Sell it or tell it?

As a public relations and marketing specialist, I’m often asked the question, “what is the difference between PR and advertising?” Often people say, “I saw your advert in the press” when they are actually referring to feature stories, secured through contact with journalists and written by our public relations team.

Both PR and advertising seek to increase public awareness but are executed in different ways and achieve different results. They can work effectively together and the best marketing strategy includes both elements, carefully integrated to reinforce company messages.

The most obvious difference between public relations and advertising, and the easiest way to explain it, is that advertising is paid placement of a controlled message to persuade people to buy a product or service. In contrast, PR professionals place stories to help build a company’s reputation, with no media charge involved for the copy.

The press are not obligated to run a news item or cover an event just because they’ve been provided with the information. In order to be accepted as free editorial, the story needs to be compelling, which is why using a specialist public relations consultant who can pitch creative and relevant ideas to journalists can really benefit your organisation. Creative copy, such as a press release or detailed article is produced by the PR team on an organisation’s behalf and provided to the journalist in time for their magazine deadline.

A direct call to action is a typical form of advertising, whereas editorial needs to be more subtle as editors will throw copy full of hype and overstatements straight into the bin!

Stories can be carefully managed by the public relations agency, but ultimately it is the journalist who has editorial control and can edit or adapt copy where they see fit, hopefully whilst remaining factually accurate. The trust factor is a key benefit of public relations activity. Because the information is published by independent media sources, the message is perceived as non-biased.

Public relations is more than producing free publicity – it is about building reputation, through a consistent programme of communication, with numerous stakeholders. It is very effective in time of crisis, when the image of an organisation is at risk of being tainted, to demonstrate the goodwill of the organisation concerned. It can also take the form of internal communication, communicating important messages to help keep staff informed and motivated.

Tomorrow’s Cleaning – June 2012 @TomoCleaning