Posts tagged: Outreach

In 2024, digital PR is bigger than ever. 9 out of 10 PR professionals send their pitches to digital media, an increase of 14% since 2022. This growth is largely due to the increasing importance of online visibility for businesses and brands – driven by the rise of social media and online news outlets.

Today, digital PR should be factored into every digital marketing strategy to increase brand awareness, provide high-quality backlinks and increase search engine rankings.

We are now over half-way through the year, so have a strong sense of how the digital PR landscape is looking. It’s now clear to see which trends are here to stay, which campaign styles have been gaining traction, and the new techniques that show long-term potential.

This blog will be looking at the trends we’ve been seeing in 2024 and our predictions for suspected future trends still to come this year. If you’re a digital PR professional or a business owner hoping to land online coverage, staying informed about the latest trends will ensure you’re staying relevant, so read on.

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What are digital PR trends?

Firstly, let’s check you’re up to speed with what digital PR is all about. In 2024, it’s no hot take that we’re living in an online-centric world; as a result, traditional PR has had to adapt. It’s the art of building visibility online through pitching press releases to online journalists, providing quotes for online articles, and guest posting in blogs.

And what’s the point of all this? Well, digital PR has a whole array of benefits, all ultimately feeding into increased brand awareness and visibility online – at the end of the day, increasing conversions. It improves SEO by earning high-quality backlinks, it will help to establish your company as an authority in its industry, and can even help with crisis management.

Digital PR trends, then, are the shifting behaviours and techniques defining the digital PR industry. This can include new softwares, audience preferences, and particular styles of campaign that are landing with journalists. Below, we take you through the 4 trends you should be aware of this year which are here to stay in 2024.

The top trends for 2024:

1. We’re increasingly seeing new tools automating aspects of digital PR

AI isn’t going to steal our jobs, but it’s certainly making them easier. Every week there’s another software on the market to help with a different task in digital PR. In a study by Prowly AI came in as the top trend prediction from respondents, with 36% predicting it would be a primary trend in 2024 – they weren’t wrong! 

AI tools and platforms are playing more and more of a significant role in digital PR campaigns. A couple of our new favourites are:

Sourcee: This tool acts as your own personal Journo Request lookout, with the slogan: ‘Letting you know about relevant requests, straight away.’

Midjourney: This can be used to create imagery for your campaign, or to provide inspo for your ideation.

AI technology can help you analyse large amounts of data to create a story, automate tasks like media monitoring, and provide sentiment analysis about a brand on social media. Have a browse at what’s on offer, your boss and clients will thank you!

2. TikTok as a research tool

I don’t need to tell you that the popularity of this platform continues to grow. And, more and more, brands and agencies are using it in digital PR as a research tool. It’s surprisingly valuable for gaining insights into consumer preferences and trends. Tiktok can also be used to identify viral trends and popular hashtags – helping brands stay relevant to their audience.

A good digital PR campaign addresses an issue or topic of interest of your target audience; where are customers most vocal and transparent about products they’re using? TikTok! Have a look for yourself when ideating your next campaign.

3. A shift in metrics

If you haven’t got the memo, links are out and relevancy is in. Quality over quantity is what matters now – PRs are digging deeper than surface-level metrics, focusing on how their campaigns can put a brand in front of the right people and drive conversions.

Metrics like brand mentions, relevancy of links, and sentiment analysis are increasingly being paid more attention. Hundreds of links at face value is no longer impressive, but hundreds of links aligned with the brand, in a credible and relevant publication, is.

So, in 2024:

✔️Ensure your campaigns and placements are consistent with your brand’s messaging

✔️Shift away from link-building tactics, focusing instead on creating content that’s genuinely valuable for your audience

4. Impact of the cost of living crisis

We’ve all seen the price of a Tesco meal deal these days – the cost of living crisis is unfortunately continuing to rise and people are feeling the pinch. In light of this, journalists are looking for tips and stories on how to save money. In our work, we’ve noticed a pattern of good coverage for campaigns like ‘where to find the cheapest school uniforms’ or ‘best deals this bank holiday weekend’. For example, if your brand is in the automotive industry, could you provide tips on fuel efficiency, to save money on petrol? Or, tips for getting the best deal when buying a used car? If you work in the entertainment sector, could you create a guide to a DIY home theatre? 

Equally, the cost of living crisis is just one of the many things making our news very negative in 2024. Considering this, any light-hearted and optimistic content is increasingly popular with journalists – they know it’s what readers want to see, to brighten their day a little.

What future trends can we expect to see?

➡️We’re seeing a surge in data-led digital PR campaigns, with journalists increasingly looking for fresh and fact based stories. PRs that can create a narrative from client research or survey data will stand out in a busy inbox. Raw statistics can be turned into attention-grabbing headlines, especially with the help of…

➡️AI. You guessed it – expect to see AI filtering into more and more areas of digital PR, automating routine tasks and freeing us up to concentrate on strategy and client relationships.

If your digital PR strategy could do with a bit of a spruce up, why not get some professional help? Cedarwood Digital is an award-winning digital PR and SEO agency based in Manchester – drop us a message to get the ball rolling.

Relevancy – you’ve probably heard this term buzzing around LinkedIn recently and may be wondering: is it just another industry fad, or does it actually matter? Surely any coverage is good coverage?

We’re here to break the news that, as a PR, links aren’t the only metric you should be tracking and it’s no lie that the majority of digital pr companies are now also looking at relevance as a key metric of campaign success. To see real growth, a business needs campaigns that are relevant, in publications that are just as relevant. We know how tempting it can be to jump on any old topic that’s trending and exciting, but if it doesn’t resonate with your target market, it can be harmful.

This blog will get into the details of why this is, explaining what exactly relevancy is when it comes to digital PR, why you should care about it and our tips for creating relevant but still newsworthy content. We’ve even shared some examples of our recent and relevant campaigns to give you a bit of inspiration.

But, if you prefer to skip the ramble, here are some key takeaways:

👉Quality over quantity: aim to secure placements that align with your brand, even if it means fewer links

👉Relevant campaigns put you in front of the right people and increases visibility, driving conversions

👉To create a relevant but newsworthy story, you need to understand your audience, and have a close eye on your industry’s trends

What is relevancy in digital PR?

In 2024, the phrase ‘they’re not relevant anymore’ is tossed around in pop culture, as a jab at former Love Islanders or child actors who haven’t survived the cutthroat cycle of mainstream popularity. In fact, it offers an interesting parallel to digital PR, but whilst both brands and celebrities must continuously work to stay connected to their audience – there’s a key difference. 

In digital PR, relevancy isn’t about chasing fleeting trends or viral moments; it’s creating lasting, meaningful connections that align with your brand’s core values and resonate with your target audience. 

So when we talk about relevancy, in practice this means asking yourself “does it make sense for my brand to be mentioned in this particular article and this particular publication”. Securing a feature in a prestigious magazine like GQ might seem like a big win, but if your business has nothing to do with fashion, it’s not a strategically relevant placement.

It’s time for us to move away from the outdated numbers game of link building that characterised the early days of SEO. Today, the best marketers are focusing on quality and brand relevancy, steering clear of spammy tactics.

Relevancy is about ensuring that every mention, every link, and every campaign reinforces your brand’s identity and speaks directly to the audience you’re trying to reach. This approach has a whole host of benefits….

Why is it important to make DPR campaigns relevant to the brand?

There’s a growing consensus in the world of digital marketing that relevancy isn’t just important – it’s crucial for the success of a digital PR campaign, and growth of a business. Here’s why:

➡️Visibility

When your digital PR efforts are relevant, you’re more likely to appear in publications and platforms where your target audience is actively engaged. This targeted visibility not only increases your chances of being seen but also ensures that you’re reaching the people who are most likely to be interested in your products or services. Each mention drives relevant traffic back to your site, boosting what we all ultimately care most about – conversions.

➡️Brand alignment

When your PR activity is in sync with who you are as a brand, it creates a more cohesive narrative for your audience – strengthening your brand image and helping to build trust. From a messaging perspective, you don’t want to confuse your customers by having your brand linked to campaigns that say drastically different things.By prioritising relevancy, you’re building a consistent image that resonates with your core audience.

➡️SEO

A handful of highly relevant links provide far more SEO value than hundreds of non-relevant ones. This is because when a link comes from a source closely aligned with your brand, it carries more weight in the eyes of the search engines. Google is getting increasingly good at understanding context and it now evaluates the relevance of the linking site to your content; when you secure a link from a highly relevant publication, you’re sending strong signals about your site’s authority and relevance in your niche.

➡️E-E-A-T

This is partly because relevant coverage plays a huge part in enhancing your website’s E-E-A-T signals. When you consistently appear in relevant discussions within your industry, you’re demonstrating your expertise and building authority. This improves your standing with Google, boosting your rankings and also positioning your brand as a go-to resource to your audience.

➡️Why the journalists should link to your page

Aside from anything else, relevancy increases the likelihood that a journalist will want to use your content in the first place. Relevant content enhances their article and offers the journalist genuine value. You want the connection to be plain as day, so that it’s no question that they include your content to enhance their article.

Examples of relevancy in our work at Cedarwood

The best way to explain a relevant campaign is just to show you one! Here are three examples in our work recently where we’ve crafted a story both relevant to our client, and newsworthy – resulting in lots of coverage.

1. A super relevant campaign that went viral just last month across national papers is our newsjacking piece for a printer toner client. We aligned our client’s products with the peak in summer holidays through identifying essential documents to print before boarding your flight. This transformed a mundane product into a timely solution and landed our client widespread coverage:

2. For our new DIY supplies client, we launched a newsjacking piece where we jumped on a topical trend (apprenticeships) to provide relevant data that appealed to their target audience. We outreached the campaign to outlets in their industry and landed a number of hyper-relevant niche links to the website:

3. There’s no hiding the fact that you have to be a little more creative in some industries than others when it comes to crafting relevant digital PR campaigns. The vaping space is a great example of this – there’s certainly a less exhaustive list of related topics. So, to get round this, we thought outside the box and submitted FOI requests to local councils to identify how many illegal vapes had been seized over time. With this data, we then created an infographic showcasing the UK’s vape raid hotspots, outreaching it as an asset for journalists.

The outcome was over 150 relevant and targeted links that enhanced E-E-A-T signals across the brand:

How to create relevant but newsworthy content

🔈Audience understanding

Your first step should be getting a deep understanding of your target audience, their interests, and problems they’re facing. But the insights from tools and AI aren’t really enough, so how can you go about this? First, have a clear contact page and form so that people know how and where to go to send you their feedback. 

Secondly, platforms like TikTok are a great way to get a better sense of the thoughts and feelings of your audience. Search your product or service keyword and have a look at what the main discussion points are – is there opportunity for you to provide data or expertise that solves an issue they’re having? For example, searching ‘printing’ into TikTok reveals viral videos surrounding the idea of DIY- printed t-shirts. Therefore, a campaign looking at this new gen-z trend of upcycling our clothes at home, and an expert how-to guide, would be a relevant campaign for a printing company.

🔈Timely, trending content

Relevancy is time-sensitive and journalists don’t want stories that are yesterday’s news. To create relevant stories, you need to be constantly monitoring the emerging trends and events within your niche and create content that offers unique insights on these. Content calendars are a great way to do this, marked with key dates and relevant events. With this, you can then brainstorm ideas in advance, allowing you to newsjack quickly. To return to our printing example, key educational dates like the dissertation submission period or GCSE exam period would be worth marking in advance as this allows you to create timely content surrounding printing dissertations or practice papers.

🔈Keyword research

Whilst often overlooked in digital PR, this shouldn’t be left to the SEOs! In fact, keyword research should be one of the first steps of a digital PR ideation process, as it guarantees that you’re narrowing in on genuinely relevant ideas. Looking at these terms guarantees that your campaigns are going to align with what your audience is actively searching for. Plus, by incorporating these keywords into your pitch, you’re hitting two birds with one stone – speaking the language of your audience, and increasing the likelihood that your content is discovered organically in the SERPs. 

Cedarwood Digital is an award-winning SEO, digital PR & PPC agency based in Manchester. If relevancy isn’t your forte or your campaigns just aren’t landing, how about getting some expert help. Contact us today to find out what we can do for you.