Many people associate Public Relations with advertising. Some even think that they mean the same thing. Both of these practices are important as they are used to promote the company and extend the number of customers. Though they are not the same thing. This confusion that people may have when it comes to PR and advertising is understandable. To dot the i’s, here are the main differences between Public Relations and Advertising.
Advertising is paid, PR is earned.
This is the most basic difference between these two tools. Organizations pay for advertising, meanwhile PR results are earned.
Advertising is described as paid media and it generally costs a lot of money. Its main goal is to make the target audience purchase the product or the service in order to increase the sales and expand the audience.
Public Relations is earned media as the company doesn’t pay for it. The reputation is built through media relations. It’s a strategic communication process with the aim of promoting the company’s image.
PR is more credible.
Since advertising is paid media, it loses some of its credibility. The public doesn’t always believe in advertisements because they know that the brand has paid for what its said about them and that they can control everything.
Hence, Public Relations is more trusted because the statements that are said about a brand are communicated by a trusted third party that wasn’t paid for that: the media. If it’s all positive, it’s due to the authenticity and honesty of the organization, which obviously, makes it more credible than advertisement.
The aim is different.
Advertising promotes products and services. When a new product is out for example, the organization will use advertisement to reach the target audience and persuade them to purchase it in order to make more profit.
Public Relations’ aim is different. The main goal is to promote the organization itself to have a better image in the eyes of the public. By using PR, the company seeks to build mutual understanding with the audience.
PR is about two-way communication.
Unlike advertising which is just about promoting a product to the public, PR uses a two-way communication process. It means that Public Relations allows the public to give their feedback and communicate with the organization so they could know what their audience thinks as well as their requests. By communicating and listening to them, the organizations can improve their strategies and gain the trust of their public.