These days, there are several paths companies could take to increase reputation, gain leads and generate more sales. Two of which that are having the top consideration being public relations and advertising. One type of public relations is referred to as social media and it is by definition, the use of the Internet as a platform for a business to communicate with its customers. But how exactly is this different with advertising and how effective are the two when it comes to actual impact? We’ll look into it in the following sections.
Advertising allows organizations to get sales through appealing sales pitches, taglines and other promotions through traditional platforms such as television, radio, magazines and even the Internet. These usually cost companies from several thousands up to millions of dollars for an effective marketing pitch. Social media on the other hand uses the communities and users roaming on the Internet as the target audience, giving them informative articles and blog posts about the benefits of their services. The efforts are relatively smaller as it is managed solely by a public relations expert with minor coordination required from the company.
Both methods have potential in garnering an immense amount of reputation but between the two, public relations through social media would have higher potential. Advertisement is limited to a one way communication from the advertiser to the audience while social media, in a sense will facilitate a two way communication between the organization and its consumers. It basically makes the consumers feel that they are being a part of the company itself.
When it comes to cost, advertisement could usually cost up to millions of dollars for a few seconds airtime when going through a top of the notch advertising agency. On the other hand, social media can be totally free and all that it takes to spend is some effort and something for the PR professional to initiate the social media activity and maintain the effort which not only lasts a few seconds but is always present in the form of a community.
In conclusion, advertisement is an effective tool to gain branding and reputation but when it comes to cost efficiency and immediate results, public relations gets the upper hand. It is also easier to apply to most organizations such as healthcare and nonprofit organizations. Healthcare social media is very significant in times of crisis and energy social media is a helpful program for the public to better understand the importance of green and alternative energy sources.