Digital marketing or PR – what would you choose

Would you count digital marketing agencies and public relations agencies as competitors?

A friend asked this question last week.

She was vying for a client against a leading digital marketing agency.

I believe that digital marketing and public relations look similar but are distinct functions.

Both functions build a positive narrative.

Both functions use storytelling as the prime medium.

Both functions have digital media in their playbook.

The similarities end there.

While digital marketing has only digital media in its playbook, public relations is a much larger function.

Digital media is only one chapter of the playbook.

Public relations function uses conventional media, digital media and events to tell stories about a particular brand.

While digital marketing teams are given a budget to buy digital media space, pure-play public relations teams don’t have that luxury — they have to achieve the target through the organic channel alone.

Due to the involvement of media buying, digital marketing is great for marketing/sales campaigns but public relations is still the best tool to build trust with the target audience for the long term.

After reading this, many may question me for being bookish, and I won’t blame them for saying that.

After all, the real world is not in black or white. It’s a mix of the two.

Brands need both digital marketing as well as public relations in their storytelling armour.

The two functions complement each other.

In that, both can use the outcome of each other’s efforts in their future activities.

For example, PR coverage in a Tier I publication can be cross-publicised on digital media. Similarly, the result of a digital marketing campaign can be used as a story peg by the PR team.

Due to the complementary nature of the two functions, leading PR agencies have built a digital marketing muscle to provide the required services under one roof, and vice-versa.

It is serving the clients well.

So, to answer the question, I would say:

1. The two functions are distinct by nature but complementary by practice.
2. Clients need both functions in their storytelling armament.
3. It is necessary for an agency to be proficient in both functions to compete in today’s market.