The age-old chestnut that most PR professionals have had to answer at least once (usually from our Grandmas): “So what is it you do? Marketing? Adverts? Party planning?”

No. (Well, yes, but it’s all far more nuanced than guest lists and Canva).

PR is not marketing. Marketing is not PR.

The two are most certainly cut from the same cloth and work best when carefully planned in unison, but they are categorically not the same thing.

Here’s Eden’s easy, at-a-glance, definitive guide to what it means to work in PR and what it is to be a marketer.

PR (Public Relations)

What is PR?

• Earned positive attention, not paid for attention
• Long term reputation building techniques, not focused on an immediate sale
• A strategic approach to communicating effectively and regularly with specific audiences
• Building trust in a brand/ business/ cause through a long-term plan of communication, primarily through the media
• Creates and sustains a positive feeling and reaction to a brand, organisation, cause, business
• Is most successful when sustained and consistent, does not have the same impact in small or erratic bursts of activity

What are some examples of PR tactics?

• Press releases – written news stories shared with key media contacts, resulting in positive media coverage
• Media interventions and newsjacking – placing spokespeople in the centre of key debates and stories on TV, radio, online news channels and podcasts
• Sustained and strategic organic social media content
• Blogs, newsletters, website content that tell a fresh story about the brand on a regular basis
• Podcasts

What is PR success?

• Positive media coverage on a regular basis in well read, reputable and highly engaged-with publications
• Earned links from this content to your brand’s website or social media platforms
• Media contacts requesting your input for a story, thanks to sustained contact from your PR team which has set you up as a trusted authority in your field

Marketing

What is marketing?

• Sales function, focused on product, price, placement and promotion
• Making as much noise as possible to draw attention to a brand or product, with the express aim of converting to a sale
• Much more about a fast result, usually in a specific time frame
• Paid for attention-building, through advertising, digital advertising, paid social media campaigns
• Also focuses on building trust, but directly with the customer through direct marketing techniques rather than through the media

What are some examples of marketing tactics?

• TV adverts
• Digital billboards on the side of roads, roundabouts, train stations
• Adverts on public transport – backs of buses, tubes
• Social media advertising campaigns
• Paid partnerships with media outlets, where the content should be marked as such

What is marketing success?

• Ultimately, a conversion – be that a sale, new customer, a reservation, a form fill
• Building positive attention around a brand or business which is well received by the masses
• Creating a personality around a brand which is easily identifiable
• Growth in market share, outperforming and outselling the competition

The most successful communications strategies combine both PR and marketing consistently, blending both disciplines so that the efforts of one support, reflect and deepen the positive impact of the other.

We have to answer the “But isn’t PR just marketing?” question so often (how often are PRs have been faced with this on a first date/ night out/ new acquaintance/ networking situation?) that we wanted to help out with a handy link you can share to shut down the confusion and without having to explain “No, I don’t design adverts or organise parties for a living*” on repeat.

For more information about how Eden can support you with your PR, marketing, social media, podcasting or digital marketing needs, get in touch today.

*We do organise parties, but by far the more fun part of the PR world is landing those amazing pieces of national coverage that delight our clients!