PR and paid media are often treated as separate strategies, but the best marketing campaigns know how to blend the two for maximum impact.
PR is credible, long-lasting, and cost-effective—but you can’t always control the outcome.
Paid media is fast, targeted, and scalable—but it costs money and disappears once you stop paying.
So, how do you know when to focus on PR, when to use paid media, and when to combine them?
What’s the Difference?
At a high level:
- PR (Earned Media) = Getting journalists, influencers, or customers to talk about your brand organically.
- Paid Media = Paying for exposure, whether through advertising, sponsored content, or influencer partnerships.
Each has strengths and weaknesses, and understanding when to use one over the other—or both together—can make or break a campaign.
When to Use PR
PR is best when credibility and long-term impact matter.
Use PR when you want to:
- Build trust and brand authority
- PR stories come from independent sources (journalists, influencers, customers), which makes them more believable than ads.
- When a journalist chooses to cover your story, it signals to the public that your brand is newsworthy and important.
- Drive long-term organic search traffic
- PR often leads to high-authority backlinks, which help with SEO and long-term discoverability.
- A strong media article can continue driving traffic months or years after publication.
- Create buzz around a product launch or event
- If you’re launching something genuinely new or interesting, PR is far more effective than paid ads.
Examples:
- Coffee Supreme launching a new coffee product with earned media in lifestyle publications.
- FTN Motion securing coverage in tech and sustainability press when launching a new electric motorbike.
- Attract investors, partners, and top talent
- Investors and potential hires Google your company before making decisions.
- Seeing strong news coverage in reputable outlets builds confidence in your business.
- Position your brand as an industry leader
- Thought leadership pieces in Forbes, AFR, or The Herald carry weight.
- Getting your CEO quoted as an expert in major news stories builds credibility.
The downside? PR takes time, and you can’t always control the outcome.
When to Use Paid Media
Paid media is best when speed, scale, and guaranteed results matter.
Use paid media when you need to:
- Reach a highly targeted audience
- PR relies on journalists deciding who reads about your brand.
- Paid ads let you choose exactly who sees your message.
- Example: A mortgage lender could run LinkedIn ads targeting property investors in Sydney and Melbourne.
- Control the messaging completely
- With PR, journalists frame the story—and sometimes, that might not be exactly how you want.
- With paid media, you write the script, choose the visuals, and control the narrative.
- Scale up quickly
- If you need immediate results, PR isn’t fast enough.
- Paid media can deliver leads, sales, and brand awareness instantly.
- Support a PR campaign
- Even great media coverage has a short shelf life.
- Boosting coverage with LinkedIn, Facebook, or Google ads extends its impact.
- Example: Abe’s Bagels gets featured in Kia Ora magazine—but only Air New Zealand passengers see it.
- By running targeted social ads featuring the coverage, they ensure more of their ideal customers see it.
- Test messaging before going big
- Ads let you test multiple headlines, angles, and creatives before launching a bigger PR push.
- Example: A SaaS company might run paid LinkedIn ads testing two different messaging angles before deciding which one to use in a major PR campaign.
The downside? Once you stop paying, the exposure disappears.
How PR and Paid Media Work Together
The best brands don’t choose between PR and paid media—they use both strategically.
- Use PR to Build Credibility, Then Amplify It with Paid Media
- PR gets you trusted media coverage.
- Paid media ensures the right people actually see it.
Example:
- FTN Motion secures a great piece in The Guardian about their electric motorbikes.
- They then run LinkedIn ads promoting that article to potential customers and investors.
- Use Paid Media to Fill Gaps When PR Slows Down
- PR isn’t always predictable—you might have months without a big story.
- Paid media keeps brand awareness steady between PR wins.
- Use PR to Lower the Cost of Paid Media
- Ads featuring trusted third-party endorsements (like news articles) perform better than straight-up sales ads.
Example:
- Instead of running an ad saying “We make the best gin in New Zealand”, Scapegrace could run an ad saying “Named World’s Best London Dry Gin – World Spirits Awards” with a link to the original article.
- The credibility of the award lowers scepticism and improves conversions.
- Repurpose PR Content into Paid Campaigns
- Turn a strong PR win into multiple ad formats:
- LinkedIn thought leadership ads featuring quotes from media articles.
- Instagram & TikTok video ads featuring TV appearances.
- Google Ads targeting keywords related to your media coverage.
Final Thoughts: The Smartest Brands Use Both
The most effective PR strategies don’t just rely on media coverage—they amplify it, repurpose it, and turn it into long-term brand equity.
If you’re wondering whether you should focus on PR or paid media, the answer is almost always: Both.
- PR builds trust and long-term credibility.
- Paid media ensures the right people see it—when you need them to.
The real magic happens when the two work together.