Today I want to discuss what is “pay-to-play public relations?” 

To understand pay-to-play public relations (PR), we first need to understand what PR is in the first place. 

Public relations is a marketing discipline that uses communication strategies and communication channels to build relationships with a desired audience. 

This may include earning media coverage, communicating directly with an audience via social media or owned marketing channels, such as a blog, YouTube channel or email. It may also include exposure via speaking engagements, events, or awards. 

In contrast, advertising is when an organization pays to be featured in front of an audience. This may include being a sponsor at an event or purchasing ad space in a publication. 

So what is pay-to-play PR? The answer is advertising! 

If a media outlet requires a fee to cover your company or product, that is a form of advertising. Unlike earned media coverage, pay-to-play coverage does not generally follow traditional journalism standards and ethics. The lines between advertising and earned media are becoming more blurred as ad content tends to look more and more like traditional journalism. 

For instance, if you read a BrandVoice article in Forbes, you are reading a form of commercial content. You will notice a “paid program” label on BrandVoice content. 

If an influencer promotes your product organically without payment, that is public relations. If you are paying an influencer, that is advertising. 

 Both public relations and advertising are valuable marketing tools. 

Public relations tends to create more credibility because the exposure is earned and not paid for. A huge benefit of gaining exposure in a media outlet is third-party credibility. When someone features your company or product without being paid, there is often more trust in the content than a paid placement where the message is controlled and influenced by the company paying for exposure. 

However, advertising is still a critical marketing channel for creating a controlled message with repeated exposure in front of a defined target audience. The benefit to advertising is that you control the message and the frequency of the exposure. 

So both public relations and advertising are valuable, but it is important to understand if you are engaging in PR or advertising. Paid placements do not carry the same weight and credibility as earned placements, but earned placements are often more difficult to obtain and the frequency can be more sporadic. A well-rounded marketing strategy will include both a public relations and advertising strategy.