3 Areas to Embrace the PR & Marketing Overlap
There are times when marketing and PR can be pitted against each other as bitter rivals—competing for budget, staff, and priority within an organization. But, here’s a hot take: You don’t have to separate your marketing & PR strategies – and it may be better not to!
Don’t get me wrong: On its own, PR can deliver transformative results and worth to organizations. That said, as my colleague Lexie explained in her blog, marketing, PR, advertising, content, and relationship development can only operate in a silo in a limited capacity. As the lines between PR and marketing continue to blur, companies have a wealth of opportunities to maximize areas of overlap to build cohesive campaigns that drive awareness and business. Here are three where marketing and PR work together to drive efficiency, and dare I say, greater success.
Social Media
Every organization has a different perspective on where social media falls within its official PR and marketing departments, but I think we can all agree the potential for overlap is incredibly strong.
PR teams use social media for a variety of reasons, namely organic engagement related to an event, a crisis, a product launch, thought leadership – you name it. Social media is a great outlet to engage with a target audience and get a pulse check on how people are responding to a brand. PR pros also hang out on social media to engage with the media: According to the Cision State of the Media 2024 Report, 97 percent of journalists use social media for various work-related purposes – from reporting stories to finding sources.
Marketing teams also use social media to engage with that same audience, but sometimes, efforts are focused more on giving that audience insight into the brand and – in one way or another – drawing them into the sales funnel.
Opportunity for Collaboration: Social media requires a constant stream of content to maintain relevance. When PR and marketing teams work together, they can leverage one another’s content to keep the pipeline full while staying aligned with the brand’s overall message. If there is anything both marketing and PR pros love it, it is a consistent message
Working with Influencers
Closely tied to social media is influencer marketing. According to a Q3 2023 Sprout Pulse Survey, more than 80 percent of marketers agree that influencers are essential to their overall social media. It’s easy to see why with just a quick look at the numbers:
“According to The 2024 Influencer Marketing Report, almost half of all consumers (49%) make purchases at least once a month because of influencer posts; and almost all consumers (86%) make a purchase inspired by an influencer at least once a year. Not surprisingly, the influencer marketing industry is expected to grow to $24 billion in 2024, as indicated by the Influencer Marketing Hub’s latest research.”
Opportunity for Collaboration: PR and marketing pros each bring unique and necessary skills to the influencer marketing table. The delicate balance of managing relationships with influencers is nearly identical to managing relationships with journalists for PR pros. PR teams are master researchers who dig into journalist backgrounds, stories, and brands they have covered, which can be applied to vetting the right influencers for your campaigns. Marketing teams are well-equipped to come to the table with KPIs and a strategy for budget management. Like with social media, both teams will be highly invested in aligning campaigns with the brand story and building a brief that clearly outlines the campaign’s goals.
The Editorial/Advertising Crossover
Earlier this year, I talked about the state of the shrinking newsroom coming off of CES 2024. Now, mid-way through the year, much of the media landscape is facing the same challenges. This story from Press Gazette updates monthly to account for the most recent layoffs; needless to say, it’s been brutal for our media friends on both the editorial and advertising sides. They are challenged to do less with more – write more with fewer team members, sell more advertising with less prospects, and source more sponsored content within a shorter timeframe. updates monthly to account for the most recent layoffs; needless to say, it’s been brutal for our media friends on both the editorial and advertising sides. They are challenged to do less with more – write more with fewer team members, sell more advertising with less prospects, and source more sponsored content within a shorter timeframe.
As a PR agency, we’ve always encouraged our clients to support publications through advertising and awards programs as they align with their strategy and as budget allows. However, it is now more important than ever to allocate resources to support publications of all sizes; otherwise, they may not exist in the long term.
What does this mean for the crossover between marketing teams and PR Teams? Working together on the advertising and editorial strategy is key to maximizing results. For some of our clients, we have begun collaborating with their internal teams on an annual and quarterly basis to understand their advertising strategies, allowing us to place complementary earned media content.
As the boundaries between PR and marketing continue to blur, now is the time to break down silos and harness the full potential of these powerful tools working together. Caster is skilled at becoming part of our client’s teams, and we can also offer marketing services for each of these areas based on client needs (just ask us about it). Combining the strengths of each area ensures a consistent message, maximizes resources, and creates cohesive campaigns that drive awareness and business growth – an end result that we all want.
Explore more: Embracing a Partnership: Integrating a PR Agency with Your Team