PR v Inbound Marketing
September 21, 2017 / Blog, Public Relations

Public relations and inbound marketing have more in common than they first appear to. Despite the fact, inbound marketing is more technology based and PR more writing based both seek a lot of the same goals and can learn from each other. Many PR professionals see inbound marketing as overtly technical and miss its relevant insights. Here are 10 things you should know about inbound marketing if you work in PR.

The 10 Things A PR Person Can Takeaway

  1. Inbound Marketing Is Not Just About Data: inbound marketing at first looks to only be about using data to improve website search rankings and website readership. However, it is much more than that as inbound marketing seeks to build customer relationships.
  2. It Helps ‘Target’ Material: by careful placing material on specific social media platforms and in response to specific search engine terms inbound marketing helps material reach interested readers, this can greatly increase PR effectiveness as well.
  3. It Works Heavily With Social Media: social media is one of the most important communication tools businesses have in the modern marketplace. Much like PR uses social media to communicate information to readers inbound marketing does the same.
  4. Like PR It Builds Relationships: the chief goal of PR is to inform the public and guide their opinion in a positive way concerning a variety of relevant topics. Inbound marketing attempts to do the same thing by reaching interested parties to build a successful business relationship.
  5. Proactive Versus Reactive: a good way of looking at inbound marketing and PR is that they both deal with providing information to the public just in different ways. Inbound marketing is more proactive in that it drives public opinion while PR is more reactive responding to existing public opinion.
  6. SEO What And Why?: search engine optimization is highly important for not only inbound marketing but also PR. SEO assures that your company’s website, press release, and public communication shows up on the first page of search engine results.
  7. A Lot Of It Is Educational Material: inbound marketing is a lot more than performed letters or advertisements. A lot of it is educational material informing readers about new services (or products), industry news, or relevant facts such as top 10 lists.
  8. An Answer In Search Of A Problem: aside from educating a lot of inbound marketing starts by positioning your company as a problem solver. In many industries, customers come to you because they have a need or a problem. Inbound marketing shows what problems you can solve and why people with these problems should reach out to you.
  9. The Lost Art Of The Newsletter: the newsletter was a classic PR tool in the pre-digital age. It’s still useful in the modern world has mostly moved from print to email lists. Many inbound marketing campaigns write newsletters just like PR does but focused more on getting potential customers to contact you.
  10. The Current Art Of The Blog: blogs have become a key internet marketing tool. An important part of inbound marketing is a lot of it builds on itself. Singular articles lead to follow-up articles, longer series, and articles are referred in other entries.

Final Thoughts

PR and inbound marketing have a lot in common in terms of reaching and educating the general public. While inbound marketing works hard on increasing search engine rankings, focusing on the right customer groups, and driving social media shares this isn’t done for its own sake; it’s done to reach interested customers (both current and potential) and communicate with them.

Further Reading: Our Series of Blogs Dealing with PR

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