In today’s digital era, two main approaches – content marketing and public relations – have risen in popularity, not only because they help businesses capture their audience’s interest, but also because they allow them to build deeper relationships with them.
Let’s start by defining what Content Marketing and Public Relations are.
Public Relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.
Content Marketing is the marketing and business process for creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience — with the objective of driving profitable customer action.
Now that we have defined what each of them are, let’s dive further into what activities and tactics each involves.
PR tactics include;
• Publicity: Obtaining news coverage in print, broadcast, or online.
• Crisis management: preparing for and responding to negative news in order to reduce the adverse implications.
• Event management: developing, planning, and executing events.
• Speaking opportunities: finding speaking opportunities, pitching speakers, writing speeches, and arranging engagements, including pitching news coverage of the speech and leveraging it across other platforms including social media.
• Awards: Identifying and leveraging opportunities to win appropriate, reputation-enhancing awards.
Content marketing tactics include:
• Blogging: Creating an audience, converting prospects into customers, or deepening customer loyalty by writing keyword-focused blog posts.
• Case studies: Providing concrete, observable, and engaging real-life examples of a company’s product or service.
• Infographics: Using visual content to illustrate concepts in a way that is more engaging and shareable than words alone.
• Podcasts: Producing serialized audio content to tell a compelling story about a product or business.
Now that we know what methods are used for both content marketing (CM) and PR, we can look into their key differences according to; usage, cost, focus, reach, and success.
1. Usage
Content marketing is used on a regular basis to engage the customers, while PR companies are typically used only when there are special occasions that a brand wants to discuss. If you hit 100,000 users, you can contact the press. If your brand has been the subject of a recall, get to work on public relations to remove the negative spin that needs to be eliminated.
2. Focus
The goal of content marketing is to create interesting, entertaining, and useful content that will facilitate the target market in making a more informed buying decision. Public relations, on the other hand, is often formal and focuses on a single product or event rather than a broad audience.
3. Cost
Content marketing is typically less expensive to implement and it can be achieved as long as a business has expertise and knowledge to share with its target audience. Public relations can be costly, particularly if the event is big or the target audience and level of influence is high.
When choosing between CM and PR, businesses need to have a firm grip on what they want to accomplish. Do they need specific goals? Are you looking to garner interest in your business? If so, CM is the way to go.
4. Reach
Content marketing focuses on a particular niche while public relations is often broad and far-reaching.
5. Measuring success
Content marketing success is often measured in terms of backlinks, referral traffic, and other metrics, while a successful public relations campaign is often measured by a high number of media placements, mentions, and impressions.
So which is better for your business?
When choosing between content marketing and PR, businesses need to have a firm grip on what they want to accomplish. They need specific goals.
Are you looking to garner interest in your business? If so, our content marketing services are the way to go.
Maybe you’re looking to sway the public’s opinion of your business or boost positive sentiments? PR will definitely get the job done.
Should you combine the two in your business?
Oftentimes, businesses will combine PR and content marketing efforts. The decision to combine the two is a win-win because;
- It helps you reach a new, larger audience by amplifying your content.
- It ensures that a brand’s message is consistent. As content marketing and public
relations departments collaborate, a consistent theme and message is unavoidable.
- When press releases and content are optimized and backlinks are won, SEO can improve.
- It is simpler to assess success and return on investment. Traditional PR’s effectiveness can be difficult to assess, while content marketing and digital PR have measurable results.
This can elevate a brand’s presence and take awareness to the next level.
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Until next time, cheers!
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