As I am out and about talking to people about WordWrite and what we do, I often find there’s a common misunderstanding of public relations.
People say, “Oh. Public relations. That’s press releases, right?”
Or, they lump PR, marketing and advertising together and then, realizing they’re doing it, say, “What’s the difference between PR, marketing and advertising anyway?”
Let’s talk a little bit about marketing and PR.
At its core, marketing is concerned with driving sales. However, sales promotion is just one aspect of marketing. Major marketing management decisions can be classified into four areas—otherwise known as the Four P’s of marketing.
- Product
- Price
- Place (Distribution)
- Promotion
Many people believe public relations falls under the promotion segment of the marketing mix. However, PR is about much more than simply publicizing a company or promoting a product. Traditionally, public relations was concerned with the dissemination of information to a firm’s “public”—or all of its audiences—including employees, customers, potential customers and investors. Under a more traditional model, PR practitioners would handle:
- Media relations/publicity
- Employee and internal communications
- Branding and messaging
- Investor relations
- Crisis communications
Today, however, effective public relations covers much more. Today’s PR can include social media, inbound marketing, SEO and content marketing, to name a few. And so, the lines between public relations and marketing seem to be getting blurred.
What’s important is that your message is not only being heard, but also resonating with all your audiences. Your PR and marketing should be in synch, so that the public has the right impression of your firm and those who are looking for your product/service will ultimately buy from you. The most knowledgeable marketing and PR practitioners understand the importance of this synchronization and will incorporate it into their overall marketing and communications planning.
At WordWrite, we pride ourselves on taking all of your audiences into consideration when preparing and executing your communications strategy. Feel free to contact me directly or leave a comment if you want to learn more about us and our services.
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Alison Frederick is the director of business development for WordWrite Communications.
You can email her directly at alison.frederick@wordwritepr.com.
