Traditional PR Vs Digital PR. Which Is Better For Brand Promotion?

“Advertising is saying you’re good. PR is getting someone else to say you’re good.” Public Relation (PR) means building brand awareness, enhancing brand reputation and persuading people by generating publicity. In other words, it means building a beneficial relationship between your brand (be it an organisation or a public figure) and the target audience via different media of communication. However, unlike commercial advertisements, in PR, publicity is done via a third person, i.e, either by Journalists (Traditional PR) or by Influencers (Digital PR). But in both cases, the main motive is to highlight the USP of your brand to grab attention. THE SHIFT FROM TRADITIONAL TO DIGITAL PR “PR is a mix of journalism, psychology, and lawyering- It’s an ever changing and always interesting landscape.”-Ronn Torossian. Change is the only constant. From writing mass press releases to typing the perfect email pitches; the PR industry has witnessed a drastic change in recent times. At present, there are two kinds of Public Relations, Traditional PR and Digital PR. They are differentiated mostly on the mode of dissemination. In today’s dynamic times, it is very important to be adaptive and understand what kind of PR strategy will work best for your brand. Here are the prime differences between Online and Offline PR Strategies:

1. Communication Channels:

Traditional PR communication is a one way process whereas digital PR communication is a two way process. In traditional PR communication, mass media channels like radio, television and newspapers work as a medium to spread awareness. In short, press conferences are held, journalists are invited, press releases are distributed and then the news reaches your audience. Therefore, the audience never gets a chance to directly communicate with your brand. On the other hand, digital PR communication happens through blogs, websites, influencers and social media posts. As a result, readers or viewers can directly have a one-on-one communication with your brand. For example, if a person reads a PR article related to your brand on the Internet and has a query about the same, he/she can always clear their doubts either by commenting on the blog or by directly e-mailing the brand.

2. Measuring Target Audience:

In traditional PR, you cannot target one particular group of people. For example, a newspaper article on a gadget launch cannot be targeted only to tech-savvy audiences. Anyone purchasing the newspaper can read the article. On the other hand, in digital PR, you can choose who you want to target. Also, in traditional PR, it is difficult to track audience’s reach but in digital PR, thanks to softwares like CRM (customer relationship management), you can keep an account of how many people have read your blog or other posts. These tools keep an account of influencer databases and also provide automatic reporting.

3. Distribution Techniques:

Distribution Techniques for Press Release

While traditional PR is all about distributing press releases to journalists and then waiting for them to cover your story, digital PR is about directly informing people through company blogs, social media posts, multimedia content and targeting appropriate influencers on different platforms. Nowadays, everything is about presentation, meaning it is all about how you present your brand to audiences. Digital PR in a way gives you the creative freedom to highlight your brand’s USPs, the way you want to showcase it. For instance, in traditional PR, even if journalists cover your story, there’s no guarantee that they will cover all the important aspects of your story or will use the exact same words as mentioned in the press release. As a result, the article may not sound the way you wanted it to sound. However, in digital PR, you may choose the words and present your brand in the best possible way to woo your audience. Both Traditional PR and Digital PR are important and function in their own unique ways. While traditional PR brings you larger reach, digital PR allows you to choose your target audience, exercise control over content and measure the brand’s reach. If both traditional and digital PR are used in tandem, chances are high that your brand will gain maximum publicity. To know more about digital PR and how it can enhance your brand’s reputation, leave us a message and we will get back to you.

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