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3 Differences between PR and Marketing

Many people get confused on the differences between PR and Marketing, and this comes as no surprise, as PR and Marketing both aim to improve a company’s performance with strategies that have the tendency to overlap. However, it is important to understand that PR and Marketing are not the same, this includes their goals, how success is measured and their target audiences. Here are 3 key differences between PR and Marketing:

Goals

For PR pros, their goal is a long-term vision to build a positive brand image and public perception for an organization. This includes company activities within and outside the organization, company activities towards the environment, and aligning these activities with the expectations of stakeholder. 

In contrast, the goals of marketers are short-term, with the main aim of helping a company generate sales, and increasing profits and revenue. This means that marketers try to create needs within potential customers and satisfy them. The most important thing for a marketer is to encourage customers to purchase products.

Understanding the differences between the goals of PR and marketing allows companies to determine what they need most to achieve the most success. Require better recognition in the industry or want to improve your brand image? Good PR will get the job done for you. Want to increase your sales as soon as possible? Marketing would be the way to go in this scenario.

Measuring Success

Although many of the metrics used to measure success in both PR and marketing are the same, marketing metrics generally tend to cover a much wider range than PR metrics. Marketers rely on a lot of qualitative data analysis to determine the best method to increase company sales.

Some of the key metrics both PR pros and marketers use include:

  • Share of Voice
  • Social Media and use engagement
  • Brand mentions
  • Media coverage

In addition to these metrics, marketers also use metrics from:

  • Sales and revenue
  • Email marketing
  • Content marketing and SEO
  • Digital Marketing KPIs
  • Social Media

Excellent PR pros and marketers know how to utilize data analysis tools to streamline their work process and gather accurate data. 

Target Audience

For marketers, customers come first and foremost, as they are the ones who make the purchases and drive sales. On the other hand, PR pros have to set their sights further, with influencers, the media, and other key stakeholders as part of their target groups. This goes back to the fact that PR goals are more long-term compared to marketing, and more target groups have to be included if PR pros are to build a positive image for companies in the long run.

Both PR pros and marketers benefit from thoroughly understanding their target groups through careful analysis of how they behave and consume information. By having a deeper understanding on how these target groups make decisions, communication strategies can be more focused and personalized, which leads to better outcomes.

Best of Both Worlds

Achieving the best results usually means both PR and marketing strategies have to be used together in harmony. Ultimately, both PR and marketing are invested in building the best image for customers, and also rely on consistency with brand strategy. Both PR and marketing often head in the same direction but take different routes to get there, with both utilizing content marketing in order to best reach their target audiences.

Interested in learning more about PR? Feel free to follow CCG’s social media at xxx and xxx, where we post regular updates on market trends and news, pr insights, and the latest happenings in CCG!

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