What Marketing Teams Need from Their PR Partners in 2026
It’s the old “right hand, meet left hand” scenario: Marketing teams forging ahead with market research, polished creative, huge media spends and social media inundation. Meanwhile, the public relations group is pitching story ideas like spaghetti against the wall, hoping one will stick.
So many times, we see two teams that could be exponentially more effective if they operated in tandem.
Brands that align marketing and PR increase reach, awareness, consideration, purchase and repeat sales. PR is like a magic elixir, accelerating and intensifying everything marketing does.
Align PR and Marketing to Supercharge the Brand
OK, so it’s not really magic, it’s common sense. An effective PR plan builds trust with the public and lays the groundwork for brands to grow, thrive and adapt. It creates familiarity and authority which permits target audiences to say “yes” to whatever it is you’re marketing. Rather than rely on a sales pitch (which many times meets our inherent resistance), why not combine your paid efforts with an earned mention or recommendation from a trusted, third-party source?
Here are some helpful insights to boost PR’s effectiveness for marketing teams:
Create an infrastructure that encourages communication and collaboration. If teams operate in silos, they’ll never learn to work together when supporting the brand. We’re big proponents of sharing ideas, having conversations and agreeing on frameworks. We share calendars, too!
Work together to create goals and KPIs for the brand. Now that you’ve met each other, decide how each team can bring its unique strengths to the table. Create common goals for your brand/product/service. Then work together to determine success metrics. Having another discipline’s perspective on your work is extremely helpful. Tap into each other’s expertise to elevate overall expectations and, ultimately, outcomes.
Evangelize brand voice and messaging tone. Somewhere in your organization, someone is determining your brand’s voice – how and where it speaks to its audience. It’s crucial to evangelize that information so that everyone who crafts messaging does it in a way that fits the brand. Don’t forget, your brand’s personality can even extend to marketing-adjacent areas such as customer service and product development.
Leverage PR’s ability to create trust. Earned media paves the way for awareness and trust by utilizing the resources of third-party platforms to reinforce the brand message. Consistency, honesty and creativity are non-negotiable as campaigns develop and unfold.
PR’s unique skillset can elevate marketing content. If you’re looking for nuance and narrative, your PR team is the right place to start. Public relations pros understand the power of words and have mastered the delicate craft of saying the right thing at the right time to the right audience.
Product launch buzz is buzzier with a coordinated PR campaign. It seems like a million new products are launched each year. By coordinating with the PR team, earned mention of your new widget cuts through the crowd, creates credibility and gets people interested. PR gives brands a headstart. Why not take it?
Now more than ever, content matters. Used to be, you could just throw in some keywords and a few links and call your SEO robust. AI is rapidly changing the search landscape. Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) looks for strands of coherent copy that fully answer the query. Good content that’s contextual, personable, factual and relevant catches the GEO search bot first. Sounds like a job for PR!
Why Settle for Average?
At Paquin PR, we’re not the types who are content letting “the marketing folks” run off and do their own thing. We understand that by working in concert, we can supercharge any activity a brand undertakes. From product launches and new creative to digital commerce and good old-fashioned sales boosts, public relations should be part and parcel of top-notch marketing.
Marketing and PR begin with building relationships. Give us a shout and let’s start ours.
