MarketOrders Head of PR & Coms, Caroline Hoffmann, got featured in an article about the difference between PR and advertising. When asked to give an example, she explained her strategy and highlighted MarketOrders’ success!
She said: “PR is about persuading and influencing people through unpaid methods. Advertising is usually used to promote, sell a product. PR is used to build, protect and enhance the image of a brand. PR has more credibility because, allegedly, it is independently verified by a trusted third party, rather than purchased. And this is what makes PR trustful.
Would you trust a sales guy who wants to sell a product, or someone like you and me who has no ties with the company, who actually tried the product and shares his feelings and opinion about it? We all know the answer.
As a startup, you need to know what your objectives are before choosing whether you should do PR, advertising, or both. Both tactics have different outcomes answering different needs.
Example:
The last campaign I’ve worked on was MarketOrders crowdfunding campaign. We started working on the press relations 6 months before the campaign was launched.
NB: we didn’t have any budget for advertising, at all.
Outcomes:
• Over 100 mentions in the press.
• Over 20 awards nominations.
• The campaign overfunded at 112%, raising a total of £439,840.
• 95% of the investors heard of us outside of the crowdfunding platform, through PR.
How did we do it? In a nutshell, we focused on the innovative technology of the business, its benefits, and raised the profile of the company’s Co-Founder as a woman in tech, successful entrepreneur and an authority in her field.”
You can read the full article here.