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How PR and Social Media Work Together to Grow Your Business
PR and social media are two powerful ways to increase your business's visibility, build trust and reach new audiences but they work even harder when they work together.
Too often, PR and social media marketing are treated as completely separate areas. PR might be viewed as writing press releases and emailing journalists, while social media is seen as the day-to-day job of keeping a business visible online.
In reality, both are far broader.
A strong PR and social media strategy connects the two, using PR to build credibility and reach audiences beyond your existing channels while social media creates direct relationships, amplifies important stories and keeps the conversation going.
So, how do PR and social media work together? And how can businesses use both to generate meaningful exposure?
What is the difference between PR and social media?
Although PR and social media can support the same marketing objectives, they play different roles.
What is social media marketing?
Social media allows your business to communicate directly with its audience. You control what you publish, when you publish it and how you present your message.
Businesses can use social media to:
Share company news and updates
Showcase products and services
Introduce the people behind the business
Answer customer questions
Build an engaged online community
Share behind-the-scenes content
Demonstrate knowledge and expertise
Encourage website visits, enquiries and sales
The major advantage is that you have a direct relationship with your audience.
What is PR?
Public relations, or PR, focuses more broadly on how your business is presented, recognised and understood beyond its own channels.
PR opportunities could include securing coverage in newspapers, magazines and online publications, as well as radio, television and podcasts.
It can also involve thought leadership, speaking opportunities, awards, partnerships and expert commentary.
The difference is important.
Social media gives your business its own platform to communicate directly with customers and potential customers. PR creates opportunities for its stories, expertise and achievements to be recognised by others.
That independent visibility can add credibility and trust that is difficult to create through your own promotional content alone.
PR is more than sending out press releases
One of the biggest misconceptions about public relations for businesses is that it simply involves writing a press release, sending it to a long list of journalists and hoping somebody publishes it.
Effective PR is much more considered than that.
A press release is just one PR tool – and it isn't the right format for every story.
A successful PR strategy begins by understanding the business, its objectives, its target audience and the reputation it wants to build. From there, you can identify the stories, expertise and opportunities most likely to support those goals.
A PR strategy could involve:
Developing strong news and feature angles
Building relationships with relevant journalists
Pitching tailored ideas to individual publications
Positioning business leaders as trusted experts
Providing timely commentary on current issues
Securing podcast, broadcast and speaking opportunities
Entering relevant business and industry awards
Creating thought-leadership content
Developing partnerships and community campaigns
Managing business communications during important moments
Good PR also means recognising when something isn't genuinely newsworthy.
Sending weak or overly promotional press releases to large, untargeted media lists rarely creates meaningful exposure and can damage relationships with journalists.
PR should be strategic, relevant and connected to your wider business goals.
The objective isn't simply to collect press mentions. It's to help the right audiences understand your business, trust its expertise and remember its name.
Social media marketing is more than simply posting
Just as PR is about more than sending press releases, social media marketing is about far more than filling a content calendar or publishing a certain number of posts each week.
Strong social media marketing starts with understanding your business, your audience and the role each social platform plays within the customer journey.
A successful social media strategy can involve:
Developing a clear social media strategy
Creating content for different audiences and platforms
Building and managing an engaged community
Responding to comments, questions and conversations
Sharing the people and personality behind your brand
Listening to customers and identifying recurring interests
Testing different messages and content formats
Reviewing performance and learning from audience behaviour
Supporting campaigns, launches and commercial objectives
Creating consistent visibility between larger PR moments
Social media gives businesses something particularly valuable: a direct relationship with their audience.
Unlike media coverage, you don't have to wait for somebody else to decide whether your story should be shared. You can communicate regularly, respond in real time and build familiarity through consistent interaction.
The strongest social media activity isn't simply frequent. It's relevant, recognisable and designed to create a genuine connection between your business and the people you want to reach.
How do PR and social media work together?
This is where a joined-up approach becomes particularly powerful.
PR and social media can begin with the same strong business story but communicate it in different ways.
PR considers how that story could be relevant beyond your business's existing audience.
Social media allows you to share the news directly, add personality and invite your community into the conversation.
Neither should simply become a distribution channel for the other.
When PR and social media work together, each contributes something different to the wider campaign.
For example, your business might have:
Launched a new product, service or location
Expanded or reached a significant milestone
Won an award
Started a community project
Formed a new partnership
Produced original research or industry insight
Offered expert commentary on a current issue
Shared an interesting story about the people behind the business
Any of these could potentially become a PR opportunity while also providing valuable content for your social media channels.
PR shapes the story; social media helps it travel
Once you've identified a strong business story, think about PR and social media together rather than creating two separate campaigns.
Before the announcement, social media can build interest, introduce the issue or share behind-the-scenes preparations.
When the news breaks, your social channels can direct people towards the full story, explain why it matters and encourage conversation.
Afterwards, you can explore different elements of the campaign, share relevant media coverage and provide updates on what happened next.
Instead of one announcement generating one press release and one social post, you've created an opportunity for a much broader campaign.
Social media adds the human element to PR
A press release needs to give journalists the facts clearly and quickly.
Social media gives your business much more freedom to reveal the people, emotions and experiences behind those facts.
For example, imagine a company has opened new premises and created ten jobs.
The PR story might focus on the expansion, investment, employment opportunities and what the development means for the business or local economy.
The accompanying social media content could include:
A video from the founder explaining what the expansion means
Photographs showing the transformation of the premises
Introductions to new team members
A carousel telling the story of the company's growth
Comments from customers or community partners
Behind-the-scenes content from opening day
Each piece provides a different way for people to connect with the same announcement.
The formal PR story provides the news. Social media brings that story to life.
How PR can strengthen your social media strategy
PR can introduce your business to audiences who may never previously have encountered your brand.
Media coverage, interviews, expert commentary, podcasts and other external opportunities can all provide valuable independent exposure.
Social media can then help turn that initial awareness into a longer-term relationship.
Someone might first discover your company through a local newspaper article, industry publication or podcast. They may then visit your LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook or TikTok profile to find out more.
There, they can explore previous content, meet your team, understand your brand's values, ask questions and decide whether they want to stay connected.
In this way, PR can create the introduction while social media continues the relationship.
How social media can create new PR opportunities
The relationship works in the other direction too.
An active, professional social media presence can demonstrate your business's expertise, personality and connection with its audience.
Journalists, podcast hosts, event organisers, potential partners and customers may all look at a company's social channels before deciding whether to approach or work with it.
Social media can also reveal which topics matter most to your audience.
If the same question keeps appearing in your comments or DMs, for example, there may be an expert article, thought-leadership opportunity or media pitch waiting to be developed.
This creates a useful cycle:
Social media helps you understand your audience.
PR turns relevant insights and business activity into stronger stories.
Media exposure introduces your business to new audiences.
Social media continues the conversation and builds the relationship.
Audience responses help identify your next potential story.
Why business exposure should always have a purpose
More visibility doesn't automatically mean better visibility.
A successful PR and social media strategy isn't about appearing everywhere or jumping onto every trending topic.
It's about being seen by the people who matter to your business.
Before beginning a PR or social media campaign, ask:
Who are we trying to reach?
What do we want them to understand about our business?
Why should this matter to them?
What action would we like them to take?
Which media outlets are relevant?
Which social media platforms are relevant?
How does this activity support our wider business objectives?
A regional business may gain far more value from credible local media coverage and an engaged local social following than a passing mention in a national publication.
Similarly, a specialist B2B company might benefit more from respected trade coverage and highly targeted LinkedIn content than a social media post reaching thousands of people outside its target market.
The goal should be relevant exposure that builds awareness, trust and opportunity, rather than reach for the sake of reach.
How to create a joined-up PR and social media strategy
PR shouldn't be completed first and then handed over to the social media team as an afterthought.
When PR and social media are planned together from the beginning, you can identify the different assets, messages and content you'll need before your campaign starts.
A joined-up PR and social media campaign might include:
A central news or campaign angle
Clearly defined target audiences
A press release or targeted media pitch
A supporting SEO-optimised article on your website
Professional photography and video
Founder or expert commentary
Social media content adapted for each relevant platform
Clear links and calls to action
Follow-up content and campaign updates
This also keeps your messaging consistent.
Whether somebody discovers your business through a newspaper article, LinkedIn post, Instagram Reel or Google search, they should encounter a clear and recognisable message.
Why PR and social media are stronger together
PR and social media perform different but equally valuable roles within your marketing strategy.
Social media gives your business a direct voice and allows you to build consistent relationships with your audience. PR creates opportunities for your business to be recognised and understood beyond its own platforms.
PR can introduce new people to your business, while social media gives them a reason to stay connected.
Social media conversations can reveal new PR opportunities, while PR campaigns can provide meaningful stories and independent recognition to share with your online community.
Neither should be treated as an afterthought or simply used to distribute the other.
When they're connected by a clear strategy, PR and social media can help your business increase visibility, reach relevant audiences, build stronger relationships and develop a trusted reputation.
At Total Marketing, we help businesses develop joined-up marketing strategies that connect PR, social media and content rather than treating them as separate activities.
If you'd like help building a clearer PR and social media strategy for your business, get in touch with the Total Marketing team to find out how we can help.
FAQs: PR and Social Media
What is the difference between PR and social media?
PR focuses on building awareness, credibility and reputation through media coverage and other external opportunities. Social media allows businesses to communicate directly with their audiences through their own channels. Used together, they can create a stronger and more consistent brand presence.
How do PR and social media work together?
PR can introduce your business to new audiences through media coverage, expert commentary, interviews and other opportunities. Social media can amplify those stories, add personality and continue the conversation with people who discover your business.
Why is social media important for PR?
Social media gives businesses a platform to share PR successes while also helping journalists, partners and potential customers understand the people and expertise behind the brand. It can also provide valuable audience insights that inspire future PR stories.
Can social media be used for public relations?
Yes. Social media can play an important role in public relations by helping businesses communicate with their audiences, demonstrate expertise, manage their reputation and respond to conversations in real time. However, it shouldn't completely replace a wider PR strategy.
Should PR and social media be planned together?
Ideally, yes. Planning PR and social media together makes it easier to create consistent messaging, prepare the right content and assets, maximise important business announcements and continue campaigns beyond the initial media coverage.
How can PR and social media help a small business?
PR and social media can help small businesses increase awareness, establish credibility, demonstrate expertise and build relationships with potential customers. A targeted approach can be particularly effective for reaching local or specialist audiences.
Need help with your PR and social media strategy?
Bringing PR and social media together can help you get more value from your stories, campaigns and content.
Author: Emma Collins
Emma Collins is PR & Business Champion at Total Marketing, with more than 20 years of experience helping businesses increase their visibility through strategic PR, content marketing and digital communications.
Passionate about storytelling and building meaningful connections, Emma specialises in securing media coverage, creating engaging content and helping brands grow their reputation. With extensive experience supporting businesses across the South West, she enjoys sharing practical marketing advice that helps organisations stand out and achieve sustainable growth.
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