PR v. Marketing Explained
- Dave Yonkman
- Apr 8, 2020
- 3 min read
https://www.agilitypr.com/pr-news/public-relations/public-relations-say-asked/

“So, what do you do?”
I hear the question nearly every day. I recite scripted answers such as “I get your name in the paper” or “I create and destroy reputations for a living” before elaborating, if invited.
I miss an opportunity nearly every time because I lack a concise follow-up. It’s a travesty because everyone asking that question is a potential new customer. After consulting numerous public relations pros, it turns out that I stand in good company.
Many of them best describe PR in association to its two sisters, advertising and marketing.
“Mostly everyone knows what advertising is and most people have a basic understanding of marketing, but PR seems to fall short of general knowledge,” Alex Belanger with seoplus+ says. “They might know it relates to marketing, but that’s about it. I even get asked more often than you’d imagine if it’s the same as HR.”
Advertising
Advertising ranges from the massive digital screens in New York City’s Times Square and the Super Bowl to the classifieds for lawn care service in the weekly Deer Creek Pilot in Rolling Fork, Miss.
The advantage with advertising lies in the control factor, for which businesses pay dearly depending upon the placement. It enables them to choose the forum, the design and when it appears.
The advantage with public relations is that sharing a company’s message with reporters, producers and social media influencers builds credibility under an impartial third-party banner. The other major difference is that such exposure is not for sale—legally or ethically—at any price, although that is starting to change with social.
Or more succinctly, as the old bromide goes, “Advertising is what you pay for, public relations is what you pray for.”

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