Four Digital PR Strategies to Set Your Brand Up for Success
While traditional PR methods have their pull and purpose, it is important to incorporate digital PR strategies to really build awareness of your brand, and your online presence. These four strategies will help you do just that.
Use social media and reviews to stay connected and maintain brand image with customers
Social media is often where you will find your customers in the digital space. Depending on your target audience and goals, you can adjust what social media channels to put your attention and focus towards to achieve the best results as it relates to brand awareness. Come up with a strategy that involves posting frequently and staying engaged with your audience. This helps keep you stay connected and maintain your brand voice directly with your customer base.
Also ensure you remain connected and are responding to reviews and recommendations on platforms like Google My Business, Yelp, Facebook Recommendations and more. This helps show appreciation for positive support of your brand as well as addressing any controversies or negativity. Be transparent and honest!
Try a blend of advertorials and editorials to get high authority backlinks
Landing an earned editorial piece in a desired online publication is definitely the goal with this tactic and should be a key focus of your Digital PR Strategy. Editorials are articles covering a particular topic, either providing research, education or an opinion. You can take a few angles with this approach You can:
Pitch the leader of your company as an expert on a particular topic that a journalist is covering - this is a great way to build credibility for your brand.
Another way to approach editorials would be to showcase how your brand is doing something unique in relation to a particular subject a journalist writes about, which boosts brand recognition.
There are many earned media tactics such as newsjacking - using current events or news stories to promote your product or brand - which can definitely land you your desired spot in the press and expand your reach.
However, try using a blend of paid advertorials alongside your editorials to earn those high authority backlinks, which will increase brand awareness (bonus! It helps you rank higher in Google search results as well). Advertorials are paid articles in an editorial format that will often bring increased brand awareness compared to a typical paid advertisement, as you have the opportunity to provide written content. Advertorials can be a great tool to work with as you can land your ideal publications that will increase brand awareness as well as being able to mould the content to your desired goals. Since you’re paying to play with an advertorial, you can tailor how you want your brand to come across.
Use Press Releases to gain syndicated newsworthy content
Similar to blending advertorials with your editorial content, posting your press releases to a distribution website such as Business Wire can be a great way to land some syndicated content. Use this tool to announce newsworthy content such as company announcements or collaborations, and gain a number of backlinks
Incorporate influencer marketing strategies to increase brand awareness
Influencer marketing has become a key component of public relations over the years. Influencers have the ability to connect with a niche audience and use their authenticity to make your brand stand out.
When choosing influencers, look for these three things - reach, resonance, and relevance. Reach refers to the number of followers and how many people are seeing their content. Relevance refers to how much their image and messaging aligns with your brand’s. Resonance is their engagement - how many people are actually participating with their content?
These four tips will be sure to set your brand apart and build awareness in the digital space!
Darian Kovacs is the Indigenous founder of B-Corp certified Vancouver based SEO company Jelly digital marketing & PR & digital marketing course Jelly Academy. He brings 15 years of marketing experience and a passion for education, and creativity. He is the host of the podcast, Marketing News Canada. Darian specialises in mixing PR with digital marketing and has worked with numerous internationally renowned brands on developing and executing their digital marketing and PR strategies. Darian lives in Fort Langley, BC with his wife and four children and likes to mountain bike, watercolour and read in his free time.
