Digital PR

Thanks to Digital PR, you’ll get picked up by online media. You send out news stories to generate coverage in the digital editions of newspapers, magazines, and other publications. Of course, we don’t need to explain to you the publicity benefits of appearing in the media.

In this guide, you’ll discover how to get started with digital PR, what the (hidden) benefits are, and how you can make the most of it in the coming year. Need help? Digital Climax is your specialized SEO agency. We’re just a click away to help you with all your SEO questions.

Digital PR has one major advantage: brand awareness. A newspaper or magazine has a large number of daily readers. In addition, newsletters and channels such as social media and Google Discover help expand your reach. So in the short term, you’ll get a lot of attention for your brand, your news, and possibly your services or products.

In the long run, there’s an additional benefit: you position your website and your company as an authority. Google emphasized the importance of this with the introduction of EEAT.

Linkbuilding helps you build your online reputation and get others to link to your website. This way, Google sees that an external source is indicating that your site has useful content. That used to be the basis of the algorithm. Today, search engines are much smarter. Especially since the advent of AI, it’s become a lot harder to prove that you’re an authority.

We view Digital PR as“positioning yourself in the market as an entity.” Your name needs to become a household name in your niche—one that no one can ignore. As you can see, it goes beyond just SEO. Although we only offer SEO services, you can also work on becoming an entity—aka a household name—beyond the SERPs. And that’s where you’ll see the best results (in the long run).

With a digital PR campaign, you look for newsworthy stories within your organization. You then draft a press release and send it to relevant contacts, in the hope that they will feature it in their online publication.

Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Yet many companies consistently fail at this approach. Why? Because not everything is “newsworthy,” especially not to the outside world. What you consider to be breaking news may not interest others at all. So take a step back and decide very specifically what you want to share with the outside world.

Google grew to be a major player thanks to its revolutionary algorithm. It analyzed the relationships between websites and how they linked to one another. In practical terms, it mapped out backlinks. This method produced better search results than any competitor could offer.

But over the years, this methodology has been seriously abused. In response, Google has been making adjustments for 20 years with updates that invariably send shivers down the spines of so-called “SEO specialists.” But Google’s mission has remained the same for 20 years. You can learn all about it in our SEO mindset guide. By staying true to that mission, you’ll ensure that every update helps you rank just a little higher.

The question we ask ourselves at every step is:“Would you do this even if Google didn’t exist?” When it comes to a digital PR campaign, the answer is simple: “Yes!” You don’t want to pass up the brand awareness, views, and positive mentions.

Although, as SEO experts, we never recommend aiming for a higher Domain Rating (DR), it is indeed one of the benefits.

In this example, you’ll see a new website that shoots up from DR 2 to 25 thanks to a digital PR campaign. That’s authority you’ll carry with you for the rest of your life.

Your article in the media is a bit more concrete. You’ll see immediate results from it. Potential customers will get to know your company or see your name again.

As SEO nerds, our focus is, of course, on the bigger picture: backlinks and authority. This ensures that, in addition to quick wins, you’ll also get long-term value from your PR campaign.

In the summer of 2023, we launched our first SEO book. You’ve no doubt seen the news on LinkedIn or on our website. But we also used the book as a test case for our Digital PR service.

The result of our campaign: articles featuring valuable backlinks in leading media outlets such as Het Nieuwsblad, Het Laatste Nieuws, and Made in Kempen. A boost for our online visibility and our search rankings.

Of course, there was no time to sit back and relax. By using proper internal links, we pass on the value of those new backlinks to the rest of the website. This way , your campaign impacts your entire website, not just a single page.

The first step is the hardest: finding a newsworthy topic. We’re always shocked by how much news gets lost within organizations. “No time,” “not important,” “modest Belgians”… these are the standard excuses that are usually given. The solution? Take a moment to review everything that has happened and is about to happen within your company.

Involve a few colleagues who make strategic decisions (regarding the vision for the future) and people who are involved in day-to-day operations (regarding what has happened). Lock yourselves in a conference room for the next hour and come up with a list of ideas. Don’t dismiss any ideas—consider them all.

You’ll get to work on all the ideas for newsworthy topics. The practical aspects of drafting a press release do require some attention, though.

Well-written text

The less work the journalist has to do, the better. Make sure your text is high-quality and ready to be copied. Some journalists like to rewrite (part of) it, while others will use your press release verbatim.

High-quality photos

Focus on including multiple photos. Provide options. Add several photos so the journalist can choose the most appropriate one.

Of course, your photos need to be of sufficient quality. Fortunately, a decent smartphone is all you need to take high-quality photos.

Pay attention to the composition and what’s in the frame. Show people, show their faces, and show the products or services that your news story is about.

Reaching Out to the Right Journalist

Every journalist has their own area of focus. Not everyone writes about every topic. Reach out to the person best suited to cover your story. Sending your press release to a general contact address usually has a lower chance of success. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it.

Now that you know how to gather ideas, what to include, and who to contact, it’s time to get down to business.

Create an email template that you can send to any journalist. Address the journalist personally and pitch your press release in the email. Stick to the essentials; the press release contains more information. Personalize each email and don’t put everyone in the CC field of your general email. If possible, draft a fully personalized email for each journalist.

Keep in mind that a high-quality press release helps journalists. Their job is to publish news articles, so your ready-to-go proposal is a gift to them. A well-crafted proposal increases the chances of success. That’s why we guarantee three placements.

Put aside the internal debate about whether your article is newsworthy or whether you can really afford to do this… “Just hit send.” Send it out and see what happens. If nothing happens? Then that’s feedback on your execution and content. You can use that to make corrections. Don’t give up after just one try—a new opportunity is sure to come along.

Launching your first digital PR campaign is exciting. It seems like a lot of work, but the actual deliverables (a contact list, a text message, photos, and an email) aren’t that much. The real work lies in the “ideation” phase: finding a good topic for your press release. Fortunately, in a well-run company, there’s plenty happening every day that you can use as inspiration.

Make sure the content you put out is high-quality —that increases your chances of success. (Sounds familiar from your SEO strategy, right?) Shift your SEO mindset to that of a content machine that generates quality, helpful content.

That’s how you establish yourself as a brand. You turn your company into a household name in your industry. When your target audience searches for something, they end up finding you. They see you on social media and even in the newspaper. That means customers can’t ignore you.

Does that mean you’ll start receiving inquiries right away? Probably not. But rest assured: when your solution becomes relevant, they’ll think of you. Or if not, they’ll turn to search engines, see your name again, and remember you. So you’re constantly building a snowball that keeps growing and growing—until it’s big enough to generate results.

Don’t forget: what we’ve outlined above sounds very easy. At its core, it is. But above all, it contributes to long-term results. Are you going into this expecting to make sales quickly? Then you’re missing the point. What’s more, that intention is evident in every word of your pitch and your press release. Wanting to see quick results (in anything) is the biggest mistake you can make.

Launching a digital PR campaign isn’t complicated, really. After reading this white paper, you’ll have all the tools and processes you need to do it yourself. But outsourcing it to an experienced agency will save you time and increase your chances of getting coverage. Plus, we can spot opportunities that you might miss on your own.

Contact Digital Climax to make your digital PR a success. This will help you increase brand awareness, build your reputation as an authority in your field, and secure valuable backlinks. As a result, you’ll rank higher in search results, which leads to more traffic, more leads, more customers, and higher revenue.