In 2022, digital PR is becoming increasingly more integral to a solid, creative and measurable PR strategy.
More and more businesses are using digital PR or hiring a PR agency to improve their business, but what exactly is digital PR, and why is it so important?
Read on to learn all about digital PR and how it can benefit your business, whether you’re a small start-up or an established business.
What Is Digital PR?
Digital PR has very similar goals to traditional PR – however, it extends beyond simply achieving column inches in the media.
It is a form of content marketing, so naturally involves content production as well as distribution on digital platforms. The destination of content for digital PR campaigns can include blog posts, web copy, news websites, business networks and social media.
Engaging and informative content is key to any digital PR strategy, so it is important to invest in this upfront. Any digital content produced should be eye-catching and relevant for journalists and potential readers, as well as shareable.
Like with traditional PR, a digital PR specialist will make and use connections with journalists, reporters and editors.
However, digital public relations experts will also liaise with bloggers, influencers and other online media professionals and work with SEO professionals to ensure that coverage achieved has an impact on visibility in search engines.
One of the main goals of digital PR is to reach and influence a target audience. Online public relations work hand in hand with traditional PR as a wider marketing strategy – including content marketing, email marketing, inbound marketing, SEO and lead generation.
Why Digital PR is Important
Now you have an understanding of what digital PR is and what it entails, it’s time to find out why it is so important – and how your business can benefit from a quality digital PR strategy.
Read on for some of the key benefits of digital PR, and why it’s so important.
Digital PR Improves Your Brand Reputation
Digital PR can be great for your business, but one of the best things it can do for your brand improves your brand reputation.
The better exposure you have through the efforts of a quality digital PR campaign, the higher your target audience will think of you – building trust and authority and putting you one step above your competitors.
There are many methods used to improve the reputation of your company – many experts will use social media to engage with their audience and connect with them on a different level.
Review platforms such as TripAdvisor or TrustPilot can enhance your business, but can also be detrimental in terms of reputation.
Keeping on top of reviews and responding to customers is a fundamental aspect of reputation management.
Digital PR can also include crisis management – managing any disasters that can impact your brand reputation. This often involves driving your brand’s reputation in the right direction and responding to the crisis.
Digital PR Can Boost SEO
SEO is something that all businesses should consider, whether it be e-commerce or brick-and-mortar.
SEO aims at increasing traffic to your website, ultimately improving conversion rates and generating more leads. By improving your brand’s online presence, you’re sure to generate more organic traffic to your pages.
In 2022, PR and SEO are more intrinsically connected – a huge aspect of digital PR is acquiring backlinks from higher authority sites.
This is a huge ranking factor for Google and other search engines and can be the difference between your business ranking on the 3rd page of Google and reaching that number one spot.
The more backlinks you acquire, the more optimised your site will be, and the better the rankings.
Although there are many ways that you can acquire backlinks, digital PR is arguably one of the most effective methods, via digital press releases, blogs, online content or securing mentions on news articles on high-quality sites.
If you’re looking to kickstart your digital PR and SEO, our dedicated Tuesday Media team can help.
Digital PR Can Reflect Your Brand Identity
Digital PR focuses on your brand’s identity both online and offline – whether it be in the form of news stories, digital press releases, testimonials, and many more.
Creating a digital asset for PR can also demonstrate creativity and authenticity – and showcase your story and tone of voice – all while driving traffic to your website.
A quality digital PR campaign will show your target audience that your brand is right for them, reflecting your brand identity in the best possible way.
After all, people should want to learn more about your business – what your brand is about and what you offer.
Everybody has their own unique and powerful story – it’s just the case of finding it and telling it in the right way, on the channels that matter. That’s what we do best at Tuesday Media.
News stories are not the only platform used in the world of digital PR – you can also use success stories, case studies, and blog posts – anything that reflects your brand in a positive light.
Digital PR Can Help You Engage With Your Audience
Regardless of your industry, connecting with your audience is key. Simply knowing your audience isn’t enough in 2022 – you have to actively engage with your customers.
Social media is an effective way to get to know your audience, and for your audience to get to know your brand.
A successful digital PR campaign will open conversations with your audience, and generate discussions amongst potential customers and existing customers – with the ultimate aim of driving engagement.
PR experts can help you to understand your audience, and post content that hooks their interests and opinions.
Report, infographics or clever wikis that tell a story or provide insight or a different perspective, hosted on your own website, are key to a good Digital PR campaign.
If we create content that is of interest to a journalist, linked to your site, then we can send the link to them and there is a chance they will include it in a news outlet.
One of the key objectives of a Digital PR campaign is to secure a diverse number of high authority links back (or backlinks) to your website.
Google, and other search engines, will reward sites – and therefore make them more visible – if they have links back from a high volume of quality sites, such as news sites.
The BBC, for example, is one of the highest authority websites you could possibly get a backlink on. It’s our aim to create great, shareable content, and then get a number of these backlinks to your website.
Digital PR Can Grow Your Audience
With more and more businesses developing an online presence, competition is tougher than ever – which is why it’s so important to grow your audience online.
Instead of shooting blind, it’s important to know who exactly your audience is – and a digital PR agency can help you to identify this, and target your audience in the right way.
Brand awareness is key to growing your audience – with a solid brand identity, you can focus on brand awareness to engage with and grow your audience base.
Focus on what your audience wants to see – their shopping patterns, engagement habits, and social media activity to refresh your outreach strategy.