4 Tips to Align Marketing and PR
In order to a cohesive plan to attract more customers and make a name for your brand, the marketing and public relations departments need to be connected. They are both essential but it is often the case that one branch doesn’t know what the other is doing. PR and Marketing often don’t have aligned goals so how can you get them back on the same page?
Start Meeting Together. The two departments can be aligned if they meet as a unit. This is a great opportunity to work on establishing overall goals that both halves can work on, as well as get updates on what everyone is working on. The meetings don’t have to be long but they should be fairly frequent so that nothing slips through the cracks.
Get a Plan for Every Marketing Campaign. When both PR and marketing are involved in the same plan, one can support the other. Set up metrics for each activity in the plan and put each department in charge of those results.
Identifying Issues and Obstacles. Sometimes the misalignment between two departments is due to challenges that create roadblocks. Maybe the folks in PR aren’t as tech-savy as those in marketing, and they just don’t understand why they need to go digital. Or maybe one department has a bigger budget, and the other is resentful of that fact. Whatever the concern is, address it. You are both on the same team so start acting like it.
Set Goals Together. The staff on both marketing and public relations team get a say in establishing goals and objectives, and they have to be cohesive. Act like a team and make it a democracy, letting everyone get a vote. Those common goals can be used as metrics to measure against on both sides and every day both departments should move in favor of those goals.
Remember: marketing and PR are two sides of the same coin. They should work in harmony, not counter to one another.