What is public relations (PR)?

Public Relations (PR) is the strategic practice of managing how your organisation is perceived by its audiences. In simple terms, PR shapes and protects your reputation through planned communication, not paid ads.

In modern digital marketing, public relations (PR) sits next to channels like SEO, paid media, and email as a core lever for growth. Instead of buying attention, PR focuses on earning it by sharing relevant stories, news, and insights with journalists, partners, customers, and stakeholders.

How public relations (PR) works in practice

Public relations (PR) starts from a clear narrative, who you are, what you stand for, and why anyone should care. PR professionals then turn that narrative into pitches, press releases, thought leadership articles, event appearances, and social content tailored to the right audiences.

Good public relations (PR) is not random outreach. It is a continuous process of listening to your market, spotting newsworthy angles, and building long term relationships with media and influencers. For e-commerce and B2B brands, that often means combining PR with strong SEO and content fundamentals so every mention also supports your organic visibility.

Key goals of public relations (PR)

  • Reputation building Strengthen how customers, partners, and talent perceive your brand.
  • Credibility and trust Earn third party validation through media coverage and expert commentary.
  • Crisis communication Protect your brand when something goes wrong by responding fast and clearly.
  • Support for growth Amplify product launches, funding news, and strategic moves so they reach the right people.
  • SEO and discoverability Secure high quality mentions and links that reinforce your authority and SEO backlinks profile.

Together, these outcomes make public relations (PR) a long term asset that compounds, especially when it is aligned with your broader performance marketing and brand strategy.

Public relations (PR) in a data driven marketing mix

For growth minded teams, public relations (PR) is most powerful when it is measured and integrated, not treated as a vanity exercise. You can track media mentions, referral traffic, branded search volume, assisted conversions, and the impact of coverage on trust and sales cycles.

Digital PR tactics like thought leadership, expert quotes, and data studies often generate authoritative links. These can be monitored with tools like the 6th Man SEO Extension for complete SEO analysis and supported by clean outreach lists exported via tools such as the Outbound Links Downloader Chrome extension.

When you treat public relations (PR) as part of a joined up growth engine, not a separate silo, it reinforces your brand, improves your search performance, and supports more predictable revenue over time.