Editorial vs advertising - which works best?
At Rewired, we recognise the close relationship between PR and advertising. As part of an holistic communications strategy, it’s important to consider how they work together and, crucially, how they can be used effectively to meet a client’s objectives.
Looking at some of the key differences between PR and advertising, we explain all you need to know about these complementary comms functions - and how an experienced PR agency, like Rewired, can help you to unlock the best approach for your business.
For the purposes of this article, we’ll be focusing on B2B PR specifically. B2B PR is designed to propel brand visibility and awareness by communicating directly to other businesses, rather than consumers (B2C PR). If you’d like to find out more about the key tactics of a successful B2B PR strategy, read our article here.
So, what is PR vs advertising?
The key difference between PR and advertising is that PR is earned media, while advertising is paid media.
This means that advertising is usually strategically placed within a selected media title to guarantee positive coverage. Marketing teams will have complete creative control over its content, with the intention of generating sales for a specific product or service.
In contrast, whilst there is never any guarantee if or how a news story will land, a good PR agency takes time to foster relationships and gradually build a positive reputation of a brand over time.
By crafting the best pitch, leveraging media connections and implementing an understanding of the current news landscape and what people are talking about, PRs work hard to shape brand stories in a way that is of interest to both journalists and their readers.
Earning third-party validation will help brands to build value and authenticity, in turn, establishing trust, credibility and awareness among target audiences.
Advertising is built on vivid creativity - with the use of eye-catching images, slogans and ambassadors to help sell a product in an instant. PR is focused on language, with the space to tell a story, share a narrative, and build a consistent message and tone of voice for a brand.
When building a cohesive communications strategy, it’s vital to understand the value - and purpose - of each channel to ensure you are targeting the right audiences, with the right message, at the right time.
It’s a bit like a jigsaw puzzle. To successfully create and communicate your story, all the pieces must fit together seamlessly. Both PR and advertising can play an important role within a communications strategy, but it’s crucial to consider how they work best for your brand and its objectives. In this way, you can ensure you’re making the best investment to hit every KPI.
How does this work in PR?
At Rewired, we’re proud to deliver strategic B2B PR services for national and regional brands across a variety of sectors - from real estate and logistics, to financial services, professional services, and manufacturing.
Across all sectors, we’re seeing a growing conversation around the relationship between PR, sponsored content and advertising within a B2B communications campaign.
An advertorial is one tactic that bridges the gap between PR and advertising - presenting an advert in the form of editorial content. It is particularly valuable within a B2B PR strategy, as it can help to consistently communicate a product or service with the depth of detail that is often required for more technical, niche or specialised sectors.
When placed within trade publications, advertorials allow organisations to specifically target key audiences, sectors and readerships - ensuring that your message can land with maximum impact and return on investment. As the opportunity is paid for, you have complete control over the content and design of the article, and will receive a proof for approval before the piece goes to print.
Once published, an advertorial will always be marked as ‘advertising content’ (or similar) for transparency, so that readers are aware the piece has been paid for. While this means that the piece doesn’t benefit from the third-party endorsement of wholly editorial coverage - which would run in the news or features section of the publication - brands can still benefit from a long-form piece of advertising that carries the right message for their target audience.
By collaborating with a PR agency to deliver content-led campaigns like advertorials, brands can ensure consistency in messaging across multiple channels and ensure every story is crafted in an engaging and compelling way.
Creating a communications strategy
There are many different strands and tactics that create a successful B2B PR and marketing campaign - each with their own value and role to play in telling the story of your brand.
When building a communications strategy, it’s important to focus on:
the story you want to tell
the audiences you want to reach
how you want to reach them
what action you want them to take
By focusing on these core aims and objectives, you can target the right audiences and communicate a brand message that is consistent and impactful across every channel.
How an experienced B2B PR agency can help
A great B2B PR agency is deeply engrained in your brand and its values. As trusted advisors and an extension of your in-house team, they can help create and deliver a cohesive, multi-strand PR strategy that effectively balances a variety of communications channels. In turn, you can ensure your brand achieves optimum cut-through and meets every objective.
Ready to supercharge your B2B PR? Talk to us.