The term ‘digital PR’ covers a range of strategies that work together to raise the profile of your brand online, and deliver real world results too.
These include:
- Content marketing
- Social media marketing
- Influencer marketing
- Link building
- More traditional PR methods such as ‘newsjacking’
The digital world that we live in presents a huge opportunity for businesses, but also common pitfalls. The phrase “build it and they will come”, doesn’t necessarily work when it comes to the world of digital; with 1.5 billion websites out there, it isn’t enough to build a website or have a social media page in the hope that your audience will find you. That’s where digital PR can help.
At Social Chameleon, we have over seven years experience in helping businesses harness the power of digital, so we’ve put together a definitive guide to digital PR: what it is, and how it can help take your business to new heights.
Living in a Digital World
Digital PR takes the age-old trade of public relations and brand building into the online world. We spend such a large part of our lives online, so getting your digital PR strategy right has never been more important for your brand.
We have all seen the power of digital for ourselves, when brands ‘go viral’ for the right (or wrong reasons). More often than not, when a brand goes viral, it leads to coverage in the media. For example, Weetabix’s controversial tweet suggesting that it could be paired with baked beans, or Aldi’s response to M&S’s caterpillar cake row have resulted in millions of shares on social media and nationwide media coverage.
Online vs. Offline
Before the rise of digital PR, public relations used to mean trying to build relationships with journalists in order to get your product or service featured in ‘traditional media’ (such as TV, radio and newspapers).
Digital PR’s, however, use a diverse range of strategies to publicise a business, such as through social media marketing, and creating content for blogs and websites. As well as building relationships with journalists, digital PR professionals understand that bloggers and online personalities and influencers can all share your business with their followers. In fact, 42% of marketers saw influencer marketing as their top marketing strategy for ROI (return on investment).
Digital PR and traditional PR are similar in the way that they work to create a buzz around a brand, and digital PR’s still do pitch to online media outlets, and use methods such as ‘news jacking’ (joining in to provide comment on a story that is relevant to their business).
Unlike traditional PR, however, digital PR’s aren’t just interested in media coverage, but also gain ‘links’ back to the website of the product or service in question, which can boost the ranking of a business in search engines and drive more website traffic.
How to develop your Digital PR strategy
1. Get to know your audience
The goal of any digital PR strategy is likely to be the same: to reach more people who will align with and be interested in your product or service, so it is important to take the time to think about your target audience and how they would like to be marketed to.
You can do this by speaking to your current audience and asking their opinion on what you are currently doing and how they perceive your brand, as well as looking at what your competitors are doing.
2. Create content that people want to engage with
One of the important parts of any digital PR strategy is to create content that your audience will interact with, whether that’s a ‘like’, or share on social media. Depending on your business, this could be:
- Helpful ‘how-to’ guides.
- Infographics
- A podcast.
- Short video content such as Instagram reels or TikTok videos.
Most importantly, ask yourself “would my audience be interested in this content/find it helpful?”.
3. Build credibility, and links
A big part of digital PR is ‘link building’, where you write and pitch an article to online publications or guest blogs, with a link back to your website.
But to develop a successful digital PR strategy, you have to understand what makes your business unique, and what you are an expert in.
Long-term Benefits for your Business
1. Better understanding of your audience
Digital PR can take time and research to create content that your audience resonates with. The pay off with this is that by taking time to really understand your audience and what makes them tick by following content they engage with, you are likely to build greater brand loyalty as a result.
2. Increase website traffic and social page visits
- Of course, the main reason that most businesses invest in digital PR is to boost how many people know about their brand, and visit their website. When done correctly, digital PR leads to more links and more clicks through to your website. By investing in a link building strategy, you will also benefit from higher search engine rankings which make your website easier to find.
3. Measurable results
Unlike traditional PR, digital PR makes it easier to track the success of your campaign, and allows you to make changes if your engagement isn’t as high as you would like. For example, you can measure social media shares and likes, but also use tools such as Google analytics to see searches for your business and how many people are clicking through links to your website.
How we can help you at Social Chameleon
Over the past seven years, our London-based digital marketing agency has provided exceptional results for our clients. At Social Chameleon, our expert team can help you to harness the power of digital PR and develop a digital PR strategy bespoke for your business, with services including Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), content marketing and social media management.
Whatever your digital needs, our team are here to help. Get in touch today at contact@socialchameleon.com or by filling out the enquiry form on our contact page.
