How does a public relations campaign plan compare with a marketing or advertising campaign plan?

Why PR plans are often better

A lot of new businesses confuse public relations with marketing or advertising, and end up making common mistakes that lead to business failure. A classic mistake is jumping straight into advertising without building a prior reputation, or using most of the funds for marketing and leaving little for PR. It’s important to understand the difference between PR and marketing/advertising to know which approaches will work for specific products. Although often viewed as opposites, the two strategies actually work together to form an efficient, long-term program. Here are some of the basic differences between a PR plan and a marketing plan.

Media used

Marketing focuses on advertising using paid media. These are the highly visible, mainstream ones like radio, TV, print, and billboards. Paid media is expensive because the said mediums rely largely on advertising revenue to keep them in business. PR, on the other hand, prefers “earned” media – basically, advertising space that you earn by offering quality content and, in most cases, establishing trust in the editors and producers. An example of earned media is the press release. To get a press release published, it must be well-written, pass the publication’s editorial standards, and get approved by the editor.

Methods and costs

All you need to do to advertise on paid media is create your material and pay for the ad space or airtime. This is more expensive, since you have to spend on creative work in addition to buying the space. With a PR plan, most of the costs involve printing and mailing to potential media, and sometimes conducting prior research on the target market. However, to get a booking or get published, you must make a pitch to the editor or producer, provide a sample or proposal, and get it approved.

Credibility

The fact that advertising is bought while PR is earned makes the latter much more credible to the public. People are also more likely to trust PR content because it is produced by experienced, independent, and objective reporters, while ads are made by naturally biased parties. Also, in PR mediums, you can afford more time and space to discuss your business in detail. This way, you can design your content in a way that best delivers your message, without the constraints that come with ads.

Target market

A marketing plan sends your message to the general public in hopes of reaching a certain market. A PR plan uses mediums already aimed at specific groups. For example, a makeup commercial can be seen by anyone with their TV on, although it speaks only to grown-up women. A press release on the same product can appear on a women’s magazine, which will be read mostly by the target market.

Conclusion

Marketing plans are aimed at selling the product to consumers, while PR plans involve establishing leads and forming long-term commitments with clients. Aggressive advertising campaigns ensure that the public knows your name, but once you’re off the air, they’re just as quick to forget it. It’s impractical even for large companies to advertise heavily and continuously for long periods. PR campaigns use more subtle means to keep your name in the public during the down-time of the advertising campaign.