Fitting PR into Digital Marketing

When it comes to digital marketing, there can be confusion as to how public relations (PR) fits into the equation. After all, most companies still have separate departments for PR and marketing. But, as the internet continues to grow and the digital world rolls on to encompass the physical one where we live, brands, public figures, and companies need an active online presence to stay relevant. 

So how does PR fit? 

To more easily answer this, it can be wise to have a basic knowledge of PR vs. marketing. For example, PR addresses the world as its target audience, works to change public opinion, and addresses crises. Compare this to digital marketing, which functions to find a specific target audience and eventually convert them by addressing a need. 

Armed with this basic knowledge, here are three ways PR can be included in a digital media campaign and make it even better than it would be on its own: 

It All Starts with a Plan

First, PR is all about the focused message, and this requires planning. Get the facts, assess your audience, and structure your statement as efficiently as possible – effective PR requires this before writing. 

Exciting content can bring in the money – this is well known – and content creators are pros at this. However, when readers are spending only a few seconds scanning whatever they are reading, it becomes essential to create content that captivates in this brief period – this is where detailed planning comes in. 

It can be easy to lose yourself in writing, straying from the big picture and objective. This is where sticking to your plan comes in. This includes the organization and detailed planning of what you’re going to do and how you want to do it. You have the end objective in mind all the time, and you plan out the journey of how to get there. Now, combining this with the creative writing and other visuals associated with content creation, you find that you don’t have a marketing campaign filled with clever, short-sighted posts. Instead, you have an engaging story for your readers. 

Don’t Beat Around The Bush

The second is brevity. Brevity is the soul of a PR campaign. An effective PR campaign quickly and efficiently delivers its message, and digital marketing should be no different. Get to the point. This is so important in the fast-paced world in which we live. There should be no guessing about what is being marketed, no matter the format. For example, a marketing campaign takes the shape of a video, an email, and a Tweet. In the video, there shouldn’t be a two-minute introduction of the company; just get in and show what you’re advertising. The same idea applies to the email. Tastefully but quickly explain how your product or service solves their problem. And with the social post, don’t make it difficult to understand the objective. Instead, create the content so that a viewer’s interest is piqued at a glance. Anyone in PR will tell you that creating content like this takes time and creativity but will be worth it. 

Call To Action

Lastly, PR knows how to do a clear call to action. It seems simple, but often that’s missing from a social post or an online invitation from an influencer or brand. At the end of a press release, there is a name, number, or email you can immediately go to for more information. And that instantaneous ability is crucial. People don’t want to search for what they are looking for. If more time and energy need to be spent, they decide it’s not worth it and move on to something more accessible. 

PR and digital marketing certainly have unique aspects that businesses need to survive. However, this does not mean that there is no room for growth. On the contrary, applying PR principles to your digital marketing campaigns can turn something good into something extraordinary.