What is the difference between PR and advertising?
PR Vs Advertising
The terms ‘PR’ and ‘advertising’ are so often confused that many people new to the marketing world might think that they are interchangeable when, in reality, they couldn’t be more different. Whilst traditional paid-for press advertisements are typically thought of when it comes to PR, this is exactly the opposite of what ‘PRs’ and agencies are trying to achieve with PR campaigns. Let’s break this down…
PRCA defines PR as being “all about the way organisations communicate with the public, promote themselves, and build a positive reputation and public image.” This is often achieved through “earned media”, which simply means unpaid press promotion.
The Advertising Association of the UK defines advertising as “messages paid for by those who send them and are intended to inform or influence people who receive them”. In a press related context this refers to paid-for content funded by a brand for a journalist or particular publication to push.
PR is Earned Content
Going down the PR route, with earned content instead of paid for, can have copious benefits, including: increasing your brand awareness, trust, reliability and strengthening your brand identity. Because PR is earned via pitching to journalists, it is a far more trusted form of promotion than advertising, as it is seen by consumers to be more authentic and reliable. Journalists will only ever print content they believe their audience will engage with, as opposed to advertising which “pays the bills”, so to speak. When a journo pushes your brand for free, they are effectively endorsing your product to their readers, therefore enhancing your brand trust. Having this trust-worthy brand identity is invaluable for businesses, allowing for all future products or services to be viewed under this same light, inevitably growing the brand and increasing profits.
Being seen to be credible and trustworthy in the minds of consumers can be incredibly useful in other ways too, such as enhancing your organic growth as well as increasing brand loyalty in your existing customers. Gaining the trust of consumers via PR is important in creating this genuine loyal following as it can secure you long-term customers who will support and follow the brand as opposed to only making one-off purchases. This will also allow your brand to keep ahead of the competition.
Whilst PR provides the long-term benefits of building a well-respected reputation and improving brand awareness in order to grow a business organically, advertising through the press puts much more of a focus on short-term goals like generating sales. However, these short term goals aren’t always met, meaning that you’ve funded costly advertising with little return on investment.
To Summarise:
PR is a strategy to gain unpaid “earned” media attention via pitching your product to journalists at relevant publications. This aims to increase brand trust, allowing publication’s readers to connect with your brand on an authentic level. It also increases brand awareness and builds a positive brand identity. PR is helpful for your long-term brand goals.
Advertising, in a press related context, is when fees are exchanged for a journalist or publication to share promotional content about your brand. Readers will be aware that this is an advertisement as your segment will be marked as such. If you have the budget, this is an easy way to increase brand awareness, but won’t build any trust with customers or help your brand identity. Advertising is, however, helpful for short-term product based goals, such as generating sales.
Abbie is a PR & Content Marketing Intern at Unearth PR
Instagram ~ @abbiemarks.portfolio