What Type of PR Does Your Brand Need for Growth?

Many brands understand they can’t grow on product quality or paid ads alone. Building awareness and credibility requires the power of third-party validation. That’s where public relations comes in.

But PR consists of a variety of strategies. Between traditional PR, digital PR, content syndication, influencer marketing, and more, it can be difficult to decide what to prioritize. Each discipline tackles visibility from a different angle, with varying degrees of reach, cost, and impact.

Here’s a breakdown of the primary PR types to help digital marketers match their goals and budgets.

Traditional PR/Media Relations

Traditional PR focuses on media outreach to secure earned coverage in print publications, television, radio, and legacy news websites. It typically relies on relationships with journalists and established editorial calendars.

What it entails:

• Writing and distributing press releases
• Pitching stories to media outlets
• Organizing press events or interviews

Best for:

• Brand legitimacy and credibility
• Executive thought leadership
• Major company milestones (e.g., funding rounds, leadership changes)

Cost and timeline: $10,000–$30,000/month for agency support. Results typically take at least 1–3 months depending on newsworthiness and outreach cadence.

Example: TechCrunch published an article about a new feature from Snapchat, citing a Snapchat blog post explaining the feature and including the press email for any press requests. 

Coverage like this lends authority and signals importance to investors, partners, and the public.

Digital PR

Digital PR applies similar outreach tactics as traditional PR but focuses on online publications and SEO performance. It often aims to earn backlinks that increase organic search visibility.

What it entails:

• Targeting journalists at high-authority digital publications
• Creating data-driven content or unique insights
• Measuring success through link quality and SEO metrics

Best for:

• Organic search growth
• Online brand awareness
• Improving domain authority

Cost and timeline: $3,000–$15,000/month. Some backlink results may appear within weeks, but meaningful SEO impact generally takes 3–6 months.

Example: Casino.org managed to get a link from Miami Herald by creating a localized and timely piece of content (at the time, the Florida Panthers hockey team was in the Stanley Cup Playoffs).

Taking the time and using the budget to run the survey earned them a very high-quality backlink, which signals authority to Google’s algorithm.

Content Syndication

Content syndication distributes branded editorial content to a network of high-authority publishers, ensuring wide exposure and credible placement. While it involves a pay-to-distribute model, the placements are editorial in format, not ads.

What it entails:

• Creating original, newsworthy content
• Distributing through syndication platforms or partners
• Tracking pickup volume and publisher quality
  
  

Best for:

• National or regional brand awareness
• Building trust through third-party validation
• Maximizing the ROI of content production
  
  

Cost and timeline: Typically $3,000 - $5,000 per story. Results are fast: articles often begin syndicating within 1–2 weeks.

Example: Here is a story created by Hims and distributed through the Stacker wire. It was picked up by more than 300 publications, including the AOL and the Raleigh News & Observer, as shown below.

Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing leverages individuals with niche or large audiences on platforms like Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, or TikTok to promote a brand through authentic content.

What it entails:

• Partnering with creators relevant to your target audience
• Aligning messaging and creative strategy
• Measuring reach, engagement, and conversions

Best for:

• Driving awareness in specific demographics
• Generating product interest or sales
• Humanizing the brand

Cost and timeline: Influencer costs vary widely, as there is no industry standard, and are different platform to platform. Micro-influencers (between roughly 10K-100K followers) may charge $500–$7,000/post, or more if their audience is very niche; macro-influencers (between roughly 100K-1M followers) $10K+ depending on their popularity in the moment, exclusivity, and usage terms. Recently, brands using microinfluencers have been on the rise due to their, on average, higher rate of conversion and lower cost. Often, smaller creators can yield stronger results, rather than using all your budget on 1 creator. Campaigns can show results within days of going live.

Tip - Consider leveraging a longer term partnership with multiple deliverables to lower the cost per deliverable. This will also build trust with the influencer’s audience and your brand, making it seem more authentic. 

Example: Talkspace partnered with a TikTok user with around 8,000 followers to share her experience using the app.

This sort of partnership can appear more authentic than a standard ad, help improve a brand’s perception, and expand a brand’s reach (especially if this strategy is done at scale).

Reputation Management

Reputation management involves monitoring and influencing how a brand is perceived by the public, particularly during crises or in response to negative coverage. It combines proactive content creation with reactive crisis communications.

What it entails:

• Monitoring media and social channels for mentions
• Responding to negative press or reviews
• Creating positive content to reinforce brand values and narratives
  
  

Best for:

• Damage control after a PR crisis
• Misinformation or negative SEO
• Sustaining trust during transitions or controversies
  
  

Cost and timeline: $2,500–$20,000/month depending on severity. Triage actions can be immediate; perception recovery may take 3–12 months.

Example: When Duolingo announced they were going AI-first, they received a lot of backlash. To address this reaction, the CEO did an interview with Financial Times explaining his misstep in communicating the concept and clarifying the point he was trying to make.

Each of us can decide if this effort was enough to quell the anxiety, but the approach of trying to clear up miscommunication and continue the conversation is typically a good one — if done honestly and authentically.

Social Media PR

Social Media PR uses real-time communication on platforms like Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook to build relationships with the public, journalists, and influencers. It blends PR principles with platform-native engagement to shape brand reputation and handle emerging narratives.

What it entails:

• Crafting platform-specific messaging around brand updates or issues
• Engaging directly with users and communities
• Monitoring conversations for opportunities or risks
• Using social listening to inform proactive PR content

Best for:

• Real-time reputation management
• Building audience rapport and transparency
• Amplifying other PR wins (earned media, awards, campaigns)

Cost and timeline: $1,500–$10,000/month depending on content volume and community size. Results are immediate and evolve daily.

Example: Justworks uses their Instagram to share content about their employees, their customers, and their company’s goings-on.

With more than 15,000 followers, they’re able to tell brand stories that normally wouldn’t be picked up in the media and connect with people more directly.

Choosing the Right PR Mix

No single PR approach works for every brand or every stage of growth. Early-stage companies may benefit most from digital PR to build authority and SEO presence. Established brands might pursue traditional PR for reputation management or syndication for scalable visibility. Influencer marketing can supplement both with direct audience engagement.

For the most powerful results, a combination of approaches can expand your brand’s reach and reputation. Here’s a reminder of each type and what it helps accomplish so you can assess what might work best for your brand.

PR Type	Best For	Estimated Cost	Time to See Results
Traditional PR	Credibility, big milestones	$5,000–$20,000/month	1–3 months
Digital PR	SEO growth, online visibility	$3,000–$15,000/month	3–6 months
Content Syndication	Scalable awareness, trust	$3,000 - $5,000 per story	1–2 weeks
Influencer Marketing	Niche targeting, brand personality	$500–$50,000+/campaign	Days to 1 month
Reputation Management	Crisis control, narrative shaping	$2,500–$20,000/month	Immediate to 12 months
Social Media PR	Engagement, agility, amplification	$1,500–$10,000/month	Immediate and ongoing

Whichever route you take, the key is consistency. PR is not a one-and-done effort — it’s a long-term investment in your brand’s reputation, visibility, and authority.