Public relations versus advertising? What’s the difference?
A lot of people often ask me, what’s the difference between advertising
and public relations? Advertising is of course when you pay for
advertising space. Public relations is a free marketing tool to help
manage and build the image of your business.
The Chartered Institute of Public Relations states that: “Public relations is about reputation – the result of what you do, what you say and what others say about you. Public relations is the discipline which looks after reputation, with the aim of earning understanding and support and influencing opinion and behaviour. It is the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organisation and its publics.”
PR is in fact a cost-effective way to raise awareness of your products and services and, if used wisely, can help you to reach thousands of potential customers without the expense of a traditional advertising campaign.
More importantly, free publicity has a lot more credibility than advertising because it’s a third-party endorsement by an independent journalist.
It’s ideal for small businesses that might not have the same advertising budget as a larger organisation, particularly during the recession.
If you want to benefit from free publicity, there are many ways you can introduce public relations into your marketing strategy.
Here are my top five tips to get you started:
The Chartered Institute of Public Relations states that: “Public relations is about reputation – the result of what you do, what you say and what others say about you. Public relations is the discipline which looks after reputation, with the aim of earning understanding and support and influencing opinion and behaviour. It is the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organisation and its publics.”
PR is in fact a cost-effective way to raise awareness of your products and services and, if used wisely, can help you to reach thousands of potential customers without the expense of a traditional advertising campaign.
More importantly, free publicity has a lot more credibility than advertising because it’s a third-party endorsement by an independent journalist.
It’s ideal for small businesses that might not have the same advertising budget as a larger organisation, particularly during the recession.
If you want to benefit from free publicity, there are many ways you can introduce public relations into your marketing strategy.
Here are my top five tips to get you started:
- Discover your natural news and shout about it to local media. Do you have an exciting event planned? Have you launched a new product or service? Do you have an interesting story to tell? Get your message out there by drafting a press release and sending it to local journalists. Ensure your press release is newsworthy and relevant to the media you’re targeting.
- Know your target media. What are they looking for? What interests them? There’s no point in writing a press release aimed at a tabloid newspaper if you’re trying to get into a business magazine. By using the media’s style and language, your story is more likely to be published.
- Build strong relationships with the media. Pick up the phone and speak to journalists. Be as helpful and flexible as you can and meet their deadlines. It will put you in good stead for the future as the journalist will come back to you again and again.
- Become an expert in your field and be open to commenting on topical issues. Hungry journalists will always be looking for good case studies or experts for an article they are working on.
- Discover the world of blogging. Add a blog to your website and share your expertise and news stories. It’s a great way of raising your profile to potential customers online and adding overall credibility to your business.
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