Thirty years ago, getting press for your business was a challenge.
The only channels available were newspapers, television, radio, the yellow pages (remember that?), and perhaps the occasional billboard.
This meant that if you wanted to boost your brand, you had to spend a lot of time and money getting the right coverage.
Not only this but you were limited in the number of people who would discover your brand. Even if you managed to get a story in the local newspaper, only people who bought the paper would read about you!
Now, digital PR has changed the game when it comes to getting coverage.
What is digital PR? We’re so glad you asked!
Digital PR means you can boost your presence on other websites as well as social media, videos, and podcasts. Not only is it relatively easier to get coverage, but a wider range of people will get to know your story.
If you’re asking the question: ‘what is digital PR, and why should I use it to boost my business?’, Bubblegum Search put together this guide to help.
They’re digital marketing specialists at Bubblegum Search, and they want to tell you about the digital PR benefits your business can achieve.
Here are nine amazing benefits that digital PR can bring to your business.
Let’s take a look at what digital PR is all about…
1. Digital PR Content Is Available Anytime
If you were lucky enough to get an interview on the local news thirty years ago, you’d need to tell people what time you’d be on screen. Of course, you’d also have to hope someone had a VHS video recorder on standby!
With digital PR, all your content is available online, ready to be consumed at any time of the day or night. You can record an interview and upload it to YouTube where people can view it, for one month, one year… even ten years after you press record.
2. Digital PR Gives You New Ways to Promote Your Business
While you can reach out to online publications to help boost your brand awareness, another digital PR channel has opened up in recent years… the influencer.
It’s now easier than ever to find an influencer that shares your brand values and can promote your product or service to a loyal group of eager followers.
Many businesses imagine the Kardashians and Ronaldo when they think of influencers, but the reality is, even someone with as little as 1,000 Instagram followers can authentically promote your brand.
3. Digital PR Can Boost Your SEO
When you get press coverage on relevant websites, this typically comes with a backlink to your website. While brand exposure on other sites is nice, a high-quality backlink has many benefits for your business.
Backlinks from other websites show search engines like Google that your site is dependable and trusted as a search engine optimization ranking factor.
This leads to a boosted search engine presence and more organic traffic to your site.
4. Digital PR Can Go Global
In 2022, a little chip shop in Coventry became a worldwide phenomenon – how long did it take for you to get the ‘Binley Mega Chippy’ song out of your head?
With the right digital PR campaign, your brand can easily go national. You’re no longer restricted to local papers or regional news shows, with press coverage easy to pick up by any press publication or news network.
5. Digital PR Inspires Engagement
Social media, online forums, and comment sections make it easier than ever for people to engage with your content and have their say. With a click of a button, people can share articles, social media posts, and podcasts with friends.
While not all engagement might be positive (and work is being done to encourage people to ‘be kind’), increased attention amplifies your story and your brand.
6. Digital PR Makes It Easier to Be Proactive
In the past, it took a lot of time and effort to plan a story in the newspaper. PR specialists would have to draft a press release, spend hours on the phone with a journalist, and wait for the story to appear in print.
Now you can have an idea and put it in motion the very same day. Digital PR means businesses can react to other stories in the press and create impactful online marketing in minutes.
As an example, take Oreo. When there was a blackout during the Superbowl, the brand responded with a quick and funny response on Twitter, leading to over 10,000 retweets in the space of an hour.
7. Digital PR Means You Can Tell Your Side of the Story
Not all PR is positive, and there may be times when your business receives negative publicity, whether from a supplier, customer, or disgruntled employee.
The benefit of digital PR is that you can quickly broadcast your side of the story, helping resolve issues before things get worse.
With traditional PR, it may take longer to explain the story from your point of view, and there is the risk that a journalist might twist your words to suit the narrative.
8. Digital PR Is Easier to Measure
The problem with traditional PR is that it’s hard to measure and can often be inaccurate. For example, many newspapers and magazines provided ‘readership’ levels of their publication, but there was no guarantee that all these people would read your article!
Digital PR tools make things a lot easier.
Digital PR means it is easier to track and monitor customer interest.
You can see how many people engaged with your story, how long they stayed on the page, and most importantly, how many users converted as a result.
9. Digital PR Complements Your Entire Digital Marketing Strategy
The final reason digital PR is great for your brand?
It effortlessly blends into the rest of your digital marketing efforts.
Earlier, they mentioned how getting backlinks from digital PR helps with SEO and how influencer content can power your social media channels. In addition, it’s easy to repurpose and reuse digital PR content, helping to save your marketing team time and money.
What Is Digital PR? Find Out the Answer With Bubblegum Search
Bubblegum Search hopes this guide has given you insight into the benefits of digital PR and some ideas about how you can use digital PR in your business.
If you’re still unsure what digital PR is or how to get started on a digital public relations strategy, don’t worry – they can help.
Their team of experts will create and implement a powerful digital public relations strategy to help your brand be heard.
They’ll determine the right kind of digital PR for your needs, create high-quality content, and pitch to the people who will help grow your business.
Find out more about their digital PR and outreach services, and see how they can amplify your brand voice.
Read the full article here
