Digital PR is one of the most effective ways to build brand awareness for your business. By creating mutually beneficial relationships with journalists, bloggers, and other influencers, you can create a powerful network of people who can help promote your brand.
Standing out online is tough, but you can position your brand ahead of the competition with a solid search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. Digital PR is a powerful tactic online marketers can use to reach customers by leveraging existing audiences around the web.
In this blog post, we will discuss what digital PR is and how your business will benefit from adding it to your SEO strategy. In particular, we will look at how digital PR helps you build long-lasting relationships with professionals in your industry.
What Digital PR Does For Your Business
Digital PR is the process of building your online presence by connecting with influential people and media outlets in your niche. A good campaign can help earn media coverage for your brand. You can use digital PR to promote your business in a variety of ways, including:
- Generating positive media coverage that builds brand awareness
- Driving traffic to your website
- Improving your search engine ranking
- Building relationships with key influencers
- Boosting brand mentions on social media
A successful campaign increases the amount of exposure your brand gets and, if targeted correctly, can result in increased sales. When a business is featured by a reputable publication or industry professional, it can build trust with its audience.
Growing your online company takes time and effort. Business owners can employ many different tactics, such as SEO, social media marketing, and email marketing. Your overall SEO strategy should be made up of various tactics that work together to help you achieve your business goals.
One of the most personable methods is a digital PR strategy. You have control over the story you want to tell and can use it as an opportunity to give value to a broader audience. Stand out among your competitors by having your digital PR campaign be about what you can give to your professional network rather than what you can gain.
How Digital PR Creates Mutually Beneficial Relationships
One of the best things about a digital PR strategy is that it helps create mutually beneficial relationships with other professionals who are active in the same niche.
In order to create these relationships, you need to offer something of value to the other person. Don’t focus on what you want out of the relationship, only what you can offer them and their audience.
For example, Unscramblex offers a scrabble word finder entirely for free, which provides a niche solution. Their product is beneficial for players as well as the game’s creator as it helps promote the game.
Sales of the game could increase as people have a quick and easy way to check words. Thanks to the free nature of the product, journalists will be quick to share it with their audience. After all, it costs them nothing to use.
It’s important to remember that these relationships should be built on trust and mutual respect. A digital PR strategy is not about taking advantage of other people but creating beneficial relationships that will help both parties grow.
A great example of a mutually beneficial relationship is the case study Nlyte posted to their website about their work with Sutter Health. Nlyte helps businesses manage their data center infrastructure and has several high-profile clients.
Beneficial Relationships
The case study documents how Nlyte helped with Sutter Health’s data center consolidation project. The study details the work Nlyte did and highlights the dedication Sutter Health has to its patients.
This study displays Nlyte’s expertise and the high quality of care at Sutter Health, demonstrating a strong professional relationship. This is great PR for both companies.
Here are a few tips for building solid relationships through digital PR:
- Be Genuine: When you reach out to someone, make sure it’s clear that you’re interested in what they do and want to help them succeed.
- Provide Value: Always offer something of value to the other person. This could be in the form of helpful content, discounts, or early access to new products.
- Be responsive: When someone takes the time to reach out to you, make sure you respond in a timely manner. Digital PR is all about building relationships, and that starts with being responsive to the people you’re trying to connect with.
Creating a meaningful relationship with the websites with the most authority can be challenging without a pre-existing connection. Digital PR can help you build those relationships by focusing on the individuals who work for those websites.
Canopy, a parental control app, is an excellent example of a website that values its relationship with media partners. They have a dedicated media section on their website, which contains valuable resources for journalists. This section is helpful for journalists who can use it as a reference in their articles.
5 Steps to Developing a Relational Digital PR Strategy
Creating a successful digital PR strategy is well worth the investment if you want to boost your brand awareness and build relationships with key influencers. By following the steps below, you’ll be on your way to developing a robust digital PR strategy that will help you achieve your business goals.
Create compelling content for your audience
The first step in any digital PR strategy is to create compelling content for your audience. This content should be interesting, informative, and shareable. If you can create content that people want to read, you’re more likely to get it shared by influencers and featured on high-authority websites.
Don’t just limit yourself to a single type of content; people enjoy a variety of different media. Think about how you can create value through blog posts, e-books, infographics, and videos.
Most importantly, make sure that your content is worth sharing. The objective is to have major publications, influencers, and high-authority bloggers share your posts. This will only happen if the content is truly valuable and not just a thinly veiled advertisement.
A great example of this is Scott’s Cheap Flights, a website that creates guides on topics like “how to find the cheapest flights.” This kind of content is highly sought after, and popular publications will be quick to share this with their audience.
Pitch content to the right outlets
Once you’ve created some great content, it’s time to start pitching it to the right outlets. Make sure you target publications that are relevant to your industry and have a large audience. You should also pitch your story idea to multiple outlets to increase your chances of getting coverage.
Take your time to nurture the relationship with content managers and industry professionals. Don’t try to pressure them into sharing your content; let them know you’re available if they could use your expertise.
A good way to do this is by following the publications you want to be featured on and sharing their content. This will help you get on their radar and show them that you’re an engaged member of the community.
Join in on social media conversations
Social media is a great way to connect with potential customers, journalists, and bloggers. Make sure you’re active on the platforms that your target audience is using. This way, you can join in on relevant conversations and start building relationships.
Thanks to social amplification, content can spread quickly when placed on social media. The more engagement a post gets, the more people it’s pushed out to. And if something goes viral, it draws the attention of media outlets.
You should also share your content on social media to get more eyes on it. But don’t just post and promote your own stuff all the time. Make sure you share other people’s content and engage with the community.
Offer great products or services
If you want journalists and bloggers to write about your brand, you need to offer them something that’s worth writing about. This could be a great product, an exciting story, or valuable information. Whatever it is, make sure it’s worth their time to write about.
You should also make sure that your products or services are high quality and meet the needs of your target audience. There’s no point in trying to get coverage for a subpar product because it will only reflect poorly on your brand.
Focus on authentic relationships
Authenticity means being genuine in your interactions and not just trying to get something from the other person. If you can build a strong relationship with someone, they’ll be more likely to want to help you out and promote your content.
Take this Instagram ad from Affinda as an example. Affinda is using it to promote its services on social media, but it is also beneficial for its customers because their name is cited. This helps the two brands develop a closer working relationship that is mutually beneficial.
Conclusion
Digital PR is a great way to boost brand awareness and connect with potential customers. Regardless of what strategies you adopt, it’s important to remember that relationships are key. Focus on creating mutually beneficial relationships, and you’ll be on your way to success.
By following these steps, you can develop a strong digital PR strategy that will help your business reach new heights. So, what are you waiting for? Start today and see the results for yourself.