The word marketing can be subjective. If you ask a room of people what marketing entails, you will hear a catchall of phrases – public relations (PR), social media, speaking engagements, search engine optimization (SEO) and more. The fact is everyone would be right because there’s a lot that falls under the marketing umbrella. While these are all distinctive aspects of marketing, they are also very much intertwined. Marketing doesn’t exist in a vacuum anymore. If your marketing tactics don’t work together (more specifically support and propel each other), it’s likely it’s not working as well as it should be.
So, let’s start with two very important aspects of your marketing – PR and SEO – and how they work together, and in turn, give you better results.
What’s the difference between SEO and public relations?
Before we dive in, we’ll start with the basics of each. SEO is the technical process of driving qualified leads to your website with the goal of converting them to clients. In simpler words, making changes to your website, whether it is design or content, to achieve higher rankings in search results, like on Google or Yahoo. The goal is to rank high on the search engine results page (SERP) to attract potential prospects that are seeking your services.
PR is a strategic communication tool that builds your reputation to the public, or more specifically, your target market. And again, in simpler words, it’s using traditional media (newspapers, magazines, online websites, podcasts, etc.) to increase your visibility, build your reputation and position you as an expert so your prospects think of you first when they have a need.
Do you need both?
While PR and SEO are considered separate tactics, you can choose to do one without the other. So, the answer is no, you don’t need both; however, the reality is if you are doing both, you will generate better results. In the end, your marketing is about return on investment, and the collaboration between PR and SEO can increase your ROI and then some.
How do SEO and PR work together?
We’ve broken down the key ways the two campaigns work together.
- Increasing your visibility and communicating your message. The foundation of any solid marketing campaign is increasing your visibility and regularly communicating what you do and the solution you provide. The more familiar people are with you and your firm, the greater the likelihood is of you winning their business. Your PR team can craft all the right communications and get them in all the right places, but it would be derailed if those same messages weren’t conveyed online.
- Establishing authority. PR plays a critical role in establishing you and your firm’s authority by obtaining third-party credibility. When a third party, such as a media outlet features or quotes you, it creates expert positioning so that readers view you as a knowledgeable and trusted source. On the SEO side, authority in Google’s eyes is one of the most important factors in getting your website to appear at the top of the search results. This is what’s called link building – where other authoritative sites like the media, link to your firm, which raises your authority. The more third parties that deem you and your firm as trustworthy and authoritative, the higher organic rankings you will have online.
- Leveraging content: Your SEO campaign may be focused on writing blogs or other content, but your PR campaign can leverage it even further. Oftentimes, the great content that stems from an SEO campaign only sits on your website (feeding your SEO machine), but PR can leverage content to reach even more eyeballs. The more you can extend the shelf life of the content you create, the larger the audience you will reach.
- Developing a more robust social media campaign. Social media is undoubtedly an important aspect of any marketing campaign, but a PR team versus your SEO team will do it differently. A PR team will be focused on posts that are of value to your targets, whereas an SEO team will be focused on posts that are of value to the search engines. By working together, not only do you achieve both, but a better campaign is developed.
Keep in mind that SEO takes time to make an impact. You won’t experience the benefits immediately. If your PR campaign becomes a trending topic, it could give your SEO a boost, but you’ll want to follow recommended best practices when it comes to long term success with your SEO campaign.
No matter what marketing campaigns you choose to pursue, make sure your campaigns are working together. Interested in finding out if Berbay Marketing & PR is a fit for your PR and SEO needs? Contact us at info@berbay.com or 310-405-7343 for more information.
