According to authors Reis and Trout, “The birth of a brand is achieved with publicity, not advertising. A new brand must be capable of generating favorable publicity in the media or it won’t have a chance in the marketplace. Anita Roddick built the Body Shop into a global brand with no advertising, but with massive amounts of publicity. On the other hand, Miller Brewing spent $50 million in advertising to launch a brand called Miller Regular. The brand generated no publicity and very little sales.”
PR or public relations is used to generate buzz about a brand using emotions to charge your senses. On the other hand, advertising’s use is to get you to purchase the product or service of that brand (built up brand if done correctly).
In today’s world of advertising, social media has been on the rise and it is here to stay. Moreover, there is one reason for this – conversation. Instead of companies telling you what to buy, you have ability to hear experiences/reviews from other consumers including yourself.
I have two successful examples of using PR along with Social Media to generate buzz. When you write a newsworthy and emotionally charged press release, you have the ability to use a distribution service such as PR News Wire to help you be picked up by major publications. In fact, this helps your SEO and other social media efforts by generating buzz of your compelling and shareable content.
In my first example, the national PR/online marketing campaign we executed resulted in media coverage from over 37 news stations and publications. In my second example, our PR/online marketing campaign for Help My Resume grew our consumer base by 37.2%.
More than anything else, PR is used to establish credibility and not hard sales. Advertising is used for more the latter. When your company or service is being searched, take advantage of PR and use it as part of your social media strategy.
