Marketing and Public Relations
Marketing and public relations were once viewed as two distinct concepts. The goal of marketing was to promote the products or services, while public relations dealt with the promotion and image of the brand. In the past, the marketing department and the public relations department worked separately with many brands that did not consider public relations as part of the Marketing Mix.
However, with the introduction of new channels, consumers became increasingly aware of how they were being targeted, and as a result they redefined their demands and, the lines began to blur. To date, the holistic objectives of marketing strategies are no longer limited to the sale of a product, but aim at building brand visibility and brand equity, both to create a unique and identifiable connection with consumers and to feel part of more relationships. broad and global. Therefore, it is now common to consider public relations as an essential component of the marketing mix for the following reasons:
Consumers are increasingly value-driven
Consumers’ purchasing decisions are no longer guided solely by the satisfaction of a need or by the product itself, but are largely influenced by the values transmitted by the companies that market that type of product. A striking example of this new trend is the increasing decline in ROI of traditional advertising, both online and offline.
Buying behaviors are linked to the affinities we have with companies that sell certain products. It is the phenomenon of Affinity Marketing.
Beliefs, morals and values transmitted by companies are today their true points of differentiation. Consumers can understand if a company is communicating a certain message just to win them over or if they truly believe in the values it publicly conveys. It is essential for marketing and PR teams to clearly define key initiatives and goals company in order to remain transparent with consumers, as this has a strong impact on purchasing decisions. In a culture where a brand can negatively influence through a tweet or Instagram story, transparency is the foundation of brand actions and messages. This is where companies in the fashion, luxury and beauty sectors must work to foster meaningful relationships with their consumers over the long term and, consequently, increase ROI.
Cross-channel marketing is supported by public relations
As noted above, the main goal of marketing today is to build strong relationships with customers. And this is where the need arises for cross collaboration between the marketing and public relations departments. For example, if one of your marketing department’s goals is to develop a solid influencer marketing strategy, you need to be able to identify key influencers who are able to connect with your brand and customers at the same time. If they don’t possess this ability, then they won’t help you achieve your bigger goal of building strong relationships with your target audience.. The influencers you select should inspire customers and impact their buying behaviors, and to nurture the right partnerships, marketing and public relations departments need to work together.
Public Relations can be evaluated in relation to other marketing activities
“PRs have often been excluded from the Marketing Mix due to a lack of adequate measurement tools. “One of the challenges to date has been to make PR activities comparatively measurable to understand their impact on ROI. Like? By using a unified measurement metric for all marketing activities, it will allow you to examine where the value is being generated. This metric identifies, through a detailed report, the key indicators that brands should pay attention to, allowing them to allocate budgets more effectively and make more precise decisions for the future, from the marketing and communication teams.
The needs of future professionals
As of today, the marketing and communication teams are merging and becoming more oriented towards the “digital economy”. This is crucial to anticipate the expectations and working methods of future communication professionals, and to be able to offer solutions that meet their needs. By keeping a constant flow of communication open between the two teams, the information gathered by PR departments can help determine future marketing decisions based on press needs, contacts, audience responses, and so on.