Why Your PR Plan Must Include Digital Marketing
We’ve all been there. Your business scores an amazing media placement and spirits are high. You’re finally in the publication you’ve been dying to land, and the story shows your brand in its very best light. But with the fast-paced news cycle, eventually that coveted PR placement glow around your business starts to fade as new stories run and less readers are seeing your article.
Guess what, friends. It doesn’t have to be this way.
Time to amplify that media placement and show-off that glorious PR win! This is where digital marketing can help. Here are the top 5 ways digital marketing can support your business and strengthen your overall PR plan:
1. Increase the Reach and Shelf Life of Your Message
They say the internet is forever, so why not use that to your advantage? By taking the content from a traditional media placement (i.e. an interview clip, product tutorial, great quote, etc.) and using it in a social media organic post or ad, you can help that content reach your target audience on their preferred social media channels.
2. Drive Your Audience to Action
The digital component of your PR plan can reach far beyond brand awareness alone. Using strategic social media or digital advertising, you can leverage your PR coverage in ads to generate desired actions from your customers, such as website visits, app downloads, or even purchases.
3. Gain Trust Via Influencers
Forty-nine percent of consumers depend on influencer recommendations, and over 60 percent of people are likely to trust recommendations from a friend, family member or influencer on social platforms over those of a brand. When executed alongside a traditional PR strategy, influencer engagement can validate your brand story to add credibility, build trust and drive sales.
4. Gauge the Impact of Your Marketing Efforts
Digital marketing opens up a whole new world of data and analytics, allowing you to see how audiences are engaging with your content down to the level of specific ad views, clicks and even website actions. You can also glean helpful demographic data from digital analytics, such as which age groups or geographic locations are most engaged with your brand.
5. Inform Future Campaigns and Business Decisions
Through social and digital channels, you can see in real time how audiences are reacting to your business. Do comments show that customers are loving your new product? Or perhaps that a message didn’t land quite right? Digital offers a valuable feedback loop to help give your audience more of what they want – and less of what they don’t. This can positively impact your entire program.
Digital marketing can supplement and enhance your traditional media program, taking it from a single PR moment to a dynamic marketing campaign. If you’d like help integrating digital into your PR plan, let’s connect.