Brand growth isn’t a simple formula. You must generate buzz and get people talking. To stay competitive, you need conversions and results. Building a strong brand reputation and receiving good press is where public relations shines.
The positive halo effect PR brings creates a receptive audience for your other marketing efforts. Then comes the important role of performance marketing. While PR builds the foundation of trust and awareness, performance marketing focuses on driving measurable results.
Through targeted campaigns across various digital channels, performance marketing allows you to track key metrics like website traffic and conversions, reach specific audience segments, and optimize your spending for maximum ROI.
Many brands pour resources into one while neglecting the other. In this post, we’ll explore why you need both to grow your business to new heights.
Public relations is the professional management and development of a brand’s reputation and public image. It focuses on building trust through earned media. This includes news coverage, influencer endorsements, and organic content that create positive (not always) perceptions.
Content that others post online influences 79% of purchase decisions. That number is probably even higher when that content comes from reputable media outlets.
The main functions of PR are:
- Media relations
- Crisis management
- Thought leadership
- Community engagement
- Brand storytelling
PR is critical to brand growth because it helps businesses establish credibility and build a strong reputation over time.
Understanding performance marketing
Performance marketing is a digital marketing strategy where advertisers only pay when a specific action occurs. Traditional marketing methods often focus on brand awareness and impressions.
On the other hand, performance marketing is outcome-driven and measurable. You set clear objectives, such as clicks, leads, conversions, or sales, and only pay when you meet them. This ensures a direct return on investment (ROI).
Different types of performance marketing:
- Paid search (PPC)
- Affiliate marketing
- Display ads
- Social media advertising
- Email marketing
PR + performance marketing = the perfect formula for brand growth
Combining PR and performance marketing strategies is a great way to accelerate business growth. PR builds trust, while performance marketing drives measurable results and ROI.
Here’s a look into how brands use both in the real world:
Capitol Contours
Take a look at how medical weight loss companies are navigating this balance. Capitol Contours, a DC-area provider, splits its focus between driving immediate appointments for its Semaglutide treatments and building long-term trust through detailed medical education. The weight loss center is doing more than just running ads saying “Book Now.”
It’s investing time in explaining the science behind its treatments, sharing real patient experiences, and positioning themselves as experts in the field. This matters because, in healthcare, you can’t just focus on quick wins. Sure, performance marketing gets patients in the door, but the reputation-building work keeps them coming back and recommending you to others.
The most successful providers understand this isn’t an either/or situation. You need both approaches working together.
Henry Meds
Let’s look at how testosterone online providers have evolved their marketing approach. These companies face a unique challenge: They need to drive sales quickly while building long-term trust in a sensitive healthcare space.
For example, digital health platforms typically start with performance marketing (think targeted ads with specific pricing and “get started” buttons) but soon realize that medical credibility matters just as much as conversion rates.
So, while they’re optimizing their funnel metrics, they’re also investing heavily in building authority through medical advisory boards and educational content. It’s a perfect example of why modern brands can’t choose between PR and performance. They need both to survive and thrive in today’s market.
Form Health
Another example of how brands can focus on both their PR and performance marketing is Novo Nordisk’s “Power of Wegovy” campaign. Brands like Form Health benefit from campaigns like this one as they generate conversation and raise awareness about weight loss medications like Wegovy.
Through this press release, Novo Nordisk is using PR to legitimize the medication and generate positive public perception.
Novo Nordisk Wegovy campaign press release
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And in turn, the company is likely to target ads to specific demographics to get this information out to as many potential stakeholders as possible as part of their marketing campaigns. This is the type of strategic combination that brands should employ to build trust and drive positive results.
5 reasons why your brand needs both PR and performance marketing
Here are five reasons your brand needs PR and performance marketing to drive business growth.
Build trust and drive sales
PR establishes credibility and trust with your target audience. Media coverage, thought leadership, and positive brand stories help create a foundation of trust.
This makes your brand more relatable and credible in the eyes of the public.
And once that trust is in place, performance marketing helps convert that trust into sales by guiding prospects from interest to purchase. This is possible through paid channels like PPC, social media ads, or affiliate marketing.
Example: A small eco-friendly skincare brand gets a feature in Vogue Business for its commitment to sustainability. Potential customers who read the article trust the brand’s mission. To capitalize on this, the brand runs a Facebook ad campaign that prompts a limited-time discount on its products. Due to the media coverage, many people who already trust the brand see this ad, which leads to increased conversions and sales.
Vogue Business article featuring top sustainable beauty brands
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Create and capture demand
PR is great for creating demand by raising awareness and generating buzz. It builds interest in your brand through media placements, influencer endorsements, or community engagement.
And once you build that demand, performance marketing helps capture it. Using tactics such as targeted ads, email campaigns, or retargeting allows you to capture the attention of leads who are already aware of your brand but haven’t taken action yet.
You can nurture leads and drive them down the sales funnel.
Think of it like a map. PR is like the “legend”or “key,” which provides context about your business and helps people understand why your brand matters.
Performance marketing is the road that guides customers to their destination—your product or service. It makes sure the people who see your brand’s story take the right steps to engage, convert, and stay on the path to loyalty.
Example: Your tech company announces a new product launch in a press release, and major tech blogs like TechCrunch cover it. This sparks initial interest, and demand begins to grow. However, not everyone who reads about the launch is ready to make a purchase right away. (Truth is, only 4% of website visitors are ready to buy.) So, you use performance marketing. You run Google Display Ads that target users who visit your website after reading the press coverage. To drive conversions, you list the benefits of your product/service and a special promotion.
TechCrunch article about Adobe’s new Firefly AI subscriptions
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Amplify PR wins
When PR efforts lead to media coverage, influencer partnerships, or positive customer testimonials, performance marketing makes sure these successes don’t go unnoticed.
For example, if your brand gets featured in a well-known publication or a key influencer gives a glowing review, performance marketing can amplify this visibility.
You can run targeted ads or use social media campaigns to push the PR coverage to a wider audience. You could also retarget users who engaged with your PR content, which can further drive traffic, conversions, and even social sharing.
This strategy can help you increase web traffic by 700%.
Example: Your brand receives a glowing review from a popular YouTuber with millions of subscribers. This is a major PR win. To amplify it, you use paid social media ads to share the review across Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. You also run retargeting ads to people who watched the video but didn’t click through to your website. This brings in more traffic and boosts conversions.
YouTube Short by popular influencer (Kenzie Yolles, 1M+ subscribers) raving about a brightening toner from Glow Recipe
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Future proof your business and drive ROI
PR builds the long-term value of your brand through consistent messaging, thought leadership, and relationship building. On the other hand, performance marketing gives you real-time, actionable data that lets you track results and optimize campaigns.
When you measure your ROI, you can improve your marketing strategy. That way, you stay flexible and can quickly adjust to market trends.
Example: Trade publications consistently feature your brand. This establishes you as a thought leader in your industry. Meanwhile, you run a paid social media campaign to drive sales for a new product. You track key metrics like click-through rates and conversions. You also leverage an AI-powered social listening tool to monitor conversations around your brand and the recent campaign. Using this data, you realize your ads perform really well with a specific audience segment. So, you adjust your campaign to allocate more of your budget to this group.
Social listening software
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Create a stronger customer journey
The customer journey doesn’t stop at the point of purchase. It continues as you build long-term relationships.
PR helps you attract customers so you can build those relationships. Performance marketing helps guide prospects from initial purchase to post-purchase follow-up.
Example: After a customer reads an article about your brand in Fast Company, they visit your website but leave without making a purchase. You set up retargeting ads to remind customers about the products they viewed. You can also send a follow-up email with a 10% discount code. After clicking the retargeting ad or email, they return to your site and complete the purchase. As the cherry on top, you continue the customer journey with loyalty programs and exclusive offers.
Fast Company article about merging two Apple IDs
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Maximizing your PR and marketing ROI
Every marketing dollar needs to deliver maximum impact. Integrating PR and performance marketing can help you achieve that goal.
Like a feature story in a relevant online publication, earned media can drive significant organic traffic to your website.
However, without performance marketing to target specific audiences and convert that traffic into actionable leads or sales, the opportunity can go down the train. PR is the foundation, and performance marketing is the door that gives potential customers a path to engage with your brand.
