The two functions have converged because earned coverage now produces links and search visibility, and because both are judged on audience attention. They have not merged. The skills, the timescales and the definition of a good week are different, and a supplier that treats them as one job usually turns out to be strong at one of them.
Where they genuinely overlap
Digital public relations sits in the middle: research and stories built to earn coverage that also earns links, which lifts search performance. Both functions also need the same underlying assets, a clear position, credible spokespeople and data worth writing about, so briefing them separately duplicates work and produces inconsistent claims.
Where combining them hurts
Crisis handling, regulatory communication and analyst relations are specialist work with legal exposure, and they should not sit with a performance team judged on cost per acquisition. Equally, paid media optimisation is a daily technical discipline that a communications team will not run well. Combining these under one manager tends to starve whichever is less urgent.
How to structure it
One brief, one set of messages and one calendar, with distinct owners for earned and paid work and a single person accountable for consistency. Where budget allows only one supplier, pick the discipline your constraint sits in and buy the other as a smaller specialist retainer rather than as an add on.
Measuring the pair honestly
Coverage volume is not an outcome and cost per acquisition ignores everything earned work does. Track branded search and direct traffic, referral quality, links earned to pages that matter commercially, and how paid efficiency moves during and after earned campaigns. That pairing shows the interaction rather than crediting whichever channel is measured last.
Questions people ask about digital marketing and pr
Should PR report to marketing?
In smaller organisations it usually does and that works. Where regulatory, investor or employee communication is significant, keeping a direct line to leadership avoids those being subordinated to campaign priorities.
Can one agency really do both?
Some do it well, particularly in digital public relations. Ask which of the two the founders came from, then check the weaker side's staffing rather than the case studies.
Does PR help SEO?
Earned coverage produces links and mentions that support search performance, which is why digital PR exists as a discipline. Coverage chosen purely for links tends to be low quality on both counts.
Which should a small company buy first?
Usually the one that addresses the immediate constraint. If nobody knows you exist, earned attention comes first. If people find you and do not convert, the site and paid work matter more.