If you are new to the world of all things communications, marketing, and public relations (PR), you can be forgiven for thinking that there isn’t much of a difference between the three. Those uninvolved the industry will group the three into one category, which we often see reflected in job ads where a “Communications Officer” or “Marketing Coordinator” is expected to wear 10 hats at once (ugh).
On the other hand, if you work in the industry, you will often specialise in just marketing, just communications or just PR to be able to provide a focused service for your clients. While elements of these often do cross over, they do so in purposeful ways, which is what we’re here to talk about today.
Continue reading below to learn more about the overlap between PR and content marketing.
What is Content Marketing?
BeKonstructive Marketing are content marketing specialists, so we have a pretty good idea of what content marketing is. Essentially, content marketing is a very specific area of digital marketing that uses text, image, video, and audio to engage with the target audience in an authentic way, which in turn helps to foster loyal customers.
The content is optimised and written by professionals (us) who incorporate a range of marketing techniques to help you reach your target audience.
Some content marketing services include, but are not limited to:
- Social media management
- Email Marketing Services
- Copywriting Services
The goal of content marketing is to share your brand values, your people, your products and your services with your audience in a softer and more ‘story-telling’ format than a straight-out promotional advertisement would. It helps build trust, loyalty and goodwill amongst your audience which leads to lifelong customers, brand advocates and repeat purchases.
What is PR?
By definition, Public Relations, commonly referred to as PR, is the practice of managing a favourable public image for either a company, organisation, or public figure. In PR, practitioners work closely with the media to achieve positive coverage for their clients, whether that be in blogs, on a news story, in a news article or on social media.
Most of the time, the goal is to obtain earned coverage, where a story is pitched to a news outlet; however, paid influencer marketing is also a big part of PR practice.
Where do content marketing and PR cross over?
So, now you know what content marketing and PR are, you’re probably wondering what they have in common? The main commonality is that the end goal for both PR and content marketing is to position the client in a way so that customers, or other businesses perceive them in a positive light, through building brand awareness and earning company mentions.
In both PR and content marketing, content is created using effective communications techniques such as incorporating tone of voice, key messaging, a call to action and more to create a piece of content with a real purpose.
Some ways that PR and Content Marketing work together effectively include:
- Blogging and Guest Articles
- Social Media Management
- Press Releases
By creating a really good piece of content, the client is established as an industry thought leader, where the public, customers or other businesses slowly start to value the client’s opinion. When this happens, the client may be quoted in other people’s articles, asked to sit in discussion panels, present webinars or attend events.
Each of these contribute to positive, free exposure for the client, which creates more opportunity for content creation – a domino effect, if you will. Put simply, when you combine the practices of content marketing and PR, you get a powerful advantage for your client that can be applied to a range of different strategies. This is why, often, creative agencies will offer a combination of PR and marketing services like we do here at BeKonstructive Marketing.
Want More?
BeKonstructive Marketing is made up of a team of young journalists, marketers, public relations practitioners, and creative writers. To learn more about the services we have on offer, get in touch with Bek on 0413 844 190 or bek@bekonstructive.com.au.
