26th Sep 2019 by Fran Tuckey

The Benefits Of Digital PR That DON’T Involve Links – 10 Yetis Insight

Why PR without the links is as important as PR with links

Working for a digital PR agency has made me realise the importance of link-building campaigns and SEO. With clients putting such an emphasis on follow links to be included in online pieces, it makes even the most impressive examples of print coverage pretty meaningless to many.

Yes, it can be hard to justify why coverage without a link has any real benefit to a brand at all, but throughout this 10 Yetis insight, I will explore why Digital PR without the links can be just as important and beneficial. Read on to find out more…

Consistent brand awareness

The more people that are exposed to your brand and its offerings, the more likely they will be to engage with it at some point in the future. If your brand name is consistently featured in online or print articles your brand awareness will increase and the higher the chances that audiences exposed to your offerings might spread your details through good old word of mouth.

Furthermore, if customers begin to see your name cropping up across relevant online or print publications, they will start to recognise your brand and may even take to Google to search out your website should they require your specific services. If your brand or company is regularly mentioned in the press, people will also begin to associate you with other household name brands. In a similar manner to celebrities – who have to keep themselves in the public eye so they don’t get forgotten - as soon as a brand stops securing themselves coverage, they will be forgotten about and a competitor will swoop in and replace them.

Engaging new audiences

You may not realise it, but getting yourself out there and securing mentions within relevant media outlets will generate new audiences. You may have a very specific demographic that fits your brand to a tee, but PR is a bit like hearsay or word of mouth. Once people spark a conversation that involves your brand, it will engage more people to know about it, bringing in a wider audience and you might find your demographic widening. Even if certain people don’t necessarily follow/like/buy your products, they will still know about who you are and what you do and sometimes that is enough to help with growth.

Adding credibility to a brand

If your brand name is regularly mentioned in a number of articles in big national publications or credible online magazine sources then people will start to think of you as a credible source and experts in your chosen field. This is where consumer trust can help to be built, and you’ll end up building a loyal audience of individuals willing to put their faith and finances in your company. Not only will this bring in potentially more sales, but journalists will look to use you or mention you in their own pieces because of the recommendation and trustability.

Video/social media engagement

It’s not just about print or online coverage these days. Social media and video is now just as crucial in reaching a wide and varied audience. Content on these platforms can be much more engaging and are likely to be seen in a much more casual capacity than people visiting a news site. If your brand is within an industry that is a little on the ‘dull’ side, then video and social media is a great way to tell people a story in a more appealing way. Everyone is on social media these days and the benefits of being responsible for a ‘viral’ piece of content are quite simply huge. Content can be shared between thousands of people within seconds and before you know it, the press might’ve picked up on it themselves. Journalists love a video or pictures to accompany a story they are working on, so if you can portray something visually that may be boring or complicated to read then you are winning. You audience will definitely appreciate it and won’t lose interest in your brand.

Don’t get me wrong, links are crucially important for your sites SEO, but don’t be too mad at us if a link isn’t included. The coverage is still valuable and we work hard to get as many links included as possible. Us PR’s feel really disheartened if clients don’t appreciate that print mention in the Metro, hearing that it ‘doesn’t count’ just isn’t true; a lot of brands would kill for a mention in a national newspaper, which is why more brands need to understand that consistent coverage overall is beneficial for any company, and it is great to get an array of various pieces of coverage, whether that be print, online or shared across social media.

It’s our job to help build your brand/companies reputation and you know what they say, all PR is good PR right!?

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