Digital PR is all about using PR tactics to earn backlinks to support your SEO strategy.
You need to create linkable assets (sometimes known as link bait) and promote these to relevant journalists and publications to encourage them to write about your content and link to it.
However, digital PR success is all about having great ideas that journalists want to cover while creating engaging assets that get linked to as a way to add editorial value to an article.
Digital PR is all about creating content that tells stories that are so good that journalists actually want to cover and link to them.
Create amazing content that journalists want to cover and link to.
When it comes to earning backlinks and driving traffic, it’s quality, not quantity that matters.
Digital PR is all about getting the right people to link to you. It’s not about getting everyone to link to you.
A journalist deciding to write about your content and link to it is like a vote of confidence.
Having a link to your website from a relevant, trusted, and authoritative website will not only signal to Google that your website is a trusted and authoritative website, but it will also drive traffic to your website.
If you’re a small brand looking for a way to get ahead of your bigger and more established competitors, digital PR is your secret weapon.
What to expect in terms of results?
While reactive digital PR can certainly be effective, it won’t always yield the same results as a larger, planned hero campaign.
It’s also hard to predict what kind of return you’ll get on your investment of time and resources. However, if you’re able to complete a task in 15 minutes and only get one link in return, that’s actually a good return on the time spent.
When engaging in reactive digital PR activities, you should expect to get a mix of regular links, nofollow links, and brand mentions as results. It is possible to turn a brand mention into a link but this isn’t always possible.
Here are some examples of the kinds of results you can expect from this type of activity:
- Regular Links: These are links that pass SEO value and help increase your website’s domain authority over time.
- Nofollow Links: These are links that do not pass SEO value but may still provide referral traffic or other benefits such as increased brand awareness or credibility.
- Brand Mentions: These are mentions of your business or website without an accompanying link.
Again, it’s perfectly normal and natural to get a mix of results when engaging in reactive digital PR activities – just be sure to set expectations with stakeholders before starting so they understand what kind of results they can expect from this type of activity.
Top 8 Digital PR strategies for link building
When looking for the best strategies for your next PR link building campaign, it’s important to note that no universal strategy works across industries. You need to have in-depth knowledge of multiple tactics and know when to use them effectively. Each tactic may be more or less suitable depending on the specifics of your business, so it is essential to learn the ropes and figure out which strategy will yield the best results. With that in mind, these are eight of the most popular digital PR tactics currently used:
1. Newsjacking
Newsjacking involves capitalizing on current events or news stories by creating content related to those topics. This helps businesses gain visibility as well as boost their search engine rankings. For example, a pet food company might create a blog post about how to keep pets safe during extreme weather events like hurricanes or floods.
2. Guest Blogging
Guest blogging involves writing content for other websites in order to build relationships with other industry leaders and influencers, as well as increase visibility for your own website or brand. This can also help you build backlinks from authoritative websites and publications. For instance, a financial advisor might write an article about retirement planning for a major finance publication like Forbes or The Wall Street Journal.
3. Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is an effective way to engage with potential customers and build relationships with them through platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Through social media marketing campaigns, businesses can share relevant content such as blog posts, videos, infographics, etc., which can help drive traffic to their website and generate high-quality links back to their website or product pages.
4. Influencer Outreach
Influencer outreach involves partnering with influential people who have large followings on social media in order to promote your products or services. These influencers can help spread awareness about your brand and provide valuable insights into what type of content resonates best with their audience—allowing you to create more targeted campaigns that will yield better results over time.
5. Press Releases & Media Coverage
Press releases are an effective way of getting noticed by journalists who cover specific industries or topics related to your business niche—which can lead to increased media coverage in print publications or online outlets such as magazines, newspapers, blogs, podcasts, etc. Additionally, media coverage can help you gain visibility and create high-quality backlinks to your website.
6. Creative Content Strategies
Creative content strategies involve creating unique content that stands out from the competition. This can include interactive infographics, videos, podcasts, ebooks, whitepapers, etc., which can help increase engagement with potential customers and attract more links to your website or product pages. For example, a travel company might create an interactive map of the world’s best beaches or a series of videos featuring their top destinations.
By utilizing these six digital PR tactics in combination with one another, businesses can create a comprehensive link-building strategy that will help them build relationships with influencers and potential customers as well as increase visibility for their brand—all while gaining high-quality backlinks to their website or product pages.
7. Thought Leadership
Thought leadership is a strategy that involves positioning yourself or your company as an expert in your field by creating content related to the industry you’re in. This can include blog posts, podcasts, webinars, and more—all of which can help establish yourself as an authority in the eyes of potential customers. Additionally, thought leadership strategies can also lead to increased media coverage and more high-quality links back to your website.
8. Research Studies With Data and New Findings
Creating research studies with data and new findings can help you stand out from the competition and gain visibility in your industry. This type of content is highly engaging and can lead to increased media coverage as well as more high-quality links back to your website or product pages. For instance, a tech company might create a research study about the future of artificial intelligence and its implications for businesses. For instance, a tech company might create a research study about the future of artificial intelligence and its implications for businesses.
Conclusion
Digital PR is a great way for smaller brands to get their content noticed and get ahead of their bigger and more established competitors.
The key to digital PR success is creating content that journalists and publications actually want to cover and link to.
If you’re a smaller brand looking to grow your brand awareness and get ahead of your bigger and more established competitors, digital PR is the secret weapon you’ve been looking for.