What exactly is Digital PR?

Even I – as a PR professional for some years now – will admit that the term ‘Digital PR’ gets banded about a lot, and even with not much meaning attached to it. 

Before I go into what Digital PR is, I can tell you what it’s not – at least not anymore. Long gone are the days when PR success is managed through a little black book of journalist contacts, the wining and dining of said journalists, and success measured in column inches. That’s more that we’d call ‘traditional PR’ nowadays – while it still has its place in some industries – the world has moved online. 

Digital PR is also not simply about chasing that Holy Grail follow link. It’s also not about going viral. Sorry to say. 

Digital PR is just one of the core pillars of SEO, and it’s one of the most important – especially in today’s AI and LLM-driven world. But it’s also still one of the most overlooked parts of digital strategies. 

Ok, so what is Digital PR?

When it’s done properly – with purpose and strategy – Digital PR is about building your brand’s visibility in the online world. It’s how you get your brand seen – in the right publications and on search engines – ranking, clicked on, and remembered. It’s so much more than firing out press releases. You need to create something that’s worth journalist’s time – and journalists are at the mercy of their readers. 

Now that could mean:

• Content that’s unique and newsworthy
• Data-led stories
• Unique research from your own brand
• Reactive commentary when journalists need it most
• Turning the current news cycle to your advantage a.k.a newsjacking

Why it matters more than ever

The internet is a noisy place. In fact, it’s probably the noisiest that it’s ever been. Not only is every legitimate brand out there competing for attention, you’re also competing against a huge amount of AI-generated content, when journalist trust is even harder to gain. Having a website isn’t enough anymore. 

Search engines and LLMs are constantly looking for signals that will help them understand which brands are trustworthy, authoritative, and most relevant to the queries people are searching for. And one of the strongest signals they can use is whether other websites are talking about, and the context surrounding those conversations. 

And that’s where Digital PR comes into it. 

When a publication mentions your brand – and often the more reputable the better – and they cite your research, quote your experts or link back to your website, it’s a powerful trust signal. Not only is it a tick of approval to search engines and LLMs, it also puts your brand in front of real people who read those publications – and they may never have discovered you otherways. 

When done right, the best Digital PR is a combination of SEO, content marketing and brand building, and can help:

• Increase brand awareness
• Earn high-quality backlinks
• Improve organic search visibility
• Build authority within your industry
• Generate referral traffic
• Establish trust with both customers and search engines

While they are important, the best Digital PR campaigns don’t just chase links; they create genuine value, spark conversations you’d have with your mates, and position your brand as a credible voice.

Different types of Digital PR

Not all Digital PR activity looks the same, and which ones work best for your business depends on your industry and the publications in it. And it all depends on your overall SEO goals, the resources you have available, and so much more… So your ideal strategy might vary.

Data-led campaigns

These are usually (although not always!) the campaigns that generate the biggest headlines – especially if you have multiple avenues and headlines you can run with.

You can create these campaigns by analysing existing datasets or doing your own research, which uncovers interesting trends that journalists in your industry want to cover. Original data gives publications something unique that they can pass onto their readers.

Expert commentary

Journalists are always on the lookout for credible experts to provide comments for their articles. By responding quickly to requests from journalists with high-quality and legitimately helpful content, your brand can eventually become a go-to source for these opportunities. 

Newsjacking

When something happens in the world, that story can dominate the headlines, making it extremely difficult for other stories – even the strongest data-led pieces – to break through the noise. Newsjacking is one way to still get involved, by contributing expert perspectives or a unique angle from your brand.

But, the key with this one is relevance. The best newsjacking opportunities are always a natural extension of the story rather than something that feels like a forced attempt to make the story all about you. Journalists can see this a mile off.

Thought leadership

Some of the best Digital PR doesn’t involve campaigns at all, and this is an approach that can work particularly well for brands who occupy a more B2B-focused space or more “serious” industry. 

Publishing expert opinions, industry predictions, and insightful or forward-thinking commentary can help position your experts and brand as true authorities in their field, while holding the potential for future media opportunities.

Product and brand PR

For consumer and e-commerce brands, product PR is more important than ever for landing in those highly coveted ‘Best of’-style round-ups – LLMs draw heavily on these in their product recommendations to people. 

At its centre, Digital PR is about earning attention. It’s not about paying for it, tricking the algorithm, or chasing vanity metrics. It’s really about creating insights, stories and providing expertise that people genuinely want to engage with, and that publications genuinely want to cover. 

The stuff that makes up those KPIs – the backlinks, the domain rating, the referring domains, the traffic and brand awareness – that’s the happy result of doing the above well.

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