PR & Digital Marketing – Two Pods in a Pea

What started as a small experiment has expanded into a different world that is continuously changing the world we used to know earlier. Needless to say, the world of marketing and advertisement has also gone a complete makeover in recent times.

Pamphlets, posters, hoardings, print media, etc., have always been the weaponry in the arsenal of PR professionals. However, the advent of digital marketing has introduced new modes of war to the whole shebang. Creative web development, search engine optimization, social media marketing, PPC marketing, etc., are the new weapons that have essentially changed the way businesses market their products and services.

How are PR & Digital Marketing different from each other?

Public Relations have been the backbone of all marketing efforts forever, having used the traditional tools mentioned above in spreading awareness for their clients. But, in the present times, information consumption trends have changed dramatically. More and more people are taking to the internet to fulfill their voracious content consumption needs.

This sudden shift in the information consumption habits of the audience created space for digital marketing in the marketing space. Digital marketing comes with a new-age solution to modern and traditional marketing needs. While the number of consumers has increased multiple folds, it is no longer possible to reach them using traditional tools.

Here are the prominent differences between these two marketing techniques.

Weapons in their arsenal

Both of these marketing strategies use different tools that make a whole lot of difference. While PR uses print media, radios, hoardings, etc., digital marketing uses the power of social media, search engine optimization, digital content, etc., to achieve its ends.

Coverage

No matter how comprehensive is your PR strategy, it still has a limited reach as the audience is generally scattered. However, digital marketing has a seemingly endless coverage making it one of the most useful tools in marketing efforts these days.

Power of AI and ML

Being traditional in nature, PR hasn’t been able to incubate the power of artificial intelligence and machine learning. But, these two elements find their place at the core of all digital marketing efforts providing the marketing strategies of a business an edge over others.

Yes, there are some prominent differences between these two marketing strategies. But, in the end, these strategies are designed to help promote business activities and services. However, there is no clear-cut winner in this comparison. These are the times when Gen Z wants to consume their entire content digitally, and the more seasoned audience still prefers print to gain their information and dose of daily trivia.

Which of the two is better for your business – PR or Digital Marketing?

Well, both of these marketing strategies have their own pros and cons. But when you consider the modern challenges that marketing as a whole faces, it is important to know that it will be better if we are able to combine these two marketing strategies. This way, these two will be able to compensate for each other’s shortcomings and result in a highly effective marketing strategy.