Three reasons why Marketing & PR are set to be 2023’s power couple

As we hurtle towards 2023, and with talks of an imminent recession looming, it is more important than ever before for growing businesses to focus on aligning their Marketing and PR strategies and execution so that they can leverage restricted budgets to create impact and effect.

PR Week, recently suggested that the lines between communications and marketing are becoming increasingly blurred with some CMOs – especially within small to scaling businesses choosing to share budgets and resources.

By adopting marketing and PR tactics that work in harmony with each other, businesses can achieve better results, stand out against the competition, and spend less on marketing resources.

Here are our top three reasons why Marketing and PR are set to be 2023’s power couple.

1 Combining Marketing and PR efforts can help companies prepare for growth

Business growth rarely happens accidentally. It takes an entrepreneurial mindset, strategic decision-making, a willingness to ‘invest for success’, and the passion to inspire teams to collaborate and create.

Creativity doesn’t exist in a vacuum. By creating a culture where people feel empowered to challenge and be challenged, the result is an environment where businesses can grow and improve over time rather than remaining static or declining.

Gone are the days when siloed working practices were embraced. Businesses, especially in the scaling space, are looking at ways to encourage teams to work more closely with other departments, and there’s no better duo than marketing and PR.

By combining the strengths of both marketing and PR, brands can more effectively reach their target audiences and achieve their growth ambitions. In a recession, this could help businesses to gain that competitive edge and get ahead of their competition.

2 Combining marketing and PR leverages resources

For a business to deliver on its business objectives there should always be a Marketing and Communications Strategy in place so that marketing and PR activities are aligned.

But don’t worry if those lines between marketing and PR seem blurry. Both disciplines share the same goal: to get the company or product noticed by the right people. The key here is to ensure the two disciplines work together rather than working in siloes, this helps to avoid duplicating efforts and wasting time, money, and resource.

When Marketing and PR are aligned, they can create a powerful synergistic effect that can help you achieve your business goals. Here are some ways to ensure your marketing and PR efforts are coordinated.

1 Create a robust Marketing Communication Strategy that will focus on the following:

• Capturing how your business talks about its goods and services in a way that is consistent and compelling
• Defining your target audience and sector priorities – It’s important for both marketing and PR to have a clear understanding of who your audience is. This will ensure your messaging is on point and that you will reach the right audience with your campaigns.
• Nailing your value proposition – This will help you communicate your USP to your target customers, the media and key stakeholders. It will also help you to differentiate your business amongst your competitors.
• Developing your key messaging – A strong marketing communications strategy will focus on developing key messages for each target persona and for each step in the buyer journey. This ensures there will be no content gaps in your communications. These messages should be consistent across all your marketing and PR materials.

2 Create an integrated plan

• Focus on mapping out a plan that includes both marketing and PR components to ensure a coordinated and cohesive effort. Please ensure everyone in your senior team is aware of the plan so they can execute their part seamlessly.

3 Execute your tactics

• It is all well and good to have a robust strategy but without a delivery plan to ensure you execute your marketing and PR tactics, you will fail to have any real impact.

4 Measure results

• Tracking metrics is essential for any Marketing or PR initiative. By measuring the results of your campaigns, you’ll be able to assess what’s working and what isn’t so you can adjust accordingly.

3 Marketing and PR working together delivers greater impact and effect

Marketing and PR working together can create a powerful force for your business – the combination makes your impact greater than the sum of its parts by fully leveraging your investment. The many benefits to this partnership, include:

It’s clear that as businesses prepare for the year ahead, they should consider how they can better align their Marketing and PR efforts to stay competitive.