“Advertising is what you pay for, publicity is what you pray for”
PR and Advertising are two completely different terms that are often misunderstood. A general phrase to indicate the real difference is that “Advertising is paid media and Public Relations is earned media”. That means in Advertising you pay a good amount to the journalist or marketing team of the publication, to publish the promotional content/ image, whereas in Public Relations the professionals convince journalists and reporters to write and publish a positive story about the client or brand. Advertisement appears in the advertorial section of the media platform while on the contrary, the PR work appears in the editorial section of a magazine, newspaper or news portal.The PR stories always have more credibility as the journalist verified the brand’s story newsworthy on the other hand advertisement sometimes have trust issues as the story is purchased. That’s why even to make Wikipedia page of a brand/individual, a few PR stories of that brand are required. PR is one of the most powerful marketing tools to build business credibility and convert customers too. The Public Relation includes a lot of hard work and pro-activeness. The PR experts do plenty of research and follow-ups, to identify which journalist is working on which story and how their client can also participate in the same. Almost every article or news you read or see on a media platform originates from a PR agency.All the articles are written by PR specialists, approved by the brand and edit by the journalist. Reporters and journalists have to work on number of stories every day. They really don’t have that much time to visit the properties and investigate every small story, for that they generally rely upon sources like PR agencies, who can feed them information and connect them with the industry spokesman easily.
All the articles are written by PR specialists, approved by the brand and edit by the journalist. Reporters and journalists have to work on number of stories every day. They really don’t have that much time to visit the properties and investigate every small story, for that they generally rely upon sources like PR agencies, who can feed them information and connect them with the industry spokesman easily.
In advertisement, there is a guarantee of story placement as it is paid, but in PR there is no placement guarantee. It all depends on the journalist’s decision and how the professional persuade him/her. A journalist looks for a story that is in public interest not the story a brand would be interested in having out. Many people think that PR is just like an advertisement but at cheap rates, but it’s just a misconception. PR stories grab more eyeballs in comparison to advertisements. Advertisement purpose is mainly enhancing the buying behavior whereas PR is more focused to create mutual understanding between a company and the target public. PR activities revolve around brand awareness and brand promotion. Public Relations have the power to influence people and change public opinion at a mass level.
However, Public Relations and Advertisement both work towards achieving the client’s goal but in different ways. Also, both are important for any startup or well-settled business. PR is great for brand building and promoting your key messages and advertisement help you to understand your target market and create paid announcements.
