What Is Digital PR? A Basic Overview

What is digital PR?

Digital PR is the strategic use of online platforms and media to build brand awareness, enhance reputation, and establish strong relationships with target audiences.

In this video, Dylan from our Earned Media team will briefly walk through the definition of digital PR, plus some tips for improving it. Read on to learn more!

Transcript

Hey everyone! Public relations, or PR, is a crucial part of every business. It helps you maintain a positive image for your company and build relationships with your community. And with how ubiquitous the Internet is now, a lot of companies use digital PR.

What is digital PR, though? Well, that’s just what we’re here to talk about, so keep watching to learn more.

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What is digital PR?

Digital PR refers to how your company works to grow your presence online, often by establishing authority, trustworthiness, and building relationships. There are lots of ways you can do that, including building relationships with journalists and publishers and creating content that builds trust in your business. The overall idea is to establish your trustworthiness and expertise so your audience will create a positive association with your company. And then choose your business when they need something you offer.

Digital PR vs. digital marketing

You might be thinking, “This sounds just like digital marketing. What’s the difference?”

There’s actually a lot of overlap between the two. Some people even use the terms interchangeably. Having said that, digital PR usually refers more to the relationship-building side of things. And it can often be even more focused on building links relevant to your business. More on that in a bit.

Digital PR is not as concerned with directly driving sales or marketing specific products or services, although that can influence your strategy. It’s mainly about projecting a certain image for your brand and forming trusted relationships with the people that matter most.

How to improve your digital PR

If you’re wondering what you can do to make your digital PR more effective, don’t worry — we’ve got a few tips to help you out.

First, you’ll want to work on improving your presence on websites that you don’t own (which can also help your SEO). One of the best ways to do that is to earn backlinks for your site.

Whenever a website that isn’t your own links to your content, that is considered a backlink. But you shouldn’t shoot for any old website that’ll link to you. A good backlink comes from a reputable website, often in your industry, although not always. A strong backlink profile typically has a nice variety of links from diverse but reputable sources. The link you get should either be contextually relevant, meaning the content that includes the link should relate to your business, or it should be related to your goals.  So, if you want to promote your landscaping services, it would make total sense to appear in an article about topiaries — whether in a trade magazine or another publication your potential customers read. It would not make sense to try for links on pages about cooking or chess.

You can earn backlinks by seeking outlink opportunities on third-party websites and recommending to the site owners that they link to your content — or even that they allow you to post guest content on their website. It’s good to aim for your link to add value to those websites, as that creates a positive experience with your brand, as well.

And when Google sees those reputable sites linking to you, Google starts to assume your site is reputable too.

This SEO boost can get your business in front of a larger audience, and ultimately help you rank higher in search results — meaning even more users will find you and learn about your company. Appearing on reputable sites that people already trust also tells your audience that your brand is one they can trust. It’s almost as if their really smart friend is recommending something to them, digital word-of-mouth if you will. You establish your authority and expertise, leading to an audience that comes to you when they want reliable information, products, or services.

You’ll have a better chance of earning links organically (not using any outreach methods) if you create content that attracts them. Write articles that solve problems or share new insights. Share company news through online press releases. You can also share research or case studies you’ve done, as well as awards you’ve received.

You may also want to promote your brand on social media. That’s a great way to get in front of a lot of people and showcase your brand voice. There are plenty of social media platforms to choose from, and you can focus on several or just one, perhaps one that is really popular in your industry. Whatever you have the resources and need for.

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Well, that does it for this video. Now that you know what digital PR is, you can start implementing it for your company. In the meantime, you can subscribe to our YouTube channel — or our email newsletter, Revenue Weekly — for more helpful digital marketing content.

Thanks for watching, and I’ll see ya next time!