The Ins & Outs of Digital PR Strategies

The dawn of the digital age has greatly impacted the world of public relations (PR). Where PR professionals worked to be covered in traditional media, such as newspapers, television and radio, today, the PR industry has shifted its focus to digital media. How does this affect your company’s PR strategy? Keep reading to learn the ins and outs of digital PR strategies and how you can implement these tactics into your own public relations strategy.

Traditional PR & Digital PR: What’s the Difference?

While traditional PR and digital PR have a number of differences, they do have the same goal: to build credibility and goodwill with their publics and community. However, even with the same goal, the strategies and tactics differ greatly because of the differences in communication channels used.

For traditional PR, the communication channels targeted are newspapers, television and radio. PR professionals write press releases and pitch stories to the media to get their organization covered.

In contrast, digital PR focuses on digital channels such as search engine optimization (SEO), social media and digital content such as blogs and videos. Digital PR also includes pitching stories to the media as the goals of each type of public relations remains the same–boost credibility and goodwill in the community.

Digital PR Strategies to Implement

As stated above, while the methods of traditional and digital PR vary, the goals are the same. Therefore, when you begin to implement digital PR strategies, you can build off of the traditional tactics you are used to using. Also, remember that digital and traditional PR do not have to live in isolation from each other. Depending on your organization and its public relations goals, you can integrate both digital and print PR into your overall public relations strategy to maximize your reach.

Search Engine Optimization

The best way to implement search engine optimization (SEO) into your digital PR strategy is through building backlinks. Backlinks are links to your website from other organizations and work to boost your site’s credibility and SEO overall. In order to effectively build backlinks in digital PR, you need quality content for other sites to link to.

Denis Sinelnikov discusses backlinks and SEO in his article, “Digital PR Strategies That Can Improve Your SEO,” at Forbes. He recommends working to showcase your expertise in other organizations’ content such as podcasts and blogs.

You also can build backlinks by getting your organization covered by the media. However, according to Sinelnikov, you need to build a story around your press release. When creating your pitch, consider the type of story you want to tell and have the media tell for you, says Sinelnikov. Then, when you reach out to different media outlets, they will be more likely to cover your story because you already laid out the importance and relevance of your content.

Social Media & Influencers

Social media, and influencers in particular, are also integral to digital PR. In the article, “How Social Media Influencers Can Enhance Your [Digital] PR Strategy,” by digitalPR they discuss how social media influencers can boost your public relations strategy. One of the most beneficial ways is that influencers already have a loyal following in a niche area, says digitalPR. If you can find the right influencer for your organization, you can easily gain more loyal followers. Just make sure the influencer actually believes in your organization, because if they don’t, their followers will catch on and not believe in your organization as well, says digitalPR.

Social media in general is a great way to communicate with your target publics and build rapport with them. By responding to comments, sharing content and posting relevant information, you can connect with your publics organically. Make sure you do not overly promote your organization. Instead, be a resource for your followers. In doing so, you will grow your credibility and connections because you are creating value instead of shamelessly promoting your company.

Content

Without quality content, you will not have an effective digital PR strategy. As stated earlier, having quality content is crucial for building backlinks to your site and for gaining your target publics’ trust. Whether you are writing a blog post or posting on social media, you need to make sure your content creates value to your publics.

To do so, you need to have a clear understanding of your target audience. Think about what topics interest them. Of course, you also need your content to align with your brand because if it doesn’t, it will appear disingenuous. Therefore, write content for your audience that also fits with your organization and its goals.

The world of public relations is constantly shifting. However, by integrating digital PR into your strategy, you can further grow your organization’s reach and credibility.

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