Should I invest in Public Relations or Advertising?

Public Relations

German Romero

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Who of you has not faced the problem of deciding how to distribute your marketing budget? To choose between public relations or advertising: Which one is better and which one is more effective? We should choose between one or the other? Or do they complement each other? In which moment do I use one and when do I use the other?Although you understand some public relations and advertising, it is very common that, as a marketing manager, you do not know the potential that these marketing tools can have, both in isolation and in combination. The results achieved may be greater than expected, if executed under a well-defined communication strategy, but especially through a specialized team that manages to integrate both disciplines and make them coexist for a common goal.

First we must understand that although both communicate, they do not necessarily pursue the same goals. On one hand, advertising grants a brand recollection and almost immediate product knowledge; on the other hand, through public relations (PR), you build a brand reputation, or change the consumer perception.

While advertising almost directly generates a product sale or service by strengthen the brand awareness through the purchase of advertising space, public relations will boot long-term return on investment by building brand reputation and positioning with free publications in the media (publicity).

Having said this, we can consider that both marketing tools can complement and create synergy to enhance a communication strategy. However, it is important to know the limits and scope of both disciplines to build a more effective strategy. Here the challenge is to choose and have expert teams that can structure a communication plan in which resources are maximized.

What do I mean by this? I will give examples with a beauty brand that resorted to complementing public relations and advertising. We have both services in Another Company and one of the advantages of being under the same agency is that you can work on a joint strategy that works with the same scheme. Meaning, within the media guideline proposed by the marketing team, the public relations team built tactics that found unique opportunities such as exclusive editorial content or events participation of the same media that, without the integration of an area, would not have occurred. This is how we optimize the client’s marketing budget and the advertisement investment with tactic that make an impact in the final consumer.

To sum up, public relations and advertising work together because is not necessarily to have one and disappear the other one in your marketing communication strategy. Your goal must be very clear, as well the available resources that allow a marketing guideline structure in which both tools can coexist. And all of this is so much better if your agency has both areas to facilitate this work.