If you have ever asked yourself this question, you probably have a lot more to think about before leaning one way or the other. Public relations and advertising are both communication tools and have things in common, but each has a different purpose. That purpose is what you need to be clear about before putting your effort into either one.
Differences and similarities between public relations and advertising
Both tools will talk about your brand. In advertising, you decide what to say and where your messages appear: you can talk about the benefits of your product or service and why you are better than the rest. In public relations, by contrast, your information reaches the media as information that experts, specialized journalists or influencers may analyze. The idea is to create positive opinions among an audience larger than your target audience.
Another difference is that advertising seeks to appeal to people’s feelings through creativity, while public relations seeks to inform with fact-based information that cannot be misinterpreted. Through public relations, the goal is to generate positive third-party opinions about your brand and so give it more credibility.
What each one costs
Perhaps the most important difference between advertising and public relations is that with advertising you have to pay to place ads in the media, while with public relations coverage is earned organically, that is, without paying for it.
Space in the media is earned through the quality of the information and skill in writing, along with other factors such as the outlet’s judgment and room in its agenda. Unlike advertising, what matters most in public relations is how the information is written and delivered to the media. The goal is to inform, educate and build knowledge about your brand among different audiences.
That does not mean a public relations strategy is free. You will need to hire an agency of professionals who have the right contacts in the media, so that information about your brand gets published and achieves good reach.
One of the strengths of public relations over advertising is that it can generate more coverage at a much lower cost than paying to be published in each outlet. All it takes is strategic writing based on what your brand wants to communicate.
In short, public relations is not better than advertising, or vice versa: they simply serve different objectives at different times. Need help getting your brand’s name in front of large audiences? Talk to PR Central. We have the experience and the contacts to reach the goals you have in mind.
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Originally published in Spanish in November 2020: Relaciones públicas o publicidad, ¿qué conviene más?
