Do you feel like your Public Relations partners are doing their own ‘stunts’ that look and feel eerily like a marketing campaign? The “Public Relations for Marketers” cheat sheet will help you frame your marketing impact in a way that Public Relations (PR) teams can understand and appreciate.
Introduction to the Cheat Sheet series
As a marketer, we spend a lot of our time thinking about the customer, the psychology, and the creativity of the campaigns, activations, and initiatives we produce. We’re like artists painting a Picasso or musicians scoring a Mozart. Sometimes, in the midst of our artistry, we forget the science of marketing. We forget to ask ourselves the burning questions that our partners (e.g. Finance, Product, Tech, etc.) like to know:
Why is marketing important? How do you know it’s working? Why should we care?
We used to be able to say “we trust our gut” or “it’s standard” but those days are gone. Now, we need data to support and validate our intuition.
As part of this Cheat Sheet series, we will breakdown some of the most important parts of our partner teams’ jobs and goals so marketers will have a better way of communicating our impact to them as well as be better business partners.
Public Relations
for Marketers
Role of Public Relations (PR)
PR’s remit is to manage the reputation and image of a company or organization [1]. It’s PR’s job to ensure that the company is perceived positively by the public and all relevant stakeholders. Meaning:
- PR cares to maintain positive relationships between the company or organization and key stakeholders. They will develop and implement strategies to build and maintain these relationships with customers, employees, investors, and the media. PR may be responsible for coordinating events and media campaigns.
- PR cares to reduce impact of negative events and protect the company’s or organization’s reputation. They will deal with crisis management by developing and implementing plans. They may also provide media training and support to company executives to avoid bad or negative publicity.
[1] Though the majority of the article is written through the lens of a business, this cheat sheet holds true for non-profit or for-profit organizations.
What does this mean for Marketers?
Marketers and public relations teams have a unique relationship. While both departments are responsible for promoting a company and its products or services, they approach their tasks in different ways. Marketing is focused on helping customers understand the value of the products/services from the company, while public relations is focused on managing the reputation and image of the company. While these goals may overlap, they are distinct and require different strategies and tactics.
Thus, marketers must:
- Collaborate on what can be deemed ‘newsworthy’. When marketers build a product go-to-market strategy, they can work closely with PR teams to identify what parts of the product is competitive enough to be newsworthy, or if there are certain aspects of the marketing that news outlets will want to cover in the news cycle (e.g. experiences around launch).
- Share information and resources. For example, if a public relations team is working on a media campaign, they may need access to marketing materials such as product images and videos. In turn, the marketing team may need access to media contacts and press releases from the public relations team.
- Co-develop any crisis management plans. In the event of a crisis, such as a product recall or negative news story, it is essential for the company to respond quickly and effectively. The marketing and public relations teams should work together to develop a crisis management plan and ensure that all stakeholders are informed and updated.
- Co-develop shared goals. Because of conflicting goals or strategies, it’s imperative the two teams work together to ensure shared success.
Vocabulary
- Audience – The group of people a message is intended for
- Brand – The personality and reputation of a company or product
- Crisis management – The planning and execution of strategies to mitigate negative impact during a crisis
- Event planning – The organization and execution of a special occasion or gathering
- Media impressions – A media impression is a comprehensive calculation of the number of people who have heard about your company within a given time period. For instance, if your company or product was mentioned on a television show that had 1 million viewers, that would count as 1 million media impressions.
- Media relations – The communication between a company and the media
- Message – The information being conveyed in a communication
- Publicity – The promotion of a company or product through media coverage
- Reputation management – The effort to influence and control the perception of a company or individual
- Stakeholder – A person or group with an interest or concern in an organization
Key phrases to say to PR partners
- “What are the key messages and themes that we should be promoting to the public?”
- “How can our marketing materials support your public relations efforts?”
- “Can you provide us with feedback on the effectiveness of our campaigns from a public relations perspective?”
- “What are the key challenges and obstacles that you are facing in managing the company’s reputation?”
- “What trends and insights have you observed from working with the media and other stakeholders?”
Related questions
- How can marketing and public relations work together to achieve common goals? Marketing and public relations teams can work together by aligning their strategies and goals, sharing information and resources, and collaborating on tactics and approaches.
- What are the key differences between marketing and public relations, and how can they complement each other? The key difference between marketing and public relations is that marketing focuses on promoting products and services, while public relations focuses on managing the reputation and image of a company. Marketing can support public relations by providing compelling messaging and materials, while public relations can provide feedback and insights to inform marketing strategies.
- How can marketing provide support and resources to the public relations team to help them manage the company’s reputation? Marketing can support public relations by providing training and support, creating effective marketing materials, and providing access to customer feedback and data.
- What metrics and data can be used to measure the effectiveness of marketing and public relations efforts? Metrics such as media coverage, sentiment analysis, and engagement rates can be used to measure the effectiveness of marketing and public relations efforts.
- How can marketing and public relations teams collaborate to develop and implement effective strategies and tactics? Marketing and public relations teams can collaborate by communicating regularly, sharing information and insights, and working together to identify and pursue opportunities.
