5 ways PR packs a more powerful punch than any other marketing tactic
PR has emerged from hiding behind the shadow of its advertising peer to become the preferred promotional tactic of choice for forward-thinking organisations. So, what makes PR so much better than advertising and why should brands and businesses be focusing more of their efforts in PR’s direction in 2025?
Advertising (digital advertising, social media marketing, print and outdoor) can work wonders in successfully building awareness of your brand.
However, to truly win the sustained interest, trust, and appreciation of your target audience for your business or brand, you need to balance it out with public relations (PR).
It’s worth pausing at this point to remind ourselves of the difference between PR and advertising. Our definition is this:
- Advertising happens when your business pays a media outlet to share content that tells your target audience what makes you the great organisation you are.
- PR, however, is what happens when a media outlet decides that you have a great story worth sharing and opts to tell your target audience all about it without the need for you to pay them for the privilege of doing so. It’s what they call ‘third party endorsement.’
Here are five ways that public relations (and public relations professionals specifically) can and does build brand equity and boost bottom line sales:
1. PR positions you as a go-to product or service provider:
The more people talk about what you do, the greater the positive perception associated with your name, which in turn influences buyer decision making.
2. PR demonstrates your expertise, experience, credentials, and trustworthiness:
With advertising you tell people how great you are, but with PR others perform this role for you and this helps build trust in your brand.
3. PR boosts the executive profile of your most important people and raises them up to be seen as true industry thoought leaders:
Quotes, bylines, and interviews with the media only happen because a journalist sees you as an expert in your field or subject – if they see you as such so will your customers.
4. PR has a proven return on investment that is higher than advertising:
By remaining front of mind with your target audience by repeatedly talking about the challenges and pains they are facing you gain greater favour with them than if you are constantly bombarding them with sales messages about how great you are. Trust me, I sold advertising for over 10 years and whilst the ROI can be very good it pales into insignificance compared to that generated by PR over the mid- to long-term.
5. PR can get you ouf of the sh*t when crisis strikes:
If your company has made a boo-boo and found itself in hot water, whether self-inflicted or not, it is PR that will calm the waters and see your business emerge with its reputation intact. Or even strengthened, as has often been the cases with our clients.
One last thing
Whilst tempting to batten down the hatches and cut your overall marketing budgets to keep as much cash in the business as possible during testing economic times, this is a mistake.
We saw during the pandemic and recession of 2008-11 that those businesses and brands that went into marketing hibernation mode until the storm blew over struggled to regain their market position afterwards.
The reason? Simple: their competition stayed the course. They remained present and relevant in the eyes of their target market. In doing so, they reminded their customers and prospects that they were still there for them even if there was little or no money on the table to be exchanged at that point.