PR pros can’t ignore sales and marketing functions

And then there’s the second half—”relations.” Anyone who’s ever been on a first date knows just how hard relationships are to establish and maintain. So when you combine the expanse of “public” with the difficulty of “relations,” especially with so many communications channels at our disposal these days, the true magnitude of a PR professional’s job becomes clear.

But despite the scale of our roles, there’s one “public” that PR practitioners seem to shy away from—those buying products and services. For years, PR pros have gone to great lengths to argue that PR is not marketing, that PR should not fall under the marketing function and that PR should not be held to marketing and sales goals.

To an extent they are right. PR is not the same as marketing, but it does facilitate marketing, and there is no reason at all that PR and marketing can’t share some common goals. Additionally, PR is typically totally detached from the sales team and unaware of—or even apathetic to—sales goals.