What is marketing, and how does PR fit in?
Updated October 2026.
Marketing is everything a business does to find customers, persuade them to buy and keep them coming back: research, product, pricing, advertising, content, social media and sales support. Public relations is the part of marketing that earns trust and attention through the media, creators and your own channels, rather than paying for it. The two work best together. For Interflora, a PR-led Mother’s Day campaign earned 73 pieces of coverage and a 9% rise in like-for-like sales.
What does marketing involve?
- Research into your market, customers and competitors
- Positioning: what you stand for and why people should choose you
- The marketing mix: product, price, place and promotion
- Channels: PR, social media, advertising, content, SEO and email
- Measurement: tracking what drives enquiries and sales
How do content marketing and PR work together?
Good content gives journalists, creators and customers a reason to pay attention. Fentimans turned its annual industry trends report into LinkedIn content and trade PR, producing 1,079 sales leads and 2 million reach. See our content marketing service.
What is PR’s job in a marketing plan?
PR builds the reputation that makes every other channel work harder. It earns coverage that customers trust more than ads, links that help you rank, and mentions that shape what AI search tools say about you. Typical PR goals in a marketing plan are:
- Launching a product
- Building brand awareness
- Changing how people see you
- Supporting sales and listings
- Recruiting talent
- Protecting your reputation
See our product launch PR and media relations services.
Contact us for a free, no obligation 30-minute consultation to discuss your challenges and overall objectives. We guarantee our service to be efficient, insight led and super professional.
What is the difference between PR and marketing?
Marketing covers the whole journey to a sale, and much of it is paid for: ads, promotions, sponsorships. PR is earned: you persuade journalists, creators and communities to talk about you. Paid media guarantees you are seen; earned media makes people believe you. The best plans use both, with one message across every channel and a clear brand behind it.
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How do PR and marketing work better together?
Plan them as one. Agree the business goal, write one core message, then decide which parts are earned, owned and paid. For Cartwright and Butler, Christmas PR earned 78 pieces of coverage and 49 links, lifted sales by 8%, and a Telegraph feature led to a corporate gifting deal. For EQUANS, employee-led video promoted with paid social drove 156,000 careers clicks at 13p each.
Read the Cartwright and Butler case study
Why work with Prohibition?
We are a multi-award-winning PR agency in Leeds with PR, social media, content and creative in one team, so your marketing and PR are planned together from day one.
How much does PR and marketing support cost?
It depends on the channels you need, how much content and press activity you want each month, any paid media budget and the level of reporting. We give you a written proposal after a first call.
Talk to us about PR and marketing
Talk to Prohibition about PR and marketing
Tell us what you want to grow. Prefer to talk? Call us on 0113 430 4160.
