Did you know that chameleons change colour not to blend in with the environment but to communicate with their own kind? Or that spider webs were used as bandages in ancient times? Don’t worry if you didn’t!
Because here is what you should really know. According to Statista (Jan 28, 2021) 3.6 billion people use social media globally and it is projected to increase to 4.41 billion in 2025. Let's just say it's about time that we realize that digital PR is more important than ever.
After the pandemic hit, digital PR made its presence felt. With everyone spending time online, it was not just important but imperative to grow a presence in the digital medium. Be it brands or investors, employees or business owners, digital PR has become important to keep in touch with customers/audience and communicate through several means (read text, video, status, FAQs, etc)
With digital PR gaining so much traction, there are bound to be some misconceptions as well. Here are some of those unpalatable myths debunked so you can think and focus on the right things for your brand.
No-follow inbound links do not bring in traffic
There are various factors which control the influx of traffic. One of them is inbound links. With inbound links to your page, your website gets a little SEO boost on search engines. But, are the ‘no follow’ links bad? Even though the no-follow links don’t bring in as much traffic as the ‘follow’ links, it does not mean they’re not valuable. These links may not optimize your page on the search engine, but they do reach the audience of the website they are on. Many websites have their outbound links set to no-follow but they help indirectly build brand and credibility, especially when they’re from reputed news organisations. So what matters is not looking solely at traffic, but also at what links your brand or business could have, that can build trust and industry authority.
Digital PR drives sales
It is true that digital PR is part of marketing strategy, but that does not directly lead to driving sales for your product. What digital PR can actually do is pave the way for it, rather than directly lead to it. It builds trustworthiness for your brand and product. Digital PR helps brands repurpose their coverage on blogs, websites and social media which helps you generate leads, which does not translate directly to sales.
Spread yourself over all social media platforms
You might think that effective Digital PR means being present on all platforms but the fact is that you don’t need to be. It can actually be more tricky because each platform’s audience differs subtly from the other. And the content must be tailored to the audience. So if you have the resources and the capacity, go right ahead, work on all the platforms that exist but more than the number of platforms you are on, it’s your content that matters. Does the content you post attract the right audience? Do you engage well with them? Quality always wins over quantity. You could engage well with your audience and see great results even from a single platform. So just focus on platforms where you can serve your audience best.
Journalists don’t like attachments
Communication is important to keep the network alive and there seems to be a general impression that emailing journalists with your attachments might irritate them. This, of course, may be true depending on what the journalist covers and how relevant your pitch is. A 50-page attachment of survey results to a lifestyle journalist might send it straight to the trash bin while working wonders for a business publication. A bit of personalisation can go a long way. Spending some time to read their work while explaining why your campaign would be relevant not only to their readers but also to you and them as individuals could go a long way. At the end of the day, establishing and maintaining relationships matter, so let them not rest on attachments, of the email kind!
It’s all about favours
Well, no! And neither is it who you know! The PR industry may have transformed overnight, various social media channels and the internet to get the job done. Getting a job done, though, is no piece of cake. so easy though. Yes, it requires building relationships and credibility. While there may be some bad eggs, for most, it doesn’t come through greasing palms or calling in favours or a fortune. They build reputations, through trust consistently delivering earned media results for clients. . It’s what they know about the landscape that gets them there, requiring years of skill and sweat, to stand out from the rest. So if you think it’s about favours and no effort, think again. And don’t choose an agency that promises it.
Need help dealing with such myths and uncovering the truth for your digital PR? Just get in touch and we’ll manage it for you.
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