5 Must-Have Elements of a Digital PR Strategy

Do you hear digital PR and go, huh? 

Not to worry. You’re not alone.

PR campaigns, specifically digital PR campaigns, are not always easy to execute. But, with the right team and vision in place, it can be done!

When you start with a blank sheet of paper, many times, it is very challenging to know how, where, and when is the best time to begin. There are lots of moving pieces to complete the PR puzzle. Whether it’s persona and media list development, email outreach templates, social media marketing, digital ads, and more, there is much to consider. 

Gone are the days where a press release got sent out, interviews were coordinated, and clip reports were updated. Digital makes it different. With digital, you have to get down and dirty and leave no stone unturned. 

The beauty of it? You can take your message and make it multi-channel. You can take it from page to screen to social to influencer - and so much more. 

It can be quite tough to work out the way to put all these components together into a concerted, coherent, and (as all companies and PR agencies hope for), successful effort

Read More: 3 Essentials Steps to Launching a PR Campaign

 

With the digital marketing spend in the U.S. expected to reach nearly $120 billion by 2021, bringing PR into the digital ads is a must. There simply are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. 

Now, you might think pay for play is the only way to go on the digital front. Yes, organic reach on social media is dwindling. And organic SEO is a marathon, not a sprint.. and you needed results yesterday. But, and this is a big but, ad blockers are becoming more prominent. In fact in the U.S. alone, 38 percent of end-users use them. 

What does this mean for digital marketers? It means you need to get creative in how people find you. 

The components of a digital PR campaign are numerous. And they are applicable across industry. Are you a fintech startup? Maybe you are a marketing manager at a local credit union. Or maybe you are a top marketing agency looking to partner with a digital agency for support. 

Whatever your position or company, I have put together a quick checklist for you to work off of when diving into the digital PR world. 

Through these strategic components, you can allocate resources, gather a team, plan, launch and join the ranks of some awe-inspiring digital campaigns.

5 Essential Digital PR Elements

Before detailing the key elements, it is important to know that there is a need for some important assets such as blog posts, social media accounts, content, ebooks, brochures, newsletters, company logos, and infographics - among others. Among those mentioned, content is the most essential digital PR strategy. The stronger the content, the more likely it is to impact the target audience. 

There are numerous practices and assets that fall under a digital campaign. Of course, press materials are essential. Yes, you need an editorial calendar. Yes, you need a media list. But those are just the beginning. Here a few I think are essential that often slip through the cracks:

Website

This is the company’s online calling card. It is vital to have an official webpage to succeed in an online promotional strategy. A perfect website fulfills these guidelines: it is user-friendly; the content speaks about the company’s brand/business; all the important contact information is included in the content (and is active); the web design is easy to navigate, clean and professional; it is responsive and interactive; and the products and services have corresponding individual pages to help track conversations, as well as monitor promotional performance.

Social Media

This key element has always been identified with digital campaigns and is definitely a must. Everyone has become more and more active on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and all other social media marketing platforms compared to the other online sites. Therefore, connecting and reaching customers is easy by means of social media presence. Using social media channels helps a company get connected to both the influencers and customers. It is a powerful tool so the company can directly communicate with its customers. This way, it will also know what its customers are thinking about the products and services it offers. Plus, any and all PR content - from press releases to media pick-ups can be shared and amplified on your social media channels.

Campaign through Content

As mentioned earlier, content is the most essential permanent element or mainstay in digital PR. Therefore, this is considered the most powerful component of all. Creating content such as videos, blog posts, and social media accounts and posts, among others, and having them shared on various online platforms to generate leads and brand awareness is primarily known as campaigning through content. Digital campaigning is done indirectly to attract customers’ interests through content, without necessarily directly promoting the brand.

Blog Articles

A blog for a business is certainly a must because it functions as an additional advantage for the promotion of the business. Blogs help a business gain more trust from its customers, as well as validity in the market. 

Blogs work more effectively when they are integrated on the official website and shared, as this strategy provides information and educates its users. Through the use of a blog, promoting the business digitally lets a company share more content on social media platforms and communicate with its customers, rather than simply sharing promotional content. More so, a company that blogs gets more traffic to its webpage compared to the companies that don’t.

Analytics

Let me guess. You got into marketing because it was fun and creative and didn’t involve numbers. Today, that is not the case. 

The greatest advantage of digital PR is that your company can gauge its efficiency and performance by means of analytics. There are various analytics tools that can help a PR agency and the company it is serving assess and measure their PR campaigns through social media channels, paid advertising, blogs, and website, among others. The analytics data can be vital for the increase of a business’ performance, as well as its generation of more leads. A quick go-to resource, Google Analytics of course! 

M studio’s key elements of Digital PR strategy

M studio, a leading branding and PR agency in New Jersey, uses digital PR in most of its promotional campaigns. To succeed in all of our initiatives, we use the key elements of digital campaigns. 

Our work with the spirits brand Slow & Low is a great example of that! As well as the branding and B2B marketing work we did for Consolidated Bearings Company and the fintech startup AnyDay. 

To get the trust of our clients, we deliver results. And digital helps us analyze, track and deliver.

 If you have yet to consider whether you have the time or team to invest time in digital PR, take the plunge. It is definitely worth the effort. 

Have questions? Want to leave us some feedback? Drop us a line here.

See you online! 

Shannon