Digital PR, like digital marketing, has taken an offline activity and brought it online. Public relations firms help businesses get visibility among their target consumers and expand their digital footprints.
Guest posting, cultivating relationships with journalists and influencers, social media interactions, and merging PR and SEO are some of the methods used to accomplish this.
With this in mind, we’ve put together a comprehensive introduction to digital public relations. We’ll talk about:
Let’s get started on the digital PR definition without further ado.
What is Digital PR?
Digital PR is the use of internet channels to maintain and build your company’s reputation and recognition.
This is accomplished through cultivating relationships with relevant web journalists, bloggers, and influencers. The ultimate purpose of this strategy is to gain earned media exposure on a variety of web venues, such as:
- News sites
- Blogs
- Podcasts
- Social media
- Business networks
Companies may use digital PR to construct hyper-targeted campaigns across a variety of online platforms in order to reach and influence their target audience.
Digital public relations, when done correctly, may help you improve your reputation, increase your visibility, and improve your SEO.
Traditional PR vs Digital PR
You might be asking what the difference is between conventional and digital public relations, and which is better for your company. So, here’s a rundown of the fundamental contrasts between digital and conventional public relations.
The problem with traditional PR
Traditional public relations was created in a different age. The major goal of this type of public relations is to affect the typical news cycle by obtaining favourable media attention.
Traditional PR has evolved, and obtaining earned media from internet venues now accounts for a significant portion of its output, but it is still entirely unsuitable to the demands of small firms and startups. This is because the sector was created to meet the needs of large corporations.
Product updates and announcements are the norm in traditional PR. Startups, on the other hand, may only have one or two genuinely remarkable announcements every year. As a result, traditional PR might be difficult to obtain media coverage.
Then there’s the question of money; some firms charge upwards of $10,000 per month and need long-term contracts. As a result, many startups are unable to use their services.
Fortunately, Digital PR discovers other, less expensive ways to get media coverage besides updates and announcements.
What does a digital PR agency do?
We’re in a good position to address this issue because we’re a digital PR firm. Here are a few of a digital PR agency’s primary online PR services:
Creates a public relations plan based on your company’s objectives: Never seek media attention only for the purpose of getting attention! It must be part of a larger goal of providing value. From building your backlink profile to enhance organic traffic to establishing you as a thought leader to help acquire investment, a digital PR firm will develop a strategy to assist you achieve your business goals.
Your industry is being watched by the media: Knowing where the discussion is in your sector is important because it influences the stories that are pitched and the sort of content that is produced.
Stories are pitched to internet media sites: Pitching to online media sources is one of the most important aspects of digital PR. This might take the shape of guest posts, podcast appearances, or interviews, to mention a few possibilities.
Keyword research and strategy are provided: Clients should be able to get in-house SEO knowledge from a solid digital PR firm. Keyword research will be a significant outcome of this process, as it will help you choose what kind of owned media material you should be producing.
Produces high-value material: A digital PR agency should be capable of creating a wide range of interactive content, including white papers, articles, infographics, and data studies, among other things.
Develops social media marketing tactics: The importance of social media to a company’s reputation has risen dramatically. Your digital PR agency should have a social media rockstar that manages, grows, and collects feedback across all of your social media networks.
The list, however, does not end there. A digital PR firm should also have a thorough awareness of your sector and a genuine interest in your company. These are the types of questions you should be asking your next agency about their expertise and expectations.
Importance of digital PR
Digital PR may be quite beneficial to your company. A well-thought-out and implemented strategy can:
Increase your target audience’s exposure: Digital PR may yield targeted media victories across a variety of online media sites that your target audience reads. As a result, this is a fantastic approach to increase your visibility.
Establish yourself as a thought leader in your field: Getting high-quality material, like as guest articles, published on high-authority websites may help you position yourself as a thought leader and increase your social proof.
Increase referral traffic: Digital PR helps you get online visibility by allowing you to get media mentions in a variety of places. This improves the amount of referral traffic that comes to your website, which feeds into your sales funnel.
Boost your SEO: Public relations and SEO are more linked than they’ve ever been. Backlinks from high-authority sites, which are still one of Google’s most important ranking criteria, are a key output of digital PR. Your website’s SEO will increase as you obtain more high-quality backlinks.
Grow your digital footprint: Since everything nowadays begins with a Google search, your digital footprint determines what others believe about you. You must be active on social media and obtain earned publicity throughout the web in addition to having a fantastic website. Both of these are aided by digital PR.
Improve your brand image: The more you are exposed to your target audience online, the more good things they will hear about you. Within your industry, this increases brand credibility and authority.
Examples of Digital PR
Winning earned exposure and gaining high-quality backlinks across a variety of online media venues are the main goals of digital PR strategy.
The following are some of the most prevalent forms of digital public relations tactics and online public relations services:
Getting media attention by providing professional advice and insight: If your sector is experiencing a period of rapid change, you may contribute to the discourse and gain media attention by expressing your professional opinion to journalists and reporters.
Getting guest articles published online: Getting guest posts published online is a terrific strategy to increase your social proof and create your story as a thought leader. A side benefit is the possibility for link building, since many high-authority websites will give backlinks in exchange for publishing your article.
To acquire internet media attention, send out press releases and syndicate noteworthy material: This is an example of classic public relations in action. Press releases are distributed to online reporters and editors rather than print newspapers in digital PR. However, because press releases are only a means of disseminating a corporate statement, they are only useful if you have anything noteworthy to communicate.
Developing connections with influencers and micro-influencers: Micro-influencers, in particular, may engage with a very specialized audience. Not only can their endorsement help your brand reach a hitherto untapped audience, but it will also enhance confidence in your company. On social media, influencers are viewed as 94 percent more reliable and believable than others.
Appearances on major business podcasts as a guest: Podcasts have evolved into a powerful marketing tool. They provide you the opportunity to showcase your individuality while also exhibiting your understanding of the sector.
Digital PR and SEO
Digital PR and SEO are inextricably related. You’ll need high-quality content and high-authority backlinks to thrive in SEO. Great quality content and backlinks from high authority websites are two of the most important outcomes of digital PR.
As a result, many companies mix their SEO and digital PR efforts to get the most bang for their buck. In fact, many people today consider public relations to be one of the most successful methods for obtaining high-quality backlinks.
Combining your SEO, PR and digital content marketing strategy
To get the most out of your digital PR agency, make sure they combine your SEO, PR, and content marketing efforts. The link between these many variables is depicted in the infographic below.
The approach, as you can see, begins with your owned media plan. You must create content, like as blog articles and product landing pages, that is optimised to capture desired keywords.
This plan informs your PR output after it’s in place and you’re creating high-quality material. This may take the shape of sending out press releases announcing unique research that you’ve published on your site, or it could take the form of proposing guest pieces on comparable themes to some of your blog entries.
Backlinks to your owned media content will frequently appear in the earned media victories you achieve as a result of this effort. Backlinks to supportive blog content, for example, might be included in your guest articles.
The three-step procedure for identifying keywords outlined below will teach you how to start putting together a combined SEO and digital PR campaign. Read our guide on PR and SEO for a thorough tour.
Wrapping up…
You should now have a better understanding of what digital public relations is, what a digital public relations agency performs, and why digital public relations is vital.
Digital PR, when planned and implemented as part of a larger company strategy, may help you establish authority, raise brand recognition, expand your digital footprint, and boost your SEO. It may provide a lot of value to any company because it sits in the between of content marketing and SEO.
If you’re thinking about hiring a digital PR agency to help you out, this article will help you figure out what questions to ask and how to choose which business is suitable for you.