Sometimes it’s hard to distinguish the difference between PR (public relations) and marketing since they have overlapping goals and can be done in conjunction with each other. But each has distinct features that are important to know so that you can best leverage them. Here are five ways PR differs from marketing.

Goals

The biggest difference between PR and marketing is the goals of each. The main goal of marketing is to identify what your customer wants and then give it to them. For example, one goal in marketing might be to generate leads. First, one must identify the target market, then figure out what medium and message would most appeal to them. This can be social media posts, website landing pages, email newsletters or promotions.

Public relations, on the other hand, has the goal of positioning the brand in a positive light while boosting its overall awareness. For example, one goal of PR can be to increase brand awareness. Similar to marketing, you can identify a target market, then figure out what medium and message would most appeal to them. This can be done through product placements, media coverage or endorsements.

Though the implementation of each can overlap, the key differences are the goals and intentions.

Target Market

The target market for marketing is essentially current and prospective customers. The focus is on what would encourage these audiences to buy the company’s product or services or what makes the current customers buy. For example, a sit-down restaurant franchise might want to target a demographic that would like their food and ambiance and that can afford to eat there. You can also examine who currently eats at the restaurant and see the commonalities of the group. You may end up finding that your target market is families and younger couples.

Public relations, on the other hand, allows you to identify new markets organically by having placements on a wide range of media outlets. You can reach a broader audience than needed and, therefore, reach current consumers and new ones. For example, if you are trying to do PR for a sit-down restaurant franchise, your target market will likely not only be families and younger couples but perhaps people who dine out.

Measuring Success

The success or effectiveness is measured differently in marketing and PR. The success of a marketing campaign can be measured by traditional metrics. This includes the number of sales, profit levels and return on investment (ROI).

The success of public relations is more fluid. Its effectiveness can be seen and measured by taking into account many different variables. Things like website traffic, website/social media analytics, social media engagement, leads or sales can be used to measure PR’s effectiveness. This is because PR is about the positioning of a brand, which can have a positive flow-on effect through many different channels.

Price

Marketing includes a broad range of categories and encompasses many different channels and mediums. It can quickly become expensive as it can include: TV commercials, direct mail campaigns, newspaper ads, magazine ads, radio ads, online ads, social media ads, video ads and outdoor ads, just to name a few. Since a marketing campaign often uses a combination of these mediums, all of this can add up and become very pricey.

Public relations can be more cost-effective if you know what you are doing. If done correctly, things like news stories, product placement and blogs can be just as effective at a fraction of the cost. This is because of PR’s focus on quality and not quantity. It relies on the strategy and effectiveness of the medium. One of the most important parts of a PR campaign is the lasting memory and word of mouth that happens after.

Messaging

In most cases, marketing is promotional messaging at its finest. In mediums like TV commercials, flyers or billboards, brands are often trying to achieve a short-term goal, like selling a new product or promoting a new sale. So it is very clear that you are trying to sell something whether it be a product, service or company.

Public relations is a much softer sell because it is seeded into the form of communication. In mediums such as product placements, endorsements or news stories, it may not be as obvious that you are trying to sell your company or product. This is because instead of trying to sell something, PR is trying to accomplish a much longer-term goal of bettering the position of the company. This can make the efforts seem more trustworthy and it can be even more effective than marketing.

Though marketing and public relations have much overlap, the intention and strategies are different, and it is important to understand both in order to effectively use them. The best strategy is to use both to most effectively optimize your efforts and budget. The benefit of public relations overall isn’t just a low ROI but also the flow-on effects—from boosting your SEO or website traffic to even helping you gain verification (receiving a blue tick) on social media.

“Originally written by Adrian Falk for Forbes“