Which Should I Invest In? Marketing or PR?

When it comes to marketing and PR, there can be a lot of confusion. During a discovery call a client even told me: “I read all this stuff online about how they’re different, but I couldn’t tell you what either one does.” After hearing this multiple times I realized not understanding the difference is what's holding many talented designers back from investing in a growth strategy for their business.

Here's the difference between marketing and PR broken down so you can move forward with the right investment decision for your business.

It depends on your business’s needs.

The answer depends on your business needs. If you’re just starting out, and need to build up an audience, PR is likely the better choice. But if you have a product or service that has already gained traction with consumers, then marketing could be the better option.

As always when making big decisions like this one, research both options thoroughly before deciding which one works best for your business.

Let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons of each so that you can decide which path is right for your business:

What's your end goal?

Is your end goal to: Build brand awareness?

The first step in building any successful brand is creating brand awareness. You can do this with marketing, PR or both. In general, PR will be more effective at building brand awareness than marketing—and we're not just saying that because we're a PR company! We believe it because the nature of PR is much more authentic than the nature of marketing. Marketers are often forced to use tactics (like social media ads) that can sometimes feel disingenuous to a very new audience, or an audience that's not warmed up to you or doesn't know you well enough to trust you yet.

These types of strategies are rarely necessary for bringing attention to your business through PR tactics like interviews or panel discussions.

Is your end goal to: Generate leads?

Marketing is directly focused on generating leads and sales, while PR is focused on building relationships.

Marketing can create awareness and generate leads towards a product that already has good market positioning and a warm audience.

PR can help build a community and foster trust and loyalty, which is a crucial foundation to formulating an effective marketing strategy.

Is your goal to: Start a conversation about your product?

If you have a new product and want to build a community around your brand and get exposure in the media, PR is an ideal way to do so. "The more you can get your message out there at an early stage, the better. It's all about creating interesting conversations and getting people invested emotionally," says our founder, Natalie Norcross.

What does it mean to "create conversations"? Simply put: PR helps marketers connect with people who are interested in their brand or product by telling compelling stories that start conversations among customers and potential customers.

For example, when someone wants to buy something from your company but doesn't know enough about what they're buying (or they need advice), they'll likely seek out information online before making a decision—and this is where PR comes into play!

When done well by a luxury-focused PR agency, who understand both marketing and public relations best practices, these types of storytelling strategies can help drive business growth while increasing brand awareness over time.

Think of PR as a long term relationship that builds up to a happy, committed marriage!

Is your goal to: Increase sales?

One of the biggest benefits of marketing is that it can help you increase sales. Marketing strategies, like advertising and branding, are aimed at building awareness and interest in your product or service. In turn, this leads to a rise in sales.

PR is also capable of increasing sales — but mainly over a longer period of time. PR tactics such as media relations and influencer marketing usually don’t have immediate results like direct to consumer marketing does; instead they build awareness gradually over time through consistent engagement with journalists, customers and other key stakeholders.

Building long-term brand awareness through PR is how luxury companies like Hermes, Chanel, Louis Vuitton and famous designers such as Frank Lloyd Wright are still being talked about, long after the initial founder has passed.

Is your goal to: Develop loyal customers?

Marketing is more about branding, getting people to know about your business. PR is more about building relationships with the media, who can then help you spread the word.

Marketing uses paid advertising and paid press placement to build awareness and increase sales.

PR involves capturing attention by generating news through earned media that’s relevant to your market and your brand.

Marketing creates a buzz around your brand through creative campaigns that resonate with customers; PR builds credibility for you and your business by engaging trusted influencers within the industry or community at large.

Is your end goal to: Maintain customer loyalty for life?

Marketing and PR both can help you retain customers for life, but they are two very different strategies.

PR is a long-term strategy that helps you build relationships with your existing customers over time, while Marketing is short-term to help in the immediate future.

For example, if you have a product that needs to be marketed as it's being released in the market (like an app), then marketing would be used instead of PR because there isn't time for it to work.

However, if you want to increase awareness of your company or brand without doing any marketing yet because it takes a larger budget to run ads, then PR could get people talking about your brand right away and build up an excited fan base who are ready to buy when you do eventually launch your product or service.

So which should I invest in? Marketing or PR?

If you need help figuring out which option is right for you, here are a few things to keep in mind.

If you’re having trouble deciding whether marketing or PR is the right choice for your business, keep reading. We’ve broken down what each of these areas will do for your brand.

The first step is to decide which area of the marketing mix you want to focus on. Both PR and marketing are crucial for a company’s success, but they serve different purposes.

PR is more focused on building relationships with the media in order to get your clients’ stories featured in news stories or blog posts. PR can also help build relationships with potential customers by attending events, giving business advice and promoting your brand at industry gatherings.

Marketing is more focused on brand awareness —with other companies vying for their audiences’ attention, it’s important that your brand stands out from the rest through effective marketing strategies like advertising or social media management.

Another difference between these two fields is how they handle reputation management: PR professionals will handle any negative press while managing your public image; meanwhile marketers will focus more on getting positive coverage about your products/services/businesses via word-of-mouth referrals from happy customers rather than any sort of traditional advertising efforts (though this isn't always true).

You know your business goals better than anyone else.

The answer is not black and white. Both marketing and PR can have a positive impact on your business, but it’s up to you to decide what’s best for your needs.

PR is how you build a legacy.

Marketing is how you build a business.

Need mentorship on making the first step? Book a complimentary Brand Assessment Call with one of our team members so we can assist in guiding you through this exciting decision!

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