Digital PR is one of the hottest ways to get media mentions and grow your company’s or personal brand’s awareness among audiences. However, this is not as easy as it looks because digital PR requires extensive research; it doesn’t consist of repurposing existing articles but collecting and sorting data from various sources, organizing surveys, and whatnot.
If you have clients who want to run campaigns in different countries and languages, you need to roll up your sleeves and think beyond basic Google research.
That’s what we will discuss in this article today, so hold tight, and let’s see what tips we’ve for you today.
1. Use a VPN for research
If you are handling the research part for the digital PR campaign, using a VPN becomes extremely important. VPN helps you switch from a personalized and localized Google search to a location-based Google search. In case you don’t know about VPNs, click here to learn more, and focus on how to incorporate a VPN into your research.
The first step is to understand what kind of data you are collecting for your campaign. Let’s say you are working on a campaign titled “How Portugal’s Shrinking Population is Alarming to the Country.” You will have to access many Portugal sites, which are definitely available to everyone on the internet. However, doing research with a VPN will help you access results that Google may not show you on your USA IP.
2. Engaging with the audience through surveys
Engaging with your audience through surveys can be a game-changer, providing invaluable insights and the data needed to create a compelling digital PR report. This approach has a remarkable ability to go viral, especially when done right. It’s not uncommon to see surveys with a sample size of fewer than 2,000 respondents making a significant impact.
This strategy is gaining traction among digital PR specialists for a clear reason. It allows for the collection of authentic data that can drive storytelling and generate buzz. When medium—to large-sized companies approach PR specialists with campaign requests, one effective tactic is to leverage the company’s existing email lists or community access to distribute surveys. If these resources are unavailable, PR specialists can turn to third-party companies specializing in survey distribution and pay participants for their time.
3. Create your communities
As a niche-based PR specialist, for example, in the cosmetics industry, building your own communities on platforms like Reddit, Facebook, and Twitter can be incredibly beneficial. These platforms are hubs of activity, filled with millions of engaged users across virtually every interest area. Establishing a presence in these spaces allows you to take high-quality audience surveys and elevate your PR campaigns to new heights.
Creating your community on these platforms offers several advantages. You gain direct access to a targeted audience genuinely interested in your niche. This facilitates more authentic interactions, more decadent data collection, and, ultimately, more effective PR strategies. Communities on Reddit and Facebook, in particular, are known for their high engagement levels, making them ideal for gathering insights and feedback.
If building a community from scratch seems daunting or too time-consuming, there’s an alternative approach. Reach out to existing community owners and negotiate access to their groups and subreddits. Often, these owners are open to collaborations, especially if monetary benefits are involved. By partnering with established communities, you can quickly tap into a ready-made audience, saving time and resources while reaping community engagement’s benefits.
In either scenario, the goal is to create a space where you can interact with your audience, understand their needs and preferences, and leverage this information to craft standout PR campaigns. Whether you build a new community or collaborate with an existing one, the insights you gain will be invaluable in driving your PR efforts forward.
4. Stay updated with the latest industry news
Another golden tip for increasing PR research is to stay updated with the latest news in your chosen PR industry. You can use Google Alerts and add relevant keywords from your industry to receive alerts whenever something new is published online.
This will not only help you figure out PR campaign ideas but also create stories that are in trend. Thus, your chances of getting more mentions and world-wide coverage will increase.
5. Use industry-leading tools for data gathering
You can take your PR research to the next level if you can access tools like Ahrefs, Semrush, Google Analytics, and Search Console. Once your press release is published and accepted by big media houses, you need to track how many mentions it receives, and that can be quickly done with these tools. For actual traffic to your original post, you can use Google Analytics to track metrics like scrolls, page views, clicks, etc.
This data analysis will help you create your next banger PR campaign. Evaluating the user’s time on page and engagement helps understand whether they actually liked reading it or just clicked on it because of the title.
