Understanding the difference between marketing, advertising, and public relations can be difficult. These terms are often lumped together or used interchangeably, creating a well of confusion that makes business owners wary to begin marketing themselves. Once you understand the purpose and function of each process, it will be much easier to identify your business’s needs and where to begin looking for help.
To begin we will look at what each term means and how that translates into actions.
Public Relations:
“PR is a process that helps individuals and/or companies maintain mutually beneficial relationships with key stakeholders — which may include consumers, other businesses, public policy-makers, philanthropic interests, etc.” as outlined in a previous blog.
This means PR is a long-term effort aimed to improve the public’s perception and understanding of a person, or institution to foster goodwill. PR professionals will work on press releases, blog posts, community campaigns, and business partnerships to build and maintain a relationship with the media and the community.
Public relations campaigns can vary in scale and purpose depending on your needs and require constant engagement and saturation.
Advertising:
Advertising is the process of calling the attention of the public to a product or entity especially through paid announcements. The biggest difference between PR and advertising is that PR focuses on earned media opportunities while advertising’s focus is on paid media and announcements.
The advertisements you see during the Super Bowl, billboards you see while driving, and social media ads that you find while scrolling through Instagram are all the work of people in the Advertising industry.
Ads can be a quick way to up your sales if they have taken a dip or if you’ve released a new item and need to call attention to it.
Marketing:
Now, this is where it can get a little tricky. Marketing is the overarching process of moving goods from the producer to the consumer. A marketing department covers many different functions and is made up of several teams each dedicated to a function of marketing.
A marketing department or firm can oversee market research which provides insight on trends and campaign effectiveness; sales teams ensure customer acquisition and retention; merchandising creates all the appealing packaging; distribution is in charge of getting the product on the shelves; advertising gets the word out and public relations keeps the brand relevant.
A marketing strategy is a detailed game plan to reach prospective consumers and turn them into returning customers of their organization.
As you can see there is often some overlap in these processes, and each can be more effective when used in tandem with the other. Ultimately whichever you decide to use will be based on the needs of your business or organization.
We understand that it can be intimidating to dive into the world of marketing, but Sammis|Ochoa is always here to be a guiding light. If you’re feeling overwhelmed contact us today at mario@sammisochoa.com or call us at 210-390-4284 and set up a free consultation. We will use our expertise to help you navigate the challenges and set you up for success.
By: Jocelyn Sandoval
Sammis|Ochoa is San Antonio’s fastest-growing public relations and digital marketing agency. The firm is headquartered in San Antonio and serves clients in Austin, Houston and San Antonio. Email mario@sammisochoa.com or call 210.390.4284 to amp up your PR game!
