Managing the marketing funnel: What I’ve learned from my first in-house PR experience

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Okay, okay, you got me. *Technically* I started my PR career in-house at a charity called the Oral Health Foundation. Whilst I’m very grateful for those humble beginnings, charity in-house PR is its own beast and the majority of my work was focused on owned channels with some earned media sprinkled in. For that reason, I am counting my recent stint at Media Analytics Ltd as my first proper foray into the world of in-house PR, where my brief was primarily across paid and earned media and on a budgetary scale that far outweighed the kinds of budgets I handled when working at the OHF.

With that caveat addressed, let’s get into it!

Why in-house?

Until recently, most of my PR career had been spent on the other side of the fence: agency side. That means juggling multiple clients, spinning several plates at once, and chasing coverage and KPIs like a caffeinated border collie. But in 2024, I swapped the agency buzz for a new challenge - joining Media Analytics Ltd as PR & Marketing Lead. My mission? Build brand awareness and buzz for a first-time author by the name of Christopher Gasson, Media Analytic’s MD.

Going in-house was always something I wanted to try, part curiosity, part professional development, part “let’s see if the grass really is greener”. The shift taught me a lot about how marketing actually flows within a business, how demand is built (and maintained), and where PR really fits into the marketing funnel when you’re sitting inside the business instead of cheering from the sidelines.

Here are the top three key takeaways I took from the experience:

1. PR can’t be just top-of-funnel anymore - it's the thread through the whole thing

In the agency world, we often treat PR as the spark at the top of the funnel: awareness, attention, a bit of earned media glitter. But being in-house has shown me that great PR doesn’t stop there. It’s not just about securing a mention in The Times or a trending post on LinkedIn, it’s about threading that story all the way down the funnel.

Through my work at Media Analytics Ltd, I got to travel all the way through that funnel and work with a variety of partners and stakeholders in the process. That proximity taught me how media coverage feeds not just awareness, but credibility and conversion too. A smart feature with a media outlet becomes content for paid social ads. A public endorsement from an influencer becomes a quote on your Amazon product listing. You get the gist.

The funnel isn’t linear, and PR is no longer a silo - it’s the narrative backbone that travels with your customer from “Who are you?” to “Here, take my money and give me that thing!”.

2. Data has become my unlikely best friend

It may be rather unsurprising coming from a PR professional, but I was more of a humanities guy than a STEM one. I preferred English, History, and Music to studying Maths, Physics, and Chemistry. In other words, I was much more into words and creativity than I was into numbers and spreadsheets.

That being said, one of the most rewarding (and challenging) points of development for me through this role was truly understanding the power of data. Through delving more into the data side, from podcast advertorial breakdowns to Paid Social analytics, I have sharpened my understanding of what a good funnel really looks like. It's not about chucking content into the void and hoping someone converts. It’s about tracking what works at each stage and knowing when to adapt.

Through this role, I got more to grips with the likes of Google Analytics, Meta Ads Manager, and Amazon Attribution. What content’s garnering the best CTR? Which channels are driving web traffic? These questions become vital to understanding what is working effectively and what’s not.

Turns out, numbers don’t kill creativity, they make it more focused.

3. Cross-functional collaboration is no longer optional - it’s survival

One of the best parts about being in-house? You're there. You’re not just sending strategy decks into the ether and hoping the client reads them. You’re in the room (or the Slack channel), contributing to discussions on product roadmaps, customer feedback loops, and quarterly business goals.

At Media Analytics, my campaign wasn’t created in isolation. I collaborated with various teams - including Christopher himself, the great minds at 72Point, and the podcast & editorial team at Premier Christianity.

It’s all deeply connected. And while that might sound like an exhausting amount of meetings (some days, it was), it’s also where the magic happens. Your marketing funnel is only as strong as the alignment behind it.

Final Thoughts

My first (proper) in-house experience has been equal parts humbling and empowering. I’ve gained a clearer picture of the marketing funnel, not just as a framework, but as a living, breathing system that spans every consumer touchpoint team - whether it's in-house or agency.

It’s taught me that PR is no longer a standalone function - it’s an integrated, data-informed, story-driven engine that, when done right, powers the full journey.

Also, I now know where the biscuits are kept. You don’t get that in agency life.