---
title: PR vs marketing vs social media
---

[Skip to main content](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/2013/06/pr-vs-marketing-vs-social-media.html#maincontent)

[ «  View All Posts ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog)

# PR vs marketing vs social media

 June 18th, 2013

 1 min read

 By [David Meerman Scott](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/author/david-meerman-scott)

On the Web, there is very little differentiation between types of content.

People don't really care where they get the best content: mainstream media, content created by organizations (what I call brand journalism) or things that people share via social media.

Arguing that one is more legitimate (mainstream media) leads to flawed marketing and PR strategic decisions.

In an offline world, marketing and PR are usually separate departments with different people and different skill sets. Creating silos in companies for marketing and for public relations and for social media doesn't work when creating attention on the web and mobile. It's all content.

**Reaching buyers on the web and via mobile**

When a buyer is researching your product category by using a search engine, does it really matter if the first exposure is a hit on your website, a news release your organization sent, a magazine article, or a post on your blog? I'd argue that it doesn't matter.

**The distinctions have nearly disappeared. **

<https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/author/david-meerman-scott>

[ David Meerman Scott ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/author/david-meerman-scott)

David Meerman Scott is a business growth strategist, advisor to clever entrepreneurs who are building emerging companies, and the international bestselling author of a dozen books published in 30 languages. David’s high-energy keynote presentations, masterclasses, and virtual events educate, energize, and inspire.

 Connect: 

<https://www.facebook.com/dmscott> <https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmeermanscott/> <https://twitter.com/dmscott> [mailto:david@freshspot.com](mailto:david@freshspot.com)

 Topics:

[ Social Media ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/topic/social-media)

[ Public Relations ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/topic/public-relations)

[ Marketing ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/topic/marketing)

 Don't forget to share this post:

<https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/2013/06/pr-vs-marketing-vs-social-media.html> <https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?url=https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/2013/06/pr-vs-marketing-vs-social-media.html&title=PR+vs+marketing+vs+social+media&summary=+> <https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=PR+vs+marketing+vs+social+media&url=https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/2013/06/pr-vs-marketing-vs-social-media.html> <https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/2013/06/pr-vs-marketing-vs-social-media.html&media=&description=+>

## Related Articles

[![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Artemis%20earthset.jpg?width=5568&height=3712&name=Artemis%20earthset.jpg)

### Nasa’s Artemis II Lunar Mission: A PR Triumph for the USA

 April 11th, 2026|1 min read 

](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/nasas-artemis-ii-lunar-mission-a-pr-triumph-for-the-usa)

[![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Moltbook.jpg?width=1536&height=1024&name=Moltbook.jpg)

### Moltbook: A Social Network for AI Agents Where Humans Can Only Watch

 February 3rd, 2026|1 min read 

](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/moltbook-a-social-network-for-ai-agents-where-humans-can-only-watch)

[![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Screenshot%202025-10-29%20at%2010.27.19%20AM.png?width=835&height=466&name=Screenshot%202025-10-29%20at%2010.27.19%20AM.png)

### Don’t Fly Wizzness Class Video from Dave Carroll

 October 29th, 2025|1 min read 

](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/dont-fly-wizzness-class-video-from-dave-carroll)

[![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Chef%20Todd%20Edwards.jpg?width=1500&height=1010&name=Chef%20Todd%20Edwards.jpg)

### Pulling Back the Curtain to Show What Happens Behind-the-Scenes

 October 15th, 2025|1 min read 

](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/pulling-back-the-curtain-to-show-what-happens-behind-the-scenes)

[![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/DMS%20BM%20hybrid%202004.jpg?width=1432&height=966&name=DMS%20BM%20hybrid%202004.jpg)

### The Fandom Playbook: My New Book and Companion AI Chatbot

 September 24th, 2025|1 min read 

](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/the-fandom-playbook-my-new-book-and-companion-ai-chatbot)

[![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Stefano%20Paciotti.jpg?width=1500&height=1084&name=Stefano%20Paciotti.jpg)

### The Ham Whisperer of Rome: How Stefano’s Honest Videos Won the World’s Heart

 June 24th, 2025|1 min read 

](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/the-ham-whisperer-of-rome-how-stefanos-honest-videos-won-the-worlds-heart)

[![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/LinkedIn%20comments.jpg?width=1114&height=737&name=LinkedIn%20comments.jpg)

### Comments Are the Key to LinkedIn Engagement

 January 29th, 2025|1 min read 

](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/comments-are-the-key-to-linkedin-engagement)

[![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Kolkata%20Chai%20Ani%20and%20Ayan.jpg?width=1236&height=858&name=Kolkata%20Chai%20Ani%20and%20Ayan.jpg)

### Brewing Authenticity: How Kolkata Chai Co. Uses Instagram to Reach Interested Buyers

 November 21st, 2024|1 min read 

](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/brewing-authenticity-how-kolkata-chai-co.-uses-instagram-to-reach-interested-buyers)

[![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/boring%20robots.png?width=1432&height=899&name=boring%20robots.png)

### Your Original Content Plus AI Equals Sparkle-Darkle

 August 13th, 2024|1 min read 

](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/your-original-content-plus-ai-equals-sparkle-darkle)

[![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Jesse%20at%20Fenway.jpg?width=1256&height=843&name=Jesse%20at%20Fenway.jpg)

### Fans First Banana Ball Delights at Sold Out Fenway Park Game

 June 10th, 2024|1 min read 

](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/fans-first-banana-ball-delights-at-sold-out-fenway-park)

[![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/blog.jpg?width=1193&height=792&name=blog.jpg)

### Why You Need a Blog in the Age of AI and Social Networking

 September 5th, 2023|1 min read 

](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/why-you-need-a-blog-in-the-age-of-ai-and-social-networking)

[![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Threads.jpg?width=2350&height=1574&name=Threads.jpg)

### Meta's Threads Social Text App Unlikely to Topple Twitter's Dominance

 July 14th, 2023|1 min read 

](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/metas-threads-social-text-app-unlikely-to-topple-twitters-dominance)

[![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/DMS%20and%20YWS%20in%20Scotland.jpg?width=1500&height=1125&name=DMS%20and%20YWS%20in%20Scotland.jpg)

### How Instagram Got Us to the Castles of Scotland

 May 24th, 2023|1 min read 

](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/how-instagram-got-us-to-the-castles-of-scotland)

[![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Stoned%20Immaculate.jpg?width=1259&height=827&name=Stoned%20Immaculate.jpg)

### Modern-Day Hippies! Meet Stoned Immaculate’s Unique Buyer Persona

 March 14th, 2023|1 min read 

](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/modern-day-hippies-meet-stoned-immaculates-unique-buyer-persona)

[![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Scotus.jpg?width=1070&height=715&name=Scotus.jpg)

### Important Artificial Intelligence Case to be Argued in the US Supreme Court Today

 February 21st, 2023|1 min read 

](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/important-artificial-intelligence-case-to-be-argued-in-the-us-supreme-court-today)

[![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/man%20with%20typewriter.jpg?width=1189&height=788&name=man%20with%20typewriter.jpg)

### Unlocking the Potential of AI for Use with Your Own Content

 February 8th, 2023|1 min read 

](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/unlocking-the-potential-of-ai-for-use-with-your-own-content)

[![Aaron Silidker showing people how to use ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/RoamRig%20van%20conversions.jpg?width=2566&height=1556&name=RoamRig%20van%20conversions.jpg)

### How RoamRig Built A Successful Business With Facebook Groups

 January 10th, 2023|1 min read 

](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/how-roamrig-built-a-successful-business-with-facebook-groups)

[![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/free%20speech.jpg?width=2210&height=1404&name=free%20speech.jpg)

### Free Speech

 November 29th, 2022|1 min read 

](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/free-speech)

[![Twitter and Mastodon logos](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Mastodon%20will%20not%20replace%20Twitter.jpg?width=1002&height=520&name=Mastodon%20will%20not%20replace%20Twitter.jpg)

### No Way Mastodon Will Kill Twitter

 November 10th, 2022|1 min read 

](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/no-way-mastodon-will-kill-twitter)

[![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/dance.png?width=2048&height=1366&name=dance.png)

### Baseball That Puts Fans First! Banana Ball from The Savannah Bananas

 August 31st, 2022|1 min read 

](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/baseball-that-puts-fans-first-banana-ball-from-the-savanah-bananas)

[![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Twitter%20Blue.jpg?width=2160&height=1301&name=Twitter%20Blue.jpg)

### Twitter Blue Subscription Service

 June 29th, 2022|1 min read 

](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/twitter-blue-subscription-service-now-available-in-usa)

[![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/DMS%20metaverse%202.jpg?width=1500&height=1009&name=DMS%20metaverse%202.jpg)

### What the Heck is the Metaverse? And Should You Care?

 June 1st, 2022|1 min read 

](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/what-is-the-metaverse)

[![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/2017-Silver-Oak-Napa-Valley-Cabernet-72.jpg?width=2160&height=1440&name=2017-Silver-Oak-Napa-Valley-Cabernet-72.jpg)

### How Silver Oak Cellars Created Passionate Fans Over Fifty Years

 May 18th, 2022|1 min read 

](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/how-silver-oak-cellars-created-passionate-fans-over-fifty-years)

[![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/SCOTT_pb_3D_rev.png?width=1293&height=2430&name=SCOTT_pb_3D_rev.png)

### 8th Edition of The New Rules of Marketing & PR Publishes Today

 May 3rd, 2022|1 min read 

](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/8th-edition-of-the-new-rules-of-marketing-pr-publishes-today)

```json
{
  "@context" : "https://schema.org",
  "@type" : "BlogPosting",
  "author" : {
    "@type" : "Person",
    "name" : "David Meerman Scott",
    "url" : "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/author/david-meerman-scott"
  },
  "datePublished" : "2013-06-18T14:53:53.000Z",
  "headline" : "PR vs marketing vs social media",
  "mainEntityOfPage" : {
    "@id" : "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/2013/06/pr-vs-marketing-vs-social-media.html",
    "@type" : "WebPage"
  },
  "publisher" : {
    "@type" : "Organization",
    "logo" : {
      "@type" : "ImageObject",
      "url" : "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hubfs/_Assets/Logo/david-meerman-scott.png"
    },
    "name" : "David Meerman Scott"
  }
}
```

```json
{
  "@context" : "https://schema.org",
  "@id" : "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/#person",
  "@type" : "Person",
  "description" : "Marketing and sales visionary, international bestselling author of 12 books, keynote speaker in 47 countries, and advisor to emerging companies.",
  "email" : "mailto:David@DavidMeermanScott.com",
  "image" : "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hubfs/DMS-Homepage-Featured.jpg",
  "jobTitle" : [ "Keynote Speaker", "Author", "Business Growth Strategist", "Marketing Advisor" ],
  "knowsAbout" : [ "Content Marketing", "Fandom Marketing", "Newsjacking", "Real-Time Marketing", "Public Relations", "Sales Strategy", "Business Growth" ],
  "name" : "David Meerman Scott",
  "sameAs" : [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Meerman_Scott", "https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmeermanscott", "https://x.com/dmscott", "https://www.instagram.com/dmscott/" ],
  "url" : "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com"
}
```

```json
{
  "@context" : "https://schema.org",
  "@id" : "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/#website",
  "@type" : "WebSite",
  "author" : {
    "@id" : "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/#person"
  },
  "name" : "David Meerman Scott",
  "potentialAction" : {
    "@type" : "SearchAction",
    "query-input" : "required name=search_term_string",
    "target" : {
      "@type" : "EntryPoint",
      "urlTemplate" : "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/search?q={search_term_string}"
    }
  },
  "url" : "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com"
}
```

```json
{
  "@context" : "https://schema.org",
  "@type" : "BlogPosting",
  "author" : {
    "@type" : "Person",
    "name" : "David Meerman Scott",
    "url" : "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/author/david-meerman-scott"
  },
  "dateCreated" : "2014-09-11T00:17:57",
  "datePublished" : "2013-06-18T10:53:53-0400",
  "description" : "",
  "headline" : "PR vs marketing vs social media",
  "image" : [ "" ],
  "inLanguage" : "en-us",
  "keywords" : [ "Social Media", "Public Relations", "Marketing" ],
  "learningResourceType" : "article",
  "name" : "PR vs marketing vs social media",
  "publisher" : {
    "@type" : "Organization",
    "logo" : {
      "@type" : "ImageObject",
      "url" : "https://413105.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/413105/_Assets/Logo/david-meerman-scott.png"
    },
    "name" : "Freshspot Marketing LLC"
  },
  "timeRequired" : "1 minutes",
  "url" : "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/2013/06/pr-vs-marketing-vs-social-media.html"
}
```