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Public relations (PR) is a set of techniques and strategies, to help individuals and businesses control their public perception, communicate with the public and build a positive reputation.
It is essential to establishing a brand’s credibility, and it can build interest in a business’s products and services. This is achieved through key messages, supporting a business’s goals and focusing on the correct target audience.
What is Consumer PR?
The role of consumer PR is to facilitate communication between the business and the public.
It often involves handling relationships, conducting market research, understanding the priorities of its customers, building brand awareness, and addressing major concerns.
What is B2B PR?
B2B PR concentrates on maintaining communications and educating buyers on how their product, or services will add value to their business.
It can be used to improve company image, attract top talent and investment, strengthen brand loyalty and engage existing employees.
What is the difference between Consumer PR and B2B?
The difference between Consumer PR and B2B often comes down to what drives your target audience to purchase products, and how you reach that audience.
Target audience
Knowing what drives your target audience to purchase products is vital in PR.
B2B PR tends to focus on appealing to a more professional audience, enticing investors and businesses into pouring investments.
Business buyers are driven to buy products that will help their business be profitable, competitive, and successful. The target audience is typically made up off decision-makers within a company, who have the power to make decisions on behalf of the business.
However, consumer PR focuses on targeting the general public, whilst presenting a product directly to them. It aims to improve public perception and convince consumers to become customers.
It has a much broader audience, with a more flexible focus. Consumers tend to purchase products based on emotions associated with status, desire, or price.
Channels
As we already know, Consumer PR and B2B are intended to target a specific audience. Therefore, each business needs to select the channels that their audience use the most.
PR used to be all about pitching to traditional media outlets. Over the years this has changed to include blogs, TikTok influencers, and everything in between.
Consumer PR is more likely to use social media channels such as TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. However, B2B will use more corporate channels, such as LinkedIn.
In B2B, it is important to know your niche. The audience for B2B is much smaller and can be more easily defined, which means you need to know where people get their information from. This is often traditional media outlets, such as news magazines, websites and broadsheet newspaper.
Strategy
To have a successful PR strategy, it is important to understand the market, trends and current hot topics.
Consumer PR follows lifestyle trends and news stories. Then they pitch products and services, relevant to the current trend to make it appealing for customers.
Consumer PR is all about finding the right people to target and build relationships with.
You need to understand brand vision, value proposition and how your organisation differ to competitors.
However, B2B focuses on understanding the business world, whilst staying up to date with market trends. After this, they position the products or services of their business, as the practical solution to fix any problem.
Messaging and content
There are more ways to connect with an audience than ever before, however very different messaging and content is used in B2B and consumer PR.
B2B is often more technical and informational. It focuses on educating businesses about products, or services that could benefit their company.
It often involves sharing detailed whitepapers, case studies, and reports that demonstrates how product/service can solve a business’s problems. The messaging focuses on how the product and service can save the business money, whilst increasing productivity.
This content is often data driven, analytical and focuses on products features.
However, consumer PR is more emotional and experimental in its messaging and content. It aims to form a connection between consumer and product.
It often involves creating content, such as videos, social media campaigns, and influencer partnerships.