Why is digital PR important? - V Formation Ltd Digital PR

Digital PR is an essential feature of every PR, marketing and communications campaign.

In the last five years, digital PR activity has grown around 30%*, and this is set to continue, with digital storytelling the future of all communications, according to 88% of PR professionals and 80% of marketers.

So why do you need digital PR? Is it simply a case of following the crowd, or can digital PR really have a positive impact on your online presence and digital footprint? V Formation’s PR Director Diane Wood investigates.

The digital revolution

The digital revolution has had a huge impact on all marketing communications.

PR has adapted and evolved to integrate and embed a digital strategy and tools into the PR and media relations, writing and content skills of traditional PR.

Traditional and digital PR have the same important objective – they are both about protecting and enhancing a business’ reputation through a news piece in a local newspaper, thought leadership feature in an industry magazine, or a blog – the difference is the way in which the story, message or brand is communicated and reaches the target audience.

What is digital PR?

Digital PR is an integral element of a comprehensive press and public relations campaign. It uses online digital platforms to promote businesses to a wide, potentially global, audience.

It is an online strategy, utilised to increase business product and service awareness, achieved through SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) which drives unpaid traffic towards a website or landing page, whilst optimising the quality and quantity of the traffic.

What is it’s purpose?

Digital PR is a strategy used to help a business grow and develop its online presence through creative-rich, data-driven content and strong and authoritative link building.

Proactive digital PR and SEO work hand-in-hand, with their strategies and tactics sharing the use of the influential online platforms and communities.

Unlike traditional PR, digital PR isn’t about print media, but engages with online news platforms and websites, with news stories, newsjacking campaigns, blogs, vlogs, podcasts, infographics and social media – with the ultimate aim of securing earned (not paid-for) backlinks in powerful coverage on news sites with a high domain authority. This has a positive impact on a business’s ‘digital profile’ though improved SEO that is great for organic search rankings.

The skills, tactics and strategy used in digital PR are not so different from those of traditional PR – fundamentally, both require creative, interesting, timely, well-written content, that communicates key messages to a target audience.

How can it boost your online marketing efforts?

It will boost organic search so your website’s search rankings – on Google, for instance – are increased, making it easier and more likely for your audience to find and engage with you.
Position your business and brand as an expert in your sector.
Land powerful coverage that puts you in front of your target audience.
Enhance your digital profile through its SEO and link building tactics that help you rank organically online.
Drive online traffic to your website.
As earned online content and media coverage, it delivers interesting content with editorial integrity and impartiality.

What results can it deliver?

A successful digital PR campaign and / or strategy will result in powerful online editorial for a company or brand that includes earned links, like these our team has secured for a few of our clients:

To discuss how V Formation’s PR team can work with you to create an effective Digital PR and PR campaign, please contact us here

*Source: isynergy’s ‘10 Stats That Will Make You Rethink digital PR’.