Why digital platforms are the new face of Public Relations
Public relations (PR) has changed dramatically in the last few years. Whilst it still involves connecting businesses with potential customers via high quality written content, the emphasis now is firmly on digital platforms. Businesses looking to connect with customers have to make sure their product or service could be found online – usually the first place where people begin their search.
That’s not to say that your customers don’t still read magazines and there are still some great printed titles out there, such as Homebuilding & Renovating, Professional Builder or Grand Designs, which your PR company should be able to get your products placed. Likewise, there are excellent trade titles covering a variety of sectors such as The Manufacturer and Professional Engineer, two well-established titles that we have had fantastic coverage for our clients.
There’s no getting away from the fact that digital is the new face of PR, though. If you really want to get your brand in front of thousands of customers, then good quality digital content is what you or your PR agency should be focusing on.
We recently had some world-beating results for one of our clients that is a specialist provider of RTU and telemetry / SCADA systems. Based in Sheffield, they supply to domestic and international markets. As their PR agency, we were given the task of raising awareness of their brand. The PR strategy we devised was based on a digital platform, and the results have exceeded expectations. For example, their key search term is ‘RTU remote telemetry improving process efficiency' and, following implementation of our PR strategy, we managed to position this particular client as number one and two on Google for this term, and above their main competitor – a global operator in the RTU sector!
There was no better demonstration of the power of content creation and digital PR for this client. What’s even better is that the PR content that secured them positions one and two on Google will remain online indefinitely, meaning the optimised search results and inbound links will continue to rank for them. With PPC the top rankings disappear as soon as you stop the programme!
Another aspect of the PR and content creation strategy worth highlighting is the international aspect – again helped by the fact that digital PR opens up your products and services to a worldwide market. For the same client we have successfully targeted digital media in Australasia, American and Europe, with countries such as France, Germany and Spain. It helps that we have established regional contacts with the operators of these digital platforms and a track record of being able to supply them with interesting, informative and persuasive content that gets our client’s brand in front of customers. The latest article appeared on EngineerLive website, a key digital platform for engineers and specifiers.
Although the world has changed in terms of PR, the old adage that the more things change, the more they stay the same applies; the new world of PR still retains the core requirement to generate sales leads and demonstrate results to clients. That’s what we’re all about – we’ve given a few examples here of how good quality content creation via a digital PR strategy can deliver these.
So if you are looking for a PR agency that specialises in b2b marketing, including construction, manufacturing, technology or the food trade, just drop us an email hello@dragonflypr.co.uk or call on 0114 349 5344.