When it comes to understanding digital marketing and public relations, it can be a bit tricky figuring out what each field really does. Even though they seem similar in many ways, they definitely have some distinct differences that set them apart.

Traditionally, public relations has been all about creating a strong brand presence, swaying public opinion and managing crises when they pop up. On the flip side, digital marketing is more focused on pinpointing who the target audience is and then doing everything possible to get those folks to take action, like making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter.

So, you can see that what digital marketing and PR aim to achieve—and how they measure success—can be very different. But here’s the cool part: these differences actually make them work really well together in a comprehensive marketing campaign. Let’s dive into a few of these differences and see how they help digital marketing and PR complement each other perfectly.

Channels

One of the standout differences between digital marketing and PR is the channels they use. Digital marketing sticks to the online world. This means it leverages things like pay-per-click (PPC) ads, social media, sponsored content, content marketing, search engine optimization (SEO) and even website design to reach its goals. PR, however, mixes it up with both old-school and digital tactics. This blend includes everything from online and print media to various social media platforms. This allows PR to cast a wider net and engage with audiences through a variety of mediums.

Integrating Digital Marketing and PR Across Channels

Even though PR and digital marketing use different channels and strategies, they can really boost each other’s effectiveness when they’re combined. It’s like they’re part of the same team, each playing a unique role that supports the other. This cross-channel integration can take your promotional efforts to a whole new level.

Let’s talk about how this works in real life. Say you’ve got a great PR story that’s just been published online. You can amplify this piece by promoting it as a paid ad on social media, which not only increases its visibility but also drives engagement. Similarly, digital marketing efforts, like SEO, can benefit hugely from PR by using high-quality links from PR articles to improve search rankings.

By weaving together digital marketing and PR strategies, you’re not just sticking to one lane—you’re merging the best of both worlds to strengthen your overall campaign. This approach allows you to maximize the impact of your marketing efforts, making sure that every move you make helps support and elevate the other. So, when you think about your next marketing plan, consider how integrating these two approaches can bring about even better results.

Collaboration is Key

SEO and PR Working Together

Here’s something cool about the digital marketing world: SEO and PR are starting to team up more than ever before. It turns out, one of the best ways to boost SEO value and increase domain authority is by getting high-quality links, which is something PR pros are really good at. Back in the day, SEO wasn’t really part of the PR conversation, but now, digital marketing and PR experts see how crucial PR efforts are in ramping up SEO results.

When the PR team scores online placements, they don’t just get the word out there; they also snag links to specific pages on a client’s website. They collaborate with the SEO team to figure out the best spots for these links, making sure they pack a powerful SEO punch and bump up the client’s website authority. This isn’t just a win for SEO; it’s a PR triumph in driving brand awareness too.

Paid Social Meets PR

Getting your PR content online is great, but with thousands of articles popping up every day, it’s easy for your story to get lost. Here’s where paid social steps in to save the day. By using social media ads that point to your PR placements, you drive more eyeballs to the articles about your brand, which really helps in building your brand’s credibility.

At Tribal Pearl Media, for instance, we’ve got a neat trick up our sleeve. We use a tool called Sniply to funnel Facebook users to our clients’ PR coverage. Sniply doesn’t just send traffic; it also tracks who’s clicking, how they interact and the conversion rates. For those who don’t convert on the first visit, we can retarget them with fresh ads, nudging them further down the funnel towards making a purchase.

This approach is brilliant because it’s not just throwing ads at people. It’s showcasing genuine external opinions, which folks tend to trust way more than straightforward brand promotions. After all, while brands are trying to make a sale, an independent review or feature comes off as more authentic and trustworthy.

PPC: Boosting PR with Precision

So, PPC (Pay-Per-Click) and PR are like the dynamic duo of digital marketing. PPC is awesome because it puts your PR content right at the top of search engine results.

Imagine you’ve got a key message or a recent PR win you want everyone to see—PPC makes sure it’s the first thing people spot when they search relevant keywords.

This is very handy not just for boosting brand visibility but also for managing your reputation, especially if you need to counter any negative buzz.

Social Media and PR: The Power of Influence

Now, mixing social media with PR, especially through influencer outreach, is like throwing a turbocharger on your brand awareness efforts.

Influencers can share your message, which not only gets your brand out there but also generates user-created content. This stuff is gold for your organic social media feeds.

Plus, having a variety of content from different sources on your social channels keeps things fresh. It helps keep your audience from getting bored and tuning out, which is crucial for keeping them engaged.

Content Marketing and PR: A Winning Combination

Content marketing and PR are seriously intertwined. Together, they’re a powerhouse for boosting your SEO and drawing more attention to your content.

Here’s how it goes down: if you’ve got killer content lined up, you can pitch it to editors as an exclusive sneak peek or even offer up key quotes from the piece.

If an editor loves it, they might run it as a featured article with your name on it. Remember, though, if your content gets published as a byline, don’t just repost it on your blog. That’s a no-no because it’s considered duplicate content.

Instead, you can craft a related article that links back to the original piece, keeping things fresh and original.

Pitching your content through PR not only elevates your SEO game but also puts your brand in the spotlight.

Measurement and Metrics

Different goals, deliverables and outcomes mean different ways of measuring results. For PR, the focus is more on awareness and less on ROI. This places PR at the top of the marketing funnel, along with content and SEO. On the other hand, digital marketing channels like social and paid social fall more in the middle of the funnel, making them more ROI-driven and number-oriented.

To measure awareness in PR, a common metric is unique monthly visitors (UVM) for online publications. This gives a good idea of how many people are seeing your PR placements and shows the value of certain placements. Another way to measure PR results is through platforms like Google Analytics. Here, you can track referral traffic, behavioral metrics and any purchases or conversions from particular placements. This lets you see a customer’s journey from start to finish, demonstrating how SEO, PR placements, content and more work together to create a conversion.

In the middle and bottom of the funnel channels, a variety of metrics are used for measurement. The most common include CPC (cost per click), CPL (cost per lead), keyword rankings growth and ROI. CPC measures how much you pay for each click in PPC marketing campaigns, indicating the success of your paid search campaign. CPL reveals the number of leads generated by paid social retargeted ads, showing their effectiveness in driving sales. Keyword rankings growth indicates whether SEO efforts are increasing traffic and visibility. ROI evaluates the return on an investment relative to its cost.

As you can see, measurement across digital marketing and PR varies widely. While the methods for measuring success are different, it is clear that PR and digital marketing achieve their goals better by working together.

Final Thoughts

PR and digital marketing are closely linked and can greatly enhance each other’s successes. By integrating all aspects of digital marketing and PR in one agency, you create an unbeatable cross-channel strategy. While they are effective on their own, together they are unstoppable.

At Tribal Pearl Media, we specialize in seamlessly blending PR and digital marketing to maximize your brand’s reach and impact. Contact us today to learn how we can help you achieve unstoppable success!