As algorithms adapt and the rules of the SEO game change, marketers and site owners alike are under increasing pressure to outfox the search engines. And while the SEO arms race has been ongoing for decades, recent advances in AI have intensified the competition significantly.
There’s plenty to be said for cutting-edge marketing tactics — here at Seeker, they’re our bread and butter — but with experimentation often comes risk. Sometimes, it’s safer to rely on proven approaches.
Below, we’ll outline the most reliable digital PR tactics; proven methods that consistently yield results and will remain effective regardless of any algorithmic shake-ups.
What are some of the most trusted digital PR tactics?
Digital PR is about brand building, and one of the best ways to strengthen your brand’s identity is by developing a solid relationship not just with your target audience, but with journalists, too. With this in mind, let’s examine five of the most potent digital PR tactics.
1. Network with journalists for links and coverage
Press opportunities and PR comments like those won through Connectively (formally HARO) can, when they land, provide a powerful boost to your brand, winning coverage, awareness, traffic, and conversions.
Of course, submitting your content won’t guarantee its publication. To boost your chances, you’ll need to network with the right people: journalists.
Networking with journalists is a solid PR tactic because:
- Establishing connections with journalists gives you direct access to various media outlets, increasing your chances of being featured.
- You stand to gain a deeper understanding of what journalists are looking for, allowing you to tailor your pitches more effectively.
- Personal connections can lead to more frequent and favorable coverage as journalists are more likely to support those they know and trust.
- Being known as a helpful and reliable contact can enhance your reputation within the media industry.
- Long-term relationships can lead to sustained media coverage and ongoing opportunities for PR comments over time.
Finding networking opportunities is typically achieved by responding to relevant Connectively requests or Twitter hashtags like #journorequest, where you or your brand can offer valuable expertise. However, journalists receive dozens of responses and emails daily! You must position yourself as someone who will make their life easier and be the go-to person for engaging news that is hot off the press!
Here are a few useful tips to make your networking approach stand out:
- Be speedy: the early bird catches the worm—journalists are bound to tight deadlines, and the sooner you get your response across, the more likely it is they will use it. Check for opportunities every morning. You can even repurpose existing commentary with a few small tweaks to save even more time.
- Write in a conversational but authoritative tone: if you’re writing for a mainstream or general publication, you want your copy to be accessible and understandable by all, but knowledgeable at the same time.
- Make your content memorable: if you can phrase something in a memorable, witty, or humorous way, it’ll resonate with journos and/or their audience.
Don’t let the lack of guarantee put you off reaching out to journalists. You could land a big win for your digital PR strategy and develop valuable relationships in the industry.
2. Launch solid blogger outreach
Blogger outreach is a great digital PR tactic that involves contacting high-quality and relevant blogger websites for guest post opportunities. You may think blogger outreach and digital PR are two different areas, but bridging the gap between PR and outreach is great for boosting your links and diversifying the links you secure.
Of course, like any good tactic, it has been exploited by some. But to distinguish your work from rubbish, spammy guest blogs, you must make your content completely value-led, demonstrating authority, experience, insights, and audience relevance.
Feeling like you’re simply all out of options when it comes to prospecting for sites to cover your PR pieces? Check out our very own Digital PR Specialists Sinead’s BSEO talk for a new approach:
During the prospecting phase, create a list of target sites that relate to your client or brand’s industry, such as trade publications, niche bloggers and review sites.
Next comes the outreach phase. A well-written outreach email is essential for winning over prospects with the offer of a guest post. Hook them with a killer subject line, then bring it home with a finely-tuned proposal.
Finally; the content. Well-researched, well-written content that adds value to your prospect’s audience is what bloggers want to see. Ditch the jargon and offer relevant, targeted value in every paragraph.
3. Create a sparkling, newsworthy press release
Press releases are a fantastic digital PR tactic and an easy win when the subject matter is truly newsworthy. Create something genuinely interesting, inspiring, or even shocking, and you’re more likely to win coverage. We’ve covered the basics of writing a good press release already, but for a quick recap, you need:
- A strong headline that captures the crux of the story.
- Relevant hooks, such as a link to an awareness day, data, or reference to a specific location
- Concise format that outlines the who, what, where, when, and why of the story.
- Contact details and easily accessible media dropbox.
- Strong quotes from a relevant person to add colour to the story.
Where possible, write and format your press release as closely as possible to the same style as your target journalist and publication. This makes life easier for the journo, letting them cut and paste your press release into their article with fewer edits. This isn’t easy if you’re sending press releases out en masse of course, but if you’re targeting a select few, this little tip will increase your chances of conversion.
4. Lean on influencers for publicity and social proof
Similarly to blogger outreach, influencer marketing and digital PR are intertwined, offering an effective means of driving awareness and coverage for your brand or client.
With influencers becoming PRs in their own right in some cases, as commercially savvy and goal-driven as any agency, they’re an obvious choice for a digital PR campaign.
Why are influencers valuable in PR and marketing? Well, they have a community of like-minded individuals, they’re passionate about what they do and their opinions can spark action. Securing a brand mention from influencers in your niche can be the golden social proof you need to boost your PR efforts.
You can lean on influencers for publicity using various tactics:
- Product features: send a free sample of your product (or, indeed, service) to an influencer within your niche. A positive review across their social channel, coordinated with your PR team with your campaign goals in mind, is an easy win.
- Competitions, contests, and giveaways: launch a competition via an influencer offering products, branded merch, one-off creations, and so on. Another simple but effective way to get your brand seen by the right people.
- Social media takeovers: while this won’t work for all brands, a social media takeover is a fun and exciting way of encouraging cross-platform engagement. Have an influencer take over your social channels (Instagram or TikTok is best) for a Q&A, contests, behind-the-scenes peeks at your company, etc, and promote the takeover via their channels.
As ever with influencer campaigns, it’s all about the preparation and planning. Map out your campaign with your selected influencer(s) with your desired outcomes in mind. A good influencer knows what they’re doing, and will be able to offer ideas and tactics that help you meet these goals. Don’t overlook micro influencers too. Even those with smaller platforms can have incredibly valuable audiences, which often results in higher audience engagement rates and higher ROI!
5. Embrace the growing power of podcasts
Podcasts have quickly become one of the most popular forms of content. Research shows in 2021, there were over 19.1 million podcast listeners in the UK which is estimated to reach over 28 million listeners by 2026.
Image credit: Statista
Harnessing the power of podcasts is a great tactic for finding a niche audience. You can secure more brand awareness but only when the feature relates to your brand or target audience. A feature for feature’s sake won’t get you coverage, like shoehorning an ad about a running app into a historical podcast just won’t feel seamless — relevancy is PR is the key to successful brand building.
Once you’ve researched the most relevant podcasts for your brand you need to be clear about what you want. Are you promoting a new product? Looking to boost your social following? Increase website traffic? Podcasting offers an intimate connection with your audience, so it’s excellent for boosting brand awareness and tapping into a potential customer’s pain points. But, no podcast listener wants to listen to a sales pitch, so it’s important to couch your pitch in a story.
Some engaging ways of using podcasts for PR include:
- A founder interview
- Sharing a new or groundbreaking product feature
- Talking about a relevant corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative
- Discussing new data or insight on a topic
Are you interested in SEO and a lover of podcasts? Check out Annika, our SEO Director on:
- In Search SEO Podcast where she discusses strategies for optimising SaaS brands for AI search — full video here.
- The Internet Marketing Podcast where she dives into the relationship between branding and organic marketing — full video here.
Digital PR is an ever-changing thing and trying new tactics is an important way of future-proofing your strategy, but don’t overlook those core tactics too!
Need a helping hand with your digital PR strategy? Get in touch—we can get you the awareness, coverage, and traffic your brand needs.
