Case Study – Advertising vs PR Cost Comparison

By Jon Davis

The top healthcare PR firm, Macias PR, has published a case study that compares the cost analysis of the two most popular forms of marketing – advertising and PR. The study provides great insight for health tech startups that can’t afford advertising campaigns but are in dire need of publicity.

The case study looked at two local media campaigns Macias PR ran for clients in San Antonio and Phoenix during the week of September 19th, 2016. This analysis takes a closer look at how much these local TV media placements would have cost under an advertising budget.

Case Study – ROI Comparison of PR vs Advertising

The analysis compared airtime for TV news stories with the cost for an equivalent ad-buy under an advertising campaign. The study concludes PR is roughly a quarter of the cost than a traditional ad campaign, using ad buy estimates from Golden State Media Concepts.

“Local news is one of the best ways to market your brand in the community and it brings a better ROI than any advertising campaign,” said Mark Macias, the founder of Macias PR. “Consumers walk out of the room when the commercials come on the TV. Newspaper ads also don’t have any credibility with consumers, but a newspaper or TV story positions your brand as a thought leader – or you as the expert in the community.”

Finance Monthly named Macias PR the 2016 “Financial PR Firm of the Year – USA” and 2015 “PR Consultant Firm of the Year – USA” based on the firm’s media deliverables, expertise and innovation in PR. You can read a summary of the case study by clicking here.