PR & Marketing: The Perfect Marriage 04/27/16 | Four Columns Marketing In the Dark Ages, back when advertisers were counting the number of drivers passing a billboard on a Monday morning as a metric for success, public relations and marketing rarely combined forces to develop strategy and prove ROI. But today, responsibilities blur across social media and the growth of content marketing means an organization’s success is built on results from its communication efforts. Neither PR nor marketing can do it alone. PR still connects you with media gatekeepers, but the tactics are different than when traditional advertising was the norm. Rather than pitching a story, the content becomes the story. Social media has put an end to the era of “news as an event,” and PR pros are challenged to figure out how to reach their audiences—Content is the answer. Marketers have had to learn from PR as well, and we’ve seen a decline in self-promotional content in recent years. Now days, content marketing is about telling a story. And that’s what PR has always been about—managing and telling a brand’s story. By embracing PR content and message distribution tactics, marketing can begin to improve their lead nurturing tactics and fill in some gaps they may have been missing. With the growth of content marketing and the importance of original content, it’s now time to look across the aisle and learn how to blend both departments for the perfect mix of content and messaging.