Showing the value of digital PR beyond coverage & links

In the world of digital PR, success is often measured by the number of links and press coverage generated for a brand. While these are undeniably important metrics, they aren’t the only ones that matter. To truly demonstrate the value of digital PR, it's essential to go beyond coverage and links and show how PR can help achieve business goals, add value to a brand, win awards, and contribute to short, mid and long-term goals. I learnt all about this at Brighton SEO where Isa Lavahun, Digital Strategist at LAVLY LTD, shared her 15 years of industry knowledge and expertise. Here I convey some of what she discussed on the day:

Know your worth, show your worth!

To prove the value of digital PR, it's crucial to not only know your worth but also how to show it to different clients and directors. In a day-to-day role in the PR team, we could be speaking to a variety of different people, all of whom have different expertise and different interpretations. For instance, a marketing executive, a CEO, an operations director and an admin assistant all have different business objectives and will all value the work we do differently. That means when demonstrating how PR works and the results we achieve, we should adapt the statistics and figures we show depending on who we’re liaising with. This could include showing click through rate, engagement, lead generation and social media growth, to name a few. The key is to present information that plays to your audience, ensuring that what you demonstrate chimes with their idea of value.

Going beyond SEO

While SEO is a vital aspect of digital PR, it's important to explain what happens beyond coverage and links. Google's algorithms are complex, with more than 200 ranking factors for SEO, and nobody knows the exact formula. Therefore, it's also crucial to focus on the impact of digital PR on brand awareness, word of mouth, and reputation on the ground. The advice here was to imagine a world without Google and where PR would fare in this alternate universe. 

Generating backlinks without breaking the bank

Once we’re made aware of how PR works beyond coverage and links, it's also important not to neglect coverage and links! A multi-pronged and integrated approach that operates seamlessly to provide a well rounded PR strategy.  Listening to Brenton Thomas, Founder of Twibi, he offered four free and easy ways to generate links.

Business directories such as Facebook, Google, and Yelp can be leveraged for guaranteed links without costing a penny.

Commenting on forums with intent and leaving a link to a relevant page on a client’s website.

Broken link building – finding dead, or error links, and asking to replace them with a relevant client's link.

Pitching to reporters via HARO and Terkel can also help to build online authority.

Quality over quantity

In digital PR, the quality of links is more critical than the volume of links. Prioritising outreach to authoritative, diverse, and relevant titles can make a significant difference and can help land your brand in front of the right audience and have more chance of engaging with the call to action.

While coverage and links are important, it's essential to go beyond them and demonstrate the full value of digital PR. At Pic PR, we are a fully integrated service that tackles PR from a traditional and digital perspective, incorporating video, copy, design and social media. To find out more about what we can do for your brand, visit https://www.picpr.com/what-we-do/. 

Or why not check out our Brighton SEO vlog to see what else we got up to whilst we were away https://www.picpr.com/m-journal/brighton-seo-vlog/.