Brand awareness is still the name of the game. But let’s be clear, it’s not just about getting noticed, it’s about staying present and showing up in a way that adds value to your target audience, and authenticity to the perception of your brand.
While marketing focuses on driving attention and prompting immediate action in a commercially minded way, PR takes a more nuanced approach.
PR is the foundation. It lays the groundwork for people to discover, remember, and ultimately trust your brand. It’s a long-term strategy that weaves relationships and authentic storytelling into the fabric of your identity, without demanding a return on that investment.
Trust vs Visibility
PR builds trust, credibility, and creates opportunities to inspire genuine connection with your audience.
When it comes to brand awareness, visibility is undoubtedly important, but it’s only part of the picture.
Marketing may serve up content that helps you maintain attention, but let’s be honest, it’s easy for a brand to sing its own praises, and consumers are fatigued by messaging designed to force a conversion, without much thought of meeting the audience where it is at. That’s where PR comes in.
A strong PR strategy ensures that brand awareness doesn’t just stay as a blip on the radar. It goes deeper, transforming awareness into something more powerful through repeat and authentic endorsement.
Through earned media, influencer, paid media and brand partnerships, alongside organic exposure, PR works to create a narrative around your brand that really speaks to your audience.
PR doesn’t just want to get people to notice your brand. It wants to help them connect with your story, understand your values, and trust what you stand for. That connection isn’t forced or sales-driven; it’s subtle, natural, and rooted in real relationships. That’s the kind of attention that sticks to build momentum, eventually leading to increased consumer engagement.
From Discovery to Advocacy
There is no point in hiding it, PR is a marathon, not a sprint.
Disciplines like performance marketing focus on driving quick actions like clicks and conversions, but PR is more about setting the stage for those moments to happen naturally.
Think of PR as the storyteller for your brand’s journey. It starts by introducing your brand in a way that captures interest, then nurtures that awareness over time through consistent messaging and authentic interactions. The goal is to turn that fleeting moment of recognition into deeper consideration. It is there to help your intended customer get to the point where they are ready to commit to your brand, product or service, rather than driving them straight to the checkout.
Once you’ve captured consideration, you’ve already won half the battle.
From there, marketing can swoop in and seal the deal, converting that awareness into the desired action.
This collaboration between PR and marketing creates a seamless customer journey, from the first touchpoint to loyal advocacy.
Why Collaboration Is Key
The secret to creating authentic brand awareness lies in collaboration. It’s not just about a one-time push, but about integrating PR, branding, and marketing into a unified through-the-line approach that tells a cohesive story.
- Branding makes your brand recognisable. It sets the tone, the look, and the feel of your company.
- Marketing encourages action, pushing consumers toward a specific end goal.
- PR, however, builds credibility. It’s the secret sauce that makes your brand feel real. It’s about third-party validation that reassures your target audience that ‘this is the brand for you’.
Without a solid PR strategy, even the best branding and consistent marketing campaigns can fall flat. Trust, after all, is cultivated over time. Consumers want to feel like they know who you are and what you stand for, before they dive in… and PR is the tool that helps foster that understanding.
Turning Awareness into Loyalty
When executed correctly, PR doesn’t just stop at creating awareness. It moves beyond visibility to shape the perception of your brand in ways that make people feel connected to it to inspire consumer advocacy.
In a world where consumers are bombarded with marketing messages, brands are under pressure to look and feel genuine.
This means we need to put to bed strategies that push a sales message at every touchpoint; and instead, re-focus on collectively building a long-lasting relationship between your brand and your audience.
So, the next time you think about brand awareness, remember this: it’s not just about making noise. It’s about creating a presence that deserving of attention.
PR is the bridge that connects your brand to your audience, ensuring that they remember you when it counts and choose you when it’s time to act.
