As marketing trends and customer relations evolve, the importance of digital marketing continues to come into focus. Business owners all around the world are realizing that building brand awareness is the best way to drive recognition, engagement, and promote positive word-of-mouth. In fact, digital marketing has become so essential that a brand’s online presence has more of an impact on their business than ever before.
But in most cases digital presence is not enough, which is why most brands launch comprehensive PR campaigns to generate intrigue about a particular product or service. As a business owner, the answer to the question of whether or not you should start an effective PR campaign is an emphatic yes. The only decision remaining is deciding which strategy to adopt.
If you or your business cannot afford to execute PR and influencer campaigns simultaneously then you will need to determine which approach will yield the greatest ROI. Consider your target audience and what approaches will impact them most effectively.
What Is PR?
The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) defines PR as “a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.” Within the context of management, PR can encompass the analysis of public opinion, protection of a company’s reputation, the implementation of efforts to influence or alter public policy, and the management of crucial resources.
What Is Influencer Marketing?
Influencer marketing mobilizes the influence of socially prominent individuals to sell a brand’s products to a larger audience. Hiring an influencer is an easy means of generating one-on-one engagement, as their followers are likely to become more interested in your brand once they see it in the wild.
What Choice Is Right For You?
When it comes to choosing between PR and influencer outreach, the old saying remains true: why settle for one when you can have both? However, if funds are tight and you absolutely have to choose then be aware that your success ultimately rests with your target audience. Even if you have to go with more PR than influencer outreach, or vice versa, you can still strategize clever ways of combining efforts. For example, there are ways for influencers to blur the lines with PR activities.
Media Outreach
Historically, PR professionals engage the media in order to appear before consumers in a seemingly organic way. Their job is to coordinate with media outlets to promote brand awareness in a manner that fosters positive interactions with the broader community. While media outreach is traditionally associated with older audiences, it is especially useful for driving web traffic and enhancing SEO.
Influencer Outreach
Where traditional media outreach caters towards an older demographic and interfaces with mainstream media channels, influencer outreach does just the opposite. Influencer outreach primarily communicates with consumers using social media channels such as Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. It is an inherently product-based approach that forgoes traditional advertising narratives, making it perfect for sales-driven campaigns. The biggest drawback to influencer outreach is arguably locking in the right person for your specific campaign.
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