PR Agency or Marketing Agency: Understanding the difference for your Brand

PR Agency or Marketing Agency: Understanding the difference for your Brand

Why do I need to hire a PR Agency, when I can go to a marketing agency for cheaper? What is the difference between them? They are needlessly expensive….

Are Public Relations and Marketing agencies the same and if they are not what is the difference?

Alright, let’s break this down and talk about the difference between Public relations and Marketing—what they are, how they work, and what makes them different.

WHAT’S PR AND MARKETING?

PR and marketing are like cousins who do different things but work towards making a business shine.

• PR (Public Relations): It’s about making sure people think well of a company. Public Relation Agencies are the  hype crew of the brand or company, making sure your reputation and brand image is solid at all times, even when trouble comes around.
• Marketing: This one is about selling stuff and convincing people to spend their money on a product or service. It’s like someone shouting, “Buy this thing now! It will change your life!”

That was the definition in a nutshell. But how exactly do they differ? After all they are both for visibility of your brand and business.

KEY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PR AGENCIES AND MARKETING

• Their Goals

First of all, PR agencies and marketing agencies differ when it comes to what they’re trying to achieve:

• PR Agencies: Their aim is to build a good image for the company. They want everyone—customers, employees, investors, and even the media—to trust and respect the brand.
• Marketing Agency goal: Their main Focus on conversions, leads and sales. They want customers to see the product, like it, and say, “Take my money!” A good example are E-commerce Marketing Agency  that are focused on product purchase

 

• Their Target Audience. Who They are Talking to:

Both PR and marketing talk to people, but the audience isn’t always the same.

• PR: Everyone! Media people, employees, investors, government officials, and sometimes even fans of the brand. If a company gets into trouble, PR handles the heat, so everyone remains calm. For them to do that they must address everyone to retain trust.
• Marketing: Customers and people who might become customers. They just want you to buy, buy, and buy.

 

• Metrics and Target

When you measure their success, you

• PR: If people are saying good things about the company or the company bounces back after a crisis, PR is winning. For example, if there’s a negative story about the company, PR turns it around so people forget the bad vibes. If your brand becomes a talking point in podcasts and seminars, that’s PR at work.
• Marketing: If more products are sold or more people sign up for services, marketing is doing their job. They use things like sales numbers, website clicks, or how much profit they made from an ad campaign.

 

• Deadline and Milestone

• PR: PR Agencies are working for the long term benefit of the company. They are placing foundations for brand success and relevance. Because of that their results take months and years to become evident.
• Marketing: Marketing Agencies most times work for the short term success of the company. They put up campaigns to promote an upcoming event or give visibility to a new product on the shelf. They are looking at return on investment for the marketing budget spent. Example of milestones can take months & years to see the target like Content Marketing Agency

How Are PR and Marketing Alike?

• Both want the company to grow and succeed.
• They both tell stories, but PR tells stories to make you trust the company, while marketing tells stories to make you buy stuff.

Conclusion

When you have people constantly talking about you that is PR and the work of PR and branding campaigns your brand must have carried out. In short, PR has a compounding effect that goes further than marketing campaigns could give. They give you “free marketing” in the long run.

Many times, people mistake PR for marketing and hence question the relevance of one agency or the other. You need both and your business plans must include both.