marketing creates its own audience.
The benefit of communicating with the existing audience is that the message being delivered benefits from the trustworthiness and authority of a well-established channel.
The benefit of creating an audience, on the other hand, is that you have better control, and you don’t need the permission of anyone, such as an editor, to tap into it.
Success metrics
Success looks a bit different for the two practices due to their differing tactics.
In public relations, you can measure success by the number of viewer impressions and media placements and those in charge of the media outlet in which messages are placed.
They can also be measured by the leads generated from digital news media or website visits.
Content marketing measures success by engagement metrics, referral traffic, and conversion rates.
In the pre-digital world, impressions were valid success metrics. But in the digital world, success metrics can be measured much more effectively.
It is also worth noting that PR differ in their angle and content compared to content marketing.
PR is more about directly talking up your own services or products while content marketing is more about thought leadership – providing entertainment or sharing skills and knowledge in such a way that your target audience will want to buy what you are selling because they are already on your side.
Which practice is best for your business?
In our experience, content marketing and public relation work best when implemented together. For instance, for content to create the greatest splash possible, it needs to be supported by a strong PR campaign.
Public relation, on the other hand, is embracing content marketing as one of the important tools of its profession.
PR is mostly about reaching out to the right audience. The professionals create and maintain relationships with journalists, influencers, and editors.
Content marketing focuses on getting attention by telling incredible stories.
Combine both practices, and you are putting awesome stories into the hands of influencers, journalists, and editors.
