Digital PR: Definition, Strategy, Campaigns and Benefits

Today we will be looking at what Digital PR is, The different strategies companies can use when running a digital pr campaign,  campaigns that have been run in the online pr space and the benefits of digital PR.

What is Digital PR?

Digital PR is a marketing strategy that brands use to build awareness and authority.  Digital PR is used to drive media coverage, build backlinks which help with SEO, Increase your company’s brand awareness and it’s also used to drive direct traffic from highly authoritative websites to increase website traffic and sales.

Digital PR is also called online PR and demand for digital pr services is at an all-time high.  Unlike traditional PR, Online PR is a digital marketing service where results can be tracked.

For example, a digital PR campaign may generate 100’s of backlinks, increase search engine rankings, increase brandable searches, and increase direct traffic and sales, all of which can be tracked.

Digital PR has many use cases and despite being born out of SEO and link building, Digital PR is not just link building. Digital PR is used as a promotional tactic which can help with your content marketing, products or event to be seen by millions of people.

Like traditional PR and public relations, digital PR is used to put your content in front of your target audience to build relationships and awareness with them. By reaching your target audience with your content you will build brand awareness and get them to buy from you.  

But how do you do digital PR? Thankfully there are many strategies a business can use.

What digital PR Strategies can a business use?

To increase your online presence, brand reputation, referral traffic, and search engine presence there are many pr tactics that you can use.  While you can do these yourself, many choose to hire pr professionals, either by using a digital pr freelancer or a digital pr agency.

Some of the main digital PR tactics that work for all of the above include, Reactive PR, Data-Driven planned campaigns, thought leadership/expert commentary, and working with influencers.  Depending on your goals, will depend on the digital pr service that you will need.

Different goals will need different digital PR experts and to reach those goals you will need to put in a digital pr strategy before any work is undertaken.

Reactive PR

Reactive PR or newsjacking is a pr activity where digital pr specialists will monitor the news or social media for opportunities where your brand could be mentioned.  Reactive PR is fast-paced and is a good pr tactic if you can provide a quote quickly to journalists so you can be inserted into the current news story.

Data-Driven PR Campaigns

A good digital pr strategy often incorporates different PR tactics.  A Data-Driven or proactive PR campaign is often well-researched, can take a lot of time to produce the content and if done well can earn your business 100’s of high quality links.

Thought Leadership/Expert Commentary

Thought leadership is a PR tactic that allows businesses to share their expertise with the world.  Thought leadership is a great way of showing your expertise to build brand awareness and authority in your industry.

Influencer marketing

Using an influencer in your marketing can humanise your products and build trust.  If you can use and influencer in your digital PR campaigns then it can elevate your brand awareness and increase sales.

Digital PR Campaigns

Every digital PR team is going to have their favourite campaigns but over the last few years, there have been some amazing digital PR campaigns made by pr agencies all over the world.  We have included some of our favourite pr campaigns below.

Burger King’s pr campaign during the pandemic was one of our favourite digital pr campaigns over the last few years.  The pandemic hit everyone, but small businesses were feeling it more than most.  With the campaign, Burger King put out a tweet asking its fans to also eat at other fast and not-so-fast restaurants as they employ thousands of staff who all need support.

We thought the above was great, it didn’t cost burger king any money and at a time when everyone was uncertain about their jobs, it would have helped those smaller restaurants increase their food orders. 

Tesco’s also did something similar where they asked its shoppers to “pop to their local” if they felt safe to do so as the pandemic has caused many pubs to close during the covid-19 pandemic.

You don’t have to be a big brand to gain attention with digital PR campaigns though. Digital PR and other Search engine optimisation companies have put some great campaigns too.

Just recently a PR agency used AI tools to predict the next James Bond, which gained them links all around the world.  Another PR agency used flight trackers to see which celebrity caused the most Co2 pollution worldwide and as a result, gained links and brand mentions in some of the biggest websites in the world, which put that brand at the forefront of the conversation, one of the many benefits of using a digital pr service.

What are the benefits of using Digital PR?

The main benefits of digital PR include enhanced, brand visibility, Improved SEO rankings and website traffic, crisis management, brand trust, more sales and leads, and quality links.

Enhanced brand visibility

A digital PR campaign can put your content in front of millions of readers.  Some of our digital PR campaigns have put our client in front of millions of potential customers which has helped build their brand visibility. When more people know about your products and services they can buy from you.

Improved SEO Rankings

Digital PR was born out of the need for earning high quality backlinks.  Naturally one of the benefits of being mentioned on big websites is if they choose to link to your own website then you can expect improved SEO rankings.  Backlinks are very important when it comes to ranking your websites on the search engine and if you want to see an increase in impressions and clicks on Google Analytics/search console then earning authoritative links is going to help.

Crisis management

Now more than ever brands are having a crisis.  Digital PR can be used to manage these crises and can be used to push the bad media out of the press by creating your own news.

Improved trust

When operating any sales or services websites online, trust plays a key part in how successful a business can be.  Using Digital PR can help increase the trust the public has in your services by positioning you as an expert in your field.  For our clients, we have had them on National and Regional websites explaining the dangers of trends or explaining the best ways to perform an activity.  When readers see you on these big websites they automatically trust you more.

More sales and leads

As a result of all of the above, you can expect to see more sales and leads for your business when you are appearing on an authoritative website.  This is done through increased visibility, increased search engine rankings, and increased trust.

High-quality backlinks

Earning backlinks can be difficult and in a world where most agencies and SEO consultants are buying links, it can be hard to stand out.  A benefit of using digital PR is that you can earn high-quality backlinks without breaking any rules of the search engines.

Earning links from Digital PR is going to improve your referring domain count, domain authority and overall website trust.  For our clients using Digital PR we have earned them links from websites such as The Daily Mail, The Sun, MSN, AOL, Yahoo, Washington Post, Wales Online, Indy100, Manchester Evening News, LadBible, Huffington Post and many more.