PR - not advertising - should be the foundation upon which all other marketing communications tactics are built.
Now, it is true that you have more control over your initial advertising message than you do over your public relations generated messages. You pay for that luxury and that is the problem.
Your audience knows that you paid for the message delivery and immediately discounts it because it is from you. Also, your advertising message has a very limited shelf-life, although that is changing. With the advent of sites like YouTube TV ads can be archived forever.
Enter PR. You lose some control over the message once you set it free, but the message has legs.
People are more likely to believe a PR message because there is an implied third-party endorsement. It is not perceived to be self-serving, or at least not as self-serving as an ad.
Additionally, PR messages have a long shelf life. Once PR messages make their way into the news conduit, you can see them pop up in other stories for years.
The best companies have newsrooms on their websites (you do, don't you?). There you can archive your news releases and past media coverage forever. Also, once a release is digitally distributed and syndicated, your news is in an online searchable database.
Where advertising tends to build skepticism in our cynical age, PR builds awareness, loyalty, trust and credibility. PR brings your brand and story to life. PR broadens your reach. PR establishes you as an expert.
Now, get started building your foundation with PR.