Digital Public Relations 101

DSM Digital School Of Marketing - digital public relations

Digital Public Relations or “earned media” is a superb marketing channel. As with every element of marketing digital PR needs to have a process around it. Moreover your digital public relations outcomes are only as good as your story.

Is Public Relations (PR) still relevant today? How do almost instant social media networks influence the art as well as science of PR? That is the million rand question. One which many companies struggle with in the social and digital age.

While any person can reach out to corporate investors, reporters, as well as members of the public directly using Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, shrewd CEOs, know that most aren’t equipped to deal with the complexities in addition to the subtleties of corporate communication.

Major Companies Still Need PR

Alternatively, they need a public affairs or corporate communications team in order to manage their corporate identities. But the way in which PR specialists now do so differs vastly from the past. Today, news and information are able to travel at the speed of light. Spurred by rapid changes in communication platforms and digital technologies, human behaviours online and offline have evolved as well.

The Definition Digital Public Relations

The tactics that involved in digital public relations are quite similar to those of traditional PR. Building relationships and getting placements are at the forefront of this digital arm, however, digital PR has the additional benefit of impacting SEO and link building across the Internet. These measurable, digital tactics offer tangible results and insights.

Another major differentiator of digital PR is the ability to build connections with bloggers as well as influencers who are fundamental players in the digital space. These digital influencers frequently have just as much authority, if not greater reach, as opposed to traditional figures and come with a very loyal following.

Similar to traditional publicists, digital public relations specialists will often have established relationships with bloggers in a specific industry. They will work with these media personalities regularly and will also share their content often. This can be in a blog post that has followed links, which will impact the client’s website’s domain authority or social shares. Digital platforms have a quite a short-lead time and a pick up may end up in a same day placement, or at best, in a couple of weeks.

While a digital agency may not emphasise elements of traditional PR, such as event planning and trade shows, it will have its own distinctive set of advantages. Digital PR uses measurement tools such as Moz’s Open Site Explorer and Google Analytics in order to monitor the power of a digital placement.

Google Analytics gives you the opportunity to track how many users on a website are clicking a link to your client’s site. You are able to completely track the user’s experience from first clicking the link within a placement through to the brand’s site in addition to how they engage with the site. This information is invaluable and will have an impact your tactics moving forward by which initiatives should continue, discontinue or be altered.

Get in touch with the Digital School of Marketing

If you want to become a digital public relations expert then you need to do our Digital Public Relations Course. Follow this link for more information.

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