How to leverage PR and marketing to support each other and your business

Let’s dive into the need for both brand marketing and PR.

So you’ve hired a marketing agency, and they should cover all of your marketing efforts, from launching a TikTok, to writing your product descriptions, to generating hype and buzz around your newest news-worthy event, right? Not necessarily, and really, for you and your business’ sake, not ideally. April White, president of Trust Relations, assesses that “companies often don't put the time and attention into PR that it needs. They want coverage on what they're already doing, because they know why it's awesome, without putting in that one extra step it will take to make it more newsworthy or compelling.”

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“Hiring a public relations firm offers you a different point of view and disciplines of expertise than a marketing agency may have. While marketing and PR efforts should work together, experienced and ethical PR practitioners have a specialized knowledge of issues management, crisis communication, and stakeholder management that can be invaluable to clients,” explains Melissa Vela-Williamson, founder of MVW Communications.

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Marketing is not a one-trick pony. The most impact-driving, successful marketers tend to niche down to their strongest skill sets, while relying on a network of other niched-down marketers in complementary areas to best serve their clientele. Strong agency owners and account managers know how they can help you best, and also know how to be efficient with your dollars.

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When to Hire a PR Firm

Maybe not early, but certainly often. (...or, ideally, for good.)

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“Marketing should come first. At the end of the day, sales – which arise from marketing – are what’s going to keep a company in business and growing. The results of PR can take much longer to come to fruition and it’s much harder to measure its results. When a company has extra room in its budget to support and add value to marketing, that’s when to hire PR,” shares Sara Spiegel, founder of With Sara PR.

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White agrees. “PR is not a once-and-done thing. It's never ideal to hire an agency for one announcement, just like it doesn't make sense to go to the gym for only one week,” she explains. “I'd say that when you can afford a regular commitment to PR, without breaking a sweat or needing the investment to instantly turn a profit, then you're ready.”

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Earned Media and Content Marketing Are Different

There’s no area of marketing where the line in the sand is clearer than PR, also called earned media. Though content marketing and PR are closely intertwined, content is still a creative science, relying on data as much as intuition. Meanwhile, PR is a practice in tailored communication and calculated patience. Together, the two can be optimized and ultimately supercharge your marketing spend. High-quality marketing content and a solid PR strategy, with the right minds handling each, provide you the best chance of getting your content seen and making an impact once there.

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“I think of PR as building long-term, win-win relationships with audiences that could provide an exchange, but that’s not our only goal. Good PR is what keeps customers in relationships with brands and organizations for years on end,” explains Vela-Williamson.

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Why PR Is Essential for Brand Credibility and Reputation Building

White sheds some light on the unique value of public relations over other areas of marketing. In short, singing your own praises never gets the acknowledgement that others, and especially those with an audience, can garner for you and your brand. 

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She notes, “The one thing that PR brings to the marketing mix that no other form of marketing can do as well is credibility building. PR is like having a well-known artist introduce you on a large stage, where marketing is like introducing yourself at an open mic. In other words, because the media is seen as a credible source of information, you automatically benefit from being featured in the press because you'll be able to leapfrog off those media outlets' credibility to build your own.”

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What Successful PR Involves

“Publicity is a pulse on a brand’s presence in the media, whereas marketing is paid so you are in control of the narrative and the public’s perception. They say you can’t put a price on publicity. That’s because it’s earned,” Spiegel remarks.

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It’s called earned media because you can’t just buy, refine, or keyword-pack your way in. You gotta earn it, and that takes time and experience, along with a healthy repertoire of media-earning tactics that each PR agency and consultant relies on. 

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PR is as much about what you know as who you know and, crucially, how well you’re able to leverage your network of influential media channels to benefit the brand at hand. 

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White elucidates further, “PR is about a deep knowing of what reporters are covering, what they covered recently, their tone of voice and slant, how your pitch fits into the broader landscape of what that outlet and competitive outlets have covered, and why that reporter might want to write your story now (or soon).”

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Good PR positions editable content that is both interesting enough to be picked up by media outlets and dissectible enough to suit the desired range of media placements. Finding that balance for a given piece is a skill that diverges from the typical goals of a thoroughly edited and “complete” marketing asset, intended to be displayed, consumed, and shared whole. 

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Marketing and PR Agencies Work Best Together

All this is to say, the unique expertise of a talented PR manager is not that of any other marketing area. That doesn’t mean that the work of one cannot be useful to the other.

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As a brand-focused marketing agency, Mustard & Moxie has partnerships with vetted PR firms we trust, and we work hand-in-hand with those firms to help our clients meet their goals. We leave the expert PR work to the experts, while providing them with marketing strategy, brand values, and assets to more easily execute their visions. This lets us focus on what we do best: strategizing and brand building, so you’re well-positioned to capitalize on all that earned media coming your way!

Contact us now to get started.

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