PR and Brand Advocacy Marketing - Two sides of the same coin

Authored By Ajit Narayan, CMO, Socxo

Public Relations (PR) and brand advocacy marketing are two powerful tools that companies can use to increase brand awareness and drive sales. While they have distinct differences, both strategies share the same goal of generating positive buzz about a company, its products, and its services. We will explore the intersection between PR and brand advocacy marketing, their similarities and how both can work together to create a viral marketing campaign.

First, let's define what PR and brand advocacy marketing are. PR is the practice of handling and managing public information between an organization and its audience that includes building and maintaining a positive public image, handling crisis, and forming relationships with stakeholders. Brand advocacy marketing, on the other hand, is a strategy that focuses on leveraging loyal customers to promote a brand. These customers become advocates by spreading the word through word-of-mouth and social media.

While the goals of PR and brand advocacy marketing differ, they both rely on creating a positive buzz around a brand. PR seeks to generate positive media coverage and build a positive reputation for a company, while brand advocacy marketing relies on the enthusiasm of customers to spread the word about the brand. In both cases, the goal is to create a positive image for the company that will attract new customers and retain existing ones.

One way that PR and brand advocacy can work together is through influencer marketing. Influencer marketing is now a going trend which is highly used across sectors. Individuals, known as influencers, can be celebrities, industry experts, or even everyday people with a significant following on social media. By partnering with influencers, companies can reach a wider audience and tap into the trust that these individuals have built with their followers.

Influencer marketing can be particularly effective in generating buzz around a product launch or new campaign. By partnering with influencers, companies can create a sense of anticipation and excitement among their followers, leading to increased engagement and sales. For example, a company might partner with a popular lifestyle blogger to promote a new line of clothing. The blogger might post photos of themselves wearing the clothing on social media, sharing their thoughts and opinions about the quality and style of the garments. This type of content is likely to generate interest and excitement among the blogger's followers, leading to increased traffic and sales for the company.

Another way that PR and brand advocacy marketing can work together is by leveraging viral marketing techniques. Viral marketing is a strategy that involves creating a piece of content that is highly shareable and can quickly spread across social media and other online platforms. By creating a viral marketing campaign, companies can generate buzz and increase brand awareness in a short amount of time.

To create a successful campaign, companies need to understand what makes content shareable. Some key factors include:

- Emotional appeal: Content that elicits strong emotions, such as joy, surprise, or awe, is more likely to be shared.

- Relevance: Content that is relevant to a person's interests or beliefs is more likely to be shared.

- Entertainment value: Content that is entertaining or funny is more likely to be shared.

- Novelty: Content that is new or unique is more likely to be shared.

By creating content that incorporates these factors, companies can increase the likelihood that their message will be shared across social media and other online platforms.

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is a great example of how PR and Brand Advocacy Marketing can work together to create a viral marketing campaign. The campaign leveraged the power of social media and word-of-mouth to generate buzz and message dissemination. It also used a viral marketing technique – the challenge – to create a sense of excitement and engagement among participants.

PR and Brand Advocacy Marketing are two important components of a successful marketing strategy. While they may seem different, they actually have a lot in common and can work together to generate buzz and message dissemination.