Are you interested in a job in SEO or content, or perhaps you’d just like to find out more about what the team does?
Well, you’re in luck as this guide delves into everything you need to know!
Here at c3, we’ve combined our SEO and content experts to create the overall Organic Search team. This is because, for most clients, we employ a connected strategy allowing the two teams to work closely together in order to deliver the best results for our clients.
At the moment, there are many agencies hiring for digital PRs…
It’s a tricky task to try and sum up SEO, but we’ll give it our best shot. In a nutshell, SEO (which stands for Search Engine Optimisation) is all about optimising a website for visibility on search engines such as Google.
There is an even more technical side to SEO, which focuses on enhancing the technical parts of a site to improve its rankings. This can include:
Ultimately, SEO is all about ensuring that a website is ranking as highly as possible, in turn bringing increased traffic, whether that’s customers, clients, or another type of audience.
Wondering how we put this into practice? Discover our approach and what this involves by reading about our SEO services.
Content falls within SEO, as it shares the same goal of boosting rankings and driving traffic but refers to all the written work involved. This includes blogs and other website page copy.
Having content as part of your overall marketing strategy is crucial. Apart from the obvious, a solid approach to content will prompt Google to take notice, keep your readers onsite, and result in conversions.
For more information on exactly how we do this at connective3, you can read all about our content strategy and content writing services.
On top of the strategy side of things, a lot of the work the content team undertakes involves different types of writing. Below are a few examples of the different content formats our team writes:
These tend to be the most common type of content writing for our team. Most of the time, these are SEO-focused blogs and guides written with the intent of boosting organic search rankings. However, other times they may be long-form articles on topics important to a client’s audience. Whatever the subject matter, these types of informational pieces are useful for helping a client become an authority.
Most of the time, when our PR team launches a campaign, they need a relevant page to link back to, which is where the content team comes in. As well as writing the onsite campaign content, they also support the PR team in creating press releases that can be used during outreach.
White papers are report-like in style, compared to typical informational blog posts and other long-form articles. The goal is to delve deep into a certain topic and provide an expert analysis.
Shorter in length, landing page copy is another type of writing our team does frequently. Essentially, landing page copy focuses on what the page has been built for, such as “maxi dresses” or “midi skirts”, whilst targeting relevant commercial keywords and improving internal linking, with a CTA (aka call to action) promoting the services.
To make sure content is performing as well as it should be, the content team go in and review what’s already there to see what can be improved. This might include implementing more relevant keywords, and even potentially adding entirely new sections.
If a client is developing a new interactive tool for their website, then the team can write up the necessary copy for the page, or even just review and offer feedback and recommendations on what should be included.
Like any industry, there are lots of helpful tools available which definitely make our lives (well, jobs) easier. If you’re curious about which ones we use the most at connective3, here are a few of our top picks:
A holy grail tool for the entire Organic team is GA4, aka Google Analytics. This tends to be the main tool used when reporting and highlighting results to our clients, including users and sessions.
It’s a free web analytics service that’s part of the Google Marketing platform and provides all sorts of stats and analytical features which can be used to look at how customers engage with a client’s website.
Another tool our team uses on pretty much a daily basis is the SEO software tool suite, Ahrefs. A popular choice for many people in the industry, some of its key applications for the team include keyword research, competitor analysis, and monitoring rankings to name a few.
There are also other tools for our keyword research purposes, including Semrush and SERPAPI.
The official source of keyword information, Google Keyword Planner is a free keyword research tool from Google itself. Find new keywords or check volumes against those from other tools like Ahrefs; it’s extremely straightforward to use.
ScreamingFrog is a website crawling tool which allows our team to crawl websites and analyse various key SEO elements, such as broken links, duplicate content, and overall site architecture. Both our content and SEO experts use this often when auditing or conducting health checks.
One which our team don’t rely on but still think is worth mentioning is Grammarly. It’s a great tool to have if you just need a little nudge on your grammar every now and then. It can also be set to American English, which is particularly nifty if you’re not certain on all the different spelling changes.
An essential tool for anyone working in SEO, Search Console is great if you’re looking to keep your site well-optimised and in good health. The tool offers an all-in-one place for handling several key aspects:
Google Search Console also offers a view of performance, allowing you to see how many ‘clicks’ and ‘impressions’ each page and keyword is driving.
As with any industry, there are certain terms that will be thrown about that you might not be familiar with. While it’s natural to pick up on these things over time, we thought we’d make it easier by compiling some of the most common industry terms everyone should know.
In SEO, keywords are the words or phrases that are used when searching for something online in search engines. Sometimes they may also be referred to as ‘search queries’.
Keywords can be things as simple as ‘vegan sandwich’ or ‘wedding dresses’. There are also long-tail keywords which are more specific and made up of multiple words. This is because the person searching has a better idea of what they actually want to find.
For example, a typical keyword might be something like ‘wooden desks’, whereas a long-tail keyword version would be ‘small wooden desks for home office’.
A main part of both SEO and content strategy is identifying relevant keywords and targeting them in our work, to ensure a client is appearing when people search online. We have tools which allow us to see how many people are looking at each keyword per month, which gives us a good idea on whether to target them or not.
Another element that has to be considered when it comes to keywords is the ‘search intent’. Basically, what is the person wanting to discover when searching for something online?
Google wants to ensure that users are being given appropriate results for what they’re searching, so it’s important that your approach satisfies user intent.
There are four main intent categories that most search terms fall into:
Probably most of the commonly used terms across content and SEO is SERP, which stands for Search Engine Results Page. As it states, this is the page that comes up when you look for something in a search engine like Google.
The reason why this is such a common term in SEO and content is that one of the overall goals is to see a client appear (or ‘rank’) as close to the top of page one of the SERPs as possible, if not first.
Think about it: when you search for something online, how likely are you to scroll down or go to the next page? Not many people do. What appears in the SERPS and where a page ranks changes depending on a search engine’s algorithm which tend to be updated and reviewed regularly.
On the SERPs, we have featured snippets or ‘position 0’. These are the boxes that appear right at the top when searching for something and provide context for that search with a short paragraph, list, etc.
When writing content, one of the goals is often to try to earn featured snippets, as this is the highest possible ranking position on search engines other than advertisements. The reason these are so desirable is that people tend to stick to the top few results after searching for something.
A featured snippet is more attention-grabbing than a standard result due to being bigger and, in turn, is more likely to be clicked on by users.
People Also Ask (PAA) boxes are also like mini featured snippets where Google pulls out what they believe to be the best answer to commonly searched questions.
Meta titles and meta descriptions are two important HTML elements and important to bear in mind for SEO purposes.
The meta title, sometimes called a title tag, is there to let search engines and readers know what the page is about – it’s also the text that appears as a blue link in the SERPs.
Meanwhile, a meta description is a short summary of the page’s content and the page’s primary keyword. There are various estimations of the ideal character count for a description, but typically the recommended number varies between 100-160. It’s worth mentioning that Google may not always display the meta description written, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worthwhile.
Meta titles and meta descriptions are two important HTML elements and important to bear in mind for SEO purposes.
The meta title, sometimes called a title tag, is there to let search engines and readers know what the page is about – it’s also the text that appears as a blue link in the SERPs.
Meanwhile, a meta description is a short summary of the page’s content and the page’s primary keyword. There are various estimations of the ideal character count for a description, but typically the recommended number varies between 100-160. It’s worth mentioning that Google may not always display the meta description written, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worthwhile.
When it comes to linking, this falls into two categories – external and internal. Links, whether external or internal, are an important ranking factor for Google as it gives them an idea of whether the content is of high-value or not. You can find out more about the different types of links and their value in our digital pr starter pack.
External linking is when you add a link to a website that isn’t your own; for instance, if you’re referencing them as a source. Internal linking is when you add links pointing to other pages on the same domain. In SEO, internal linking is the one focused on most, as it is in your control and can have real impact on how your website ranks.
Ultimately, internal links can help Google start to understand your site structure, as well as the relationship and relevancy between different pages. Having an internal link structure in place also enables users to better navigate your site.
Anchor text are the words, or sometimes just one word alone, used when adding a link to another page, aka the clickable text. Often, this is highlighted in a different colour on a website to make sure it stands out from the rest of text.
Sometimes viewed as one of the pillars of SEO, in short, authority is how ‘strong’ your website is. A ‘stronger’ website should, in theory, help a website rank in the SERPs, although Google claims this isn’t actually a deciding factor.
Building authority takes time and is therefore part of a longer-term strategy, and can involve actions such as auditing the full website, optimising content and website structure, and link building to name a few.
Crawling is a process done by search engines to discover new or updated content through the use of robots (aka crawlers or spiders). They do so by analysing code/content for each URL they can find on a site. From there, they decide if it is new content and/or if it is of any value.
Crawling is basically step one of having search engines see your pages, which is then followed by indexing.
Indexing is all about which parts of your website can or can’t be found by a search engine and, in turn, added to its index. It’s important for pages to be indexable if you want them to start ranking and driving organic traffic.
However, there are instance where you might want pages to be non-indexable, including those with low-quality or gated content that you only want to be accessible in a particular situation. If you don’t want a page to be indexable, then you can either add a robots.txt file or a “noindex” tag.
For more information on crawling and indexing, you can read our beginner’s guide to how search engines work.
Building authority takes time and is therefore part of a longer-term strategy, and can involve actions such as auditing the full website, optimising content and website structure, and link building to name a few.
At C3, we believe a connected approach is the best way to achieve real results. That’s why our SEO and content team, aka the Organic Search team, naturally ends up collaborating and working closely with other channels. Curious how we do that? Let’s find out.
Typically, you’ll receive a brief prior to the brainstorm which will include key information such as an overview, previous campaigns, industry news, competitor insights, inspiration, and some initial ideas so other people can see where to start.
Perhaps the most obvious way of linking up organic search and social is by using social media platforms to promote onsite content such as blogs and other articles.
Another way is by reviewing keyword seasonality and trends, and planning this into both your social and organic calendars. Identifying when certain keywords are popular is great for ensuring the most visibility on your content, which will likely translate onto social media searches too. Alternatively, looking at what’s trending on social media platforms specifically could also help to inform your content ideas and roadmap.
Not everybody thinks the same way, so the same approach won’t work for everyone, and that’s fine. There are all sorts of ideation styles including brainwriting, figure storming, round the room, and change of scenery.
From writing a strong CV to impressing during the interview process, there are multiple important parts to consider when applying for a job in organic search.
To help give you a bit of a head-start if you’re wanting a career in SEO or content, we spoke with Ben Barker, our Group Head of SEO, and Head of Content Strategy, Elle Pollicott, for their insights when hiring.
During an interview, in addition to the initial impression you give and your skills on paper, it’s important to nail the interview questions. Lucky for you, we want to give you an idea of what you might be asked when interviewing for a role in SEO or content.
Below are some examples of interview questions you might be asked in SEO, with some being for an entry-level role and others for a strategist position:
Alternatively, if you’re planning on going for a role in content, these are some interview questions you might want to prep for:
Of course, it’s not just about having the right answers to the questions but also about showcasing your previous experience and the qualities or skills you can bring to a job. Here are some qualities and skills that will serve you well in a content or SEO role:
With the emergence of AI and how fast it’s evolving, it naturally begs the question of how, or perhaps even if, content and SEO can take advantage of it?
This is something we’ve already been looking into at connective3, having written a couple of blogs like what generative AI search means for digital marketers and how the rise of AI will affect content.
Hopefully, you’re feeling all clued up now that we’ve covered all the basics of SEO and content. If you’re ready for a career in SEO or content, the team at Connective3 is always growing, so be sure to see what openings we’ve got on our careers page.
To find out even more about exactly how we deliver results for our clients, you can read more about our services.
Let’s get started
Are you interested in a job in digital PR but have no idea how to get your foot in the door?
Then this guide is for you
In a nutshell, digital PR is all about increasing brand awareness and engagement through online channels such as websites, blogs, social media, and online news. This is done by creating relevant and newsworthy content that is then sent out to the media.
For digital PRs, the main goal is to achieve high-quality backlinks from these campaigns which helps signal to Google that your website is reputable, and ideally improves their rankings in the search engine results pages (SERPs).
At the moment, there are many agencies hiring for digital PRs…
Like any other job, you should do basic preparation including researching the organisation, reviewing the job description, going over your CV and tailoring it to the company and role, and prepping your questions and answers. If your interview is in-person, then it’s also wise to plan your route there and back in advance as well as deciding what to wear.
It can be tricky to prep for interview questions as you really don’t know what you’re going to be asked. However, it’s always worth having some answers at the ready in case a question does come up, which should help you to feel more confident going in.
Here are some example questions an interviewer might ask:
At the moment, there are many agencies hiring for digital PRs…
To help get your head around some of the different industry tools you might come across, we want to give some insights into the most popular and useful tools* that we typically use day in, day out as digital PRs.
Buzzstream is an outreach platform that you can use to launch and monitor your campaigns. No longer do you have to manually send each individual email, instead, you can build and upload media lists to the platform, create and edit different templates to get them distributed with ease.
Vuelio is a key tool when building media lists and during outreach because it is essentially a contact database where you can find all sorts of media contacts from around the world. This is particularly useful when the journalist’s email isn’t within their recent articles or in their Twitter bio.
A great tool for reactive PR is ResponseSource which is an email subscription service that helps to connect experts, PRs, and journalists who need help or information. Not only can you respond to requests to get your client’s name out there, but PRs can also use this tool to send out their own requests for campaign support, for instance, expert commentary.
You can use Google Trends to research and analyse search trends of a given term or keyword over a period of time. In PR, this can be used as its own data source (something we’ll touch on in more detail later), or to add relevance to an existing piece.
One well-known piece of software is Ahrefs which classes itself as an all-in-one SEO toolset, and here at c3 this is used across a few of our different teams including PR. Some of the tools you can find on Ahrefs include their site explorer, content explorer, keywords explorer, rank tracker, and link intersect.
Moz is another tool that allows you to gain SEO insights such as page authority, domain authority, site rankings, keyword research, and auditing. There is also a free google chrome extension you can get called MozBar which is useful as it provides a quick overview of some of these metrics.
Keyword.io is a free keyword research tool that helps you find autocomplete keyword suggestions from various sources including Google, Amazon, and YouTube. This is a versatile tool that can be used across various digital marketing teams, including PR.
Working in digital PR means you always need to keep up to date with what is going on in the news including what topics are currently trending, Buzzsumo lets you do just that, and you can filter or search a certain category. This tool is pretty versatile and can be used for ideation, finding results, and competitor analysis, amongst other things.
We’re pretty sure you’ll have heard of Google Analytics before as it provides all sorts of SEO and marketing insights and can even help you find results for your campaigns. Google Analytics is free to use but the client will have to give you access to their account in order to analyse the website traffic.
HypeAuditor is an AI-power analytics and discovery tool which allows you to manage and monitor influencer marketing campaigns. You can also use it to gather useful data and metrics about influencers from across various social media platforms including TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and Twitch.
Linkfluence is a social listening tool that can help PRs to take a deep dive into consumer insights via a live feed of global social data. Some ways PRs can use Linkfluence include monitoring brand reputation, finding results, understanding competitors and data collection.
AnswerThePublic is a keyword and search listening tool and, in short, it provides automated autocomplete results. All you need to do is ask a question related to whatever topic you’re interested in and then you’ll be able to see what Google would predict you to ask based on the most common searches.
It’s no secret that the digital PR community is huge on Twitter, and you’ll always see people shouting out one another and just generally being super supportive.
Of course, if you’re new to the world of digital PR you don’t have to worry about being super active online but there are some great accounts and hashtags to follow for all sorts of tips and tricks.
Below are a few of our personal favourites:
Of course, these are just a few examples and there are so many other great people and industry leaders out there offering invaluable advice.
One of the best parts about working in PR is how creative it is but campaign ideation isn’t always planning.
In order to spark inspiration, sometimes all it takes is looking at other sites for inspiration. If you’ve recently joined the industry and aren’t sure where to start, here are a few of our favourites:
The Grapevine is a monthly newsletter set up by Iona Townsley (@IonaJTownsley), a creative at NeoMam Studios. Each month Iona sends out an email which rounds up all the PR campaigns that she can find for a particular month, even sorting them into categories such as travel, lifestyle, and food to name a few.
Another news outlet that is worth looking at if you’re new to the industry is PR Week as it covers all aspects of the PR and communications industry. The only caveat with this one is that some things are hidden behind a paywall, although you can register for free and access a limited number of articles a month.
The Drum is a media and news outlet sharing the latest industry news and insights on marketing and media industries from around the world. This includes stories, job search resources, event listings, and features.
Famous Campaigns is an independent blog that covers all sorts of PR and marketing stunts and campaigns. On the blog you can find posts that cover the different stunts and campaigns, split out by sector, explaining them in a bit more detail.
Mark Porter (@markcporter) the head of marketing at Screaming Frog runs Content, Curated which is a monthly newsletter looking at his top picks for campaigns that month. In his posts, Mark gives a quick overview of his selected campaigns and why he likes them as well as some other honourable mentions, PR stunts, must-read marketing articles, and a must-follow marketer. You can either sign up for the Content, Curated email newsletter or head over to the blog.
Root Digital, a digital marketing agency, has its very own The BEST Digital PR & Link Building Campaigns list of what they deem the best digital PR and link building campaigns which you can go to for campaign inspiration. You can even go as far as filtering the campaigns by format (e.g., competition, interactive, and map), industry (e.g., automotive, beauty, and hone), market (e.g., UK and US), and year. Plus, they also tell you how many links each campaign secured.
Now you know where to find campaign inspiration it’s time to put that to use during an ideation session.
Productive brainstorms are crucial in PR as this is where the campaign ideas come from and are the base of future work.
Of course, you’ll be attending brainstorms for your own clients but it’s likely that you’ll support those for clients too. It can be hard to think of innovative ideas all the time so if you ever find yourself in a bit of a rut these are our ideation tips and tricks:
Typically, you’ll receive a brief prior to the brainstorm which will include key information such as an overview, previous campaigns, industry news, competitor insights, inspiration, and some initial ideas so other people can see where to start.
Not everybody thinks the same way, so the same approach won’t work for everyone, and that’s fine. There are all sorts of ideation styles including brainwriting, figure storming, round the room, and change of scenery.
This can be easy to do when you work on multiple clients and are constantly having to come up with new and exciting ideas. However, one of the most important things to bear in mind when heading into a brainstorm is relevancy and the purpose behind whatever campaign you’re suggesting – constantly question yourself and ask ‘why’.
And last but not least, no idea is a bad idea. Sometimes we might randomly think of the wackiest things but there’s always something to take from it. Even if it’s not a developed concept you can still put it forward and potentially spark something from somebody else. After all, PR is all about creativity and standing out.
Helpful data sources really are the bread and butter of our PR work, especially as they form the basis of our campaigns.
Below we’ve listed just some of the data sources we tend to use here at c3, although you will need to check the terms before using them as some require attribution and/or permission first:
Being able to combine PR and SEO will see you achieve better results and supports a wider strategy.
Below are some important pieces of SEO knowledge to have if you’re going to be working in PR:
A major part of PR is link-building and getting quality links can have a big impact on SEO, so it’s important to know the difference between each type and their value.
Followed links are seen to be the most ‘valuable’ as they pass link equity and help boost the page rank of the linked-to site which in turn see them go higher in the search engine results pages (SERPs).
No-follow links are slightly different, and you can spot them as they have a rel=”nofollow” tag and are invisible meaning it doesn’t pass link equity, but that’s not to say they don’t hold value, depending on what your clients’ goals are.
There is also content syndication, which is when a journalist, in particular someone who writes for an umbrella media business, publishes the same content over multiple news websites. While Google is not a fan of duplicate content, syndication won’t negatively impact SEO, but it also only tends to count as one link so doesn’t help massively either.
Domain rating (DR) is a metric created by Ahrefs that shows the relative strength of a website’s backlink profile. They determine strength by comparing the given site to others in their database on a 100-point ‘logarithmic’ scale with higher numbers being stronger.
Domain authority (DA) is a search engine ranking score used to see how likely a website is to rank on SERPs, aka how authoritative it is. DA scoring was developed by Moz and you can use their website, or the handy chrome extension MozBar, to find this out. The scoring is ranked from one to 100, with higher scores correlating to being more likely to rank and is based on multiple factors such as linking root domains and total number of links.
If you’re not sure what referral traffic means, essentially it is any time that someone clicks on a link to go to a website from another source. This is pretty much the core of digital PR strategy where you create and outreach content with the aim of getting a link on another site that someone else might click.
Ultimately, good digital PR will result in a diverse backlink profile including links from authoritative websites with a high DA which should see your site move up in the rankings, improve visibility, and lead to more clicks and conversions.
Depending upon which clients you work with and the types of campaigns you can do, the main areas you’ll probably end up composing briefs for are brainstorms, design and development, content, and potentially video.
Here at C3, we really believe in the power of teams working together. To do so effectively, your brief needs to convey your campaign and client’s message.
Some tips for writing a comprehensive brief include:
Share it within enough time. Every business or team will work to their own timeframes, and it’s important to ensure that you’re meeting those, so that those who will be digesting the brief have time to ask questions and prepare.
A press release is your way of communicating your campaign to the media, which will then be transformed into a story to share with the public.
Not only is your press release your ticket to sharing your asset and securing results, but it’s also your opportunity to build credibility for your client and highlight that they are the experts in their field.
Given that it’s so important to get your press release right and grab the reader’s attention we’ve come up with some top tips:
Don’t forget to add additional value with insight from your client, after all, that’s what is going to make your campaign stand out.
Newsjacking, aka reactive PR, means reacting to current events and the ever-changing news agenda allowing you to position your client as an expert in their field. It’s also a great way to build extra links.
There are two main types of newsjacking in PR which are using press releases (either new or old) along with expert commentary.
Getting the most out of your newsjacking is crucial, here are some of our top tips on what to do, and what not to do:
When you spot an upcoming opportunity, it’s always worth seeing if you have any previous campaigns you can use or quickly reangle first. For example, maybe you have a campaign on the UK’s favourite pets that you can quickly edit to reflect National Pet Month. However, if not then you might consider quickly creating an entirely new release. An example of this might be revealing the most popular houseplants in light of Houseplant Week.
Expert comments are probably the most common form of newsjacking and, in theory, take less time. There are different sorts of comments, for instance, you could be talking about a breaking news story or reacting to a planned event or release like car registrations and house price indexes. These tend to be more unplanned than using press releases, so you need to be ready to get a comment out to the media fast.
It might seem obvious, but you should be monitoring your campaign constantly and unfortunately, there are occasions when things don’t always go to plan.
Perhaps you’ve launched and followed up but you’re still not seeing an open rate that you’re happy with or haven’t had any feedback… now is the time to act!
But what do you do? Here are some of our tips on how to save a failing campaign:
If you’re working on something that isn’t yet in outreach but you’re having difficulty with the data or making it newsworthy enough, don’t be afraid to switch it out for something you have more confidence in.
Outreach is a key skill to master early on in your digital PR career, and this involves building relationships with journalists and earning yourself a reputation as a reliable and helpful PR at the earliest opportunity.
There are several different publications you can target during outreach, with the most common sectors being:
Here are some of other top tips for getting the most out of outreach:
The thrill of launching a campaign never goes away and we still find ourselves looking for results right after the campaign is live and launched, but where are the best places to check?
If you can’t see anything straight away, don’t panic, sometimes you just need to dig a little bit deeper.
Try these tips and see if you can spot something you missed the first time around:
Google Analytics is another great way to find links, but you’ll need to have access to your client’s Google profile in order to do so. All you need to do is navigate to All Traffic and then select Referrals, and Source which will allow you to check all the linking domains.
There you have it, a full digital PR starter pack, to help you feel confident when applying to your next role in PR even if you don’t have any previous experience.
As you can see, digital PR isn’t just about building links, it encompasses so much more than that and holds a lot of value for your clients. It plays a key role in increasing brand awareness and if you can establish a solid workstream alongside SEO and content then it can be game changing!
Here at c3 we’re constantly growing so if you’re ready to start a career in digital PR then head over to our careers page, or you can find even more digital marketing advice on our blog.
Let’s get started
Coronavirus was declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organisation on 30 January 2020. Not only have governments, and particularly healthcare systems, had to respond swiftly to mitigate the risks and ensure the wellbeing of their citizens, COVID-19 has had a dramatic impact on work practices across every industry – and law is no exception.
In order to assess whether consumer behaviours and attitudes towards travel have changed ahead of the 2021 summer holiday period, we created this report, which outlines consumer behaviour using search data, social media listening, keyword research and data from respondents gathered through surveys and user groups.
The pandemic has forced entire firms to work from home, turbocharged technology adoption across the sector, impacted client demand and forced prices to increase. Although, after a year and a half, the legal community has embraced many of these pandemic-driven changes, some haven’t fared so well in the face of such rapid and distinct changes.
The data for this report was compiled in late 2020, and at the time of launch (March 2021), we Brits have provisionally been told that travel will be permitted from the 17th May – subject to the lockdown exit stage criteria being met.
To delve deeper into the impact COVID-19 has had on the legal sector, we take a look at how smaller law firms have coped relative to larger firms in the UK market. To do this, we have analysed the visibility and organic traffic of the top 10 and bottom 10 UK law firms, comparing performance in 2018 (pre-pandemic), 2020 (during) and 2022 (post-pandemic).
If you’re always on the go and can’t guarantee a strong internet connection whilst working, you can download a version of our legal whitepaper.
Thankfully, it looks like we’re coming out the other end of the COVID-19 pandemic. And, whilst this is great news, it doesn’t necessarily mean the end to the issues that have arisen in the legal sphere as a result of it. So, how has the coronavirus pandemic impacted the legal sector as a whole?
One of the most significant results of the pandemic, which influenced nearly all sectors, is the switch to remote work. Along with almost every other profession, lawyers were forced to pack up their offices and move work into their homes. With this change, lawyers had to adjust to video meetings with clients and work with co-workers on projects without the ease of being in the same office.
It will be interesting to see how this drastic change to working life affected the law sector – whether for better or for worse. Will larger law firms have slipped with such large teams to keep track of? Or will the smaller ones have failed to adapt due to a lack of resources?
During the period of ‘lockdown’ there were fewer arrests, charges and prosecutions brought by the Crown Court Prosecution Service, trial by jury was paused, and fewer civil cases were started. This reduction in legal activity meant lower client demand and, thus, lower incomes for legal service providers.
With this in mind, we would expect to see a decline in demand for legal services during the pandemic. However, given that many cases were put on hold throughout, now that we’re starting to emerge from it, we could expect to see a sudden surge in client demand again in 2022.
It will be interesting to see how this drastic change to working life affected the law sector – whether for better or for worse. Will larger law firms have slipped with such large teams to keep track of? Or will the smaller ones have failed to adapt due to a lack of resources?
In addition to a potential post-pandemic surge in demand, we’re seeing the legal needs of clients shift and evolve. According to Thomson Reuters, the main trends and developments during the pandemic (2021) in the UK legal market were strongly client-centric and client-driven. Issues from increased legal spending to what clients want to see from their external firms in terms of expertise, tech-savviness, and efficiency dominated the minds of lawyers and their clients.
Since even before the pandemic, the service needs of UK legal buyers were becoming more complex and intertwined. Data from Thomson Reuters also found that client satisfaction rests on the ability of law firms to provide consistency and innovation, which in turn, can provide them with opportunities to differentiate themselves in the competitive UK market.
More recently, a slightly lagged impact of the pandemic has been inflation, which has drastically impacted legal rates. And inflation ramped up so quickly in the second half of 2021 that many law firms had very little chance to react.
In the past, law firms have predominantly relied on raising their rates each year as key means of improving profits, as opposed to increasing the hours they work, on average. With inflation so high, though, worked rate growth currently lags inflation.
This threat of inflation gives plenty of incentive to push rates up. This will, however, test the willingness of clients to accept such steep rate increases.
To determine how the impact on large law firms has differed to that of smaller ones, we selected the top and bottom 10 law firms according to thelawyer.com. We then conducted an analysis into their SEO performance, including visibility and organic traffic, for the years 2018 (pre-pandemic), 2020 (during) and 2022 (post-pandemic) to determine which fared better over the period of Covid-19.
| Rank | Law Firm | Average Revenue 2015-18 (M£) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | DLA Piper | 1674 |
| 2 | Clifford Chance | 1472 |
| 3 | Clifford Chance | 1430 |
| 4 | Linklaters | 1378 |
| 5 | Hogan Lovells | 1373 |
| 6 | Freshfields Buckhaus Deringer | 1312 |
| 7 | Norton Rose Fullbright | 1204 |
| 8 | Herbert Smith Freehills | 889 |
| 9 | CMS | 840 |
| 10 | Ashurst | 543 |
| Rank | Law Firm | Average Revenue 2015-18 (M£) |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | Turcan Connell | 23 |
| 99 | Geldards | 23 |
| 98 | Stevens & Bolton | 23 |
| 97 | DMH Stallard | 23 |
| 96 | Boodle Hatfield | 24 |
| 95 | Harper Macleod | 25 |
| 94 | Harbottle & Lewis | 25 |
| 93 | MW Solicitors | 26 |
| 92 | Gordon Dadds | 26 |
| 91 | Sackers | 26 |
| 90 | Digby Brown | 26 |
| Law Firm | Visibility score 2018 (pre-pandemic) | Visibility score 2020 (during pandemic) | Visibility growth % (2018-2020) | Visibility score 2022 (post-pandemic) | Visibility growth % (2020-2022) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DLA Piper | 582 | 1,520 | +161 | 1,226 | -19 |
| Clifford Chance | 1,180 | 1,552 | +32 | 2,648 | +124 |
| Allen & Overy | 884 | 1,262 | +43 | 979 | -22 |
| Linklaters | 1,238 | 1,408 | +14 | 1,515 | +8 |
| Hogan Lovells | 1,319 | 1,358 | +3 | 532 | -61 |
| Freshfields Buckhaus Deringer | 271 | 518 | +91 | 248 | -52 |
| Norton Rose Fullbright | 2,392 | 1,538 | -36 | 814 | -47 |
| Herbert Smith Freehills | 1,135 | 1,143 | +0.7 | 1,202 | +5 |
| CMS | 1,689 | 1,171 | -31 | 1,674 | +43 |
| Ashurst | 255 | 718 | +182 | 1,483 | +107 |
Looking at the visibility change for the top 10, it is clear that nearly all but two experienced fairly significant growth from pre-pandemic (2018) to during the pandemic (2020). The only two that experienced some slight decline during this period was Norton Rose Fullbright (7) and CMS (9).
However, this visibility trend changed slightly with the onset of the pandemic, with half of the top 10, including the number one ranked (DLA Piper), suffering a loss of visibility from 2020 to 2022. Nevertheless, it is clear that many of those more established managed to fare relatively well throughout the pandemic, with most only seeing their visibility growth slow slightly and others actually continuing to see visibility growth post-pandemic.
This suggests that while some larger businesses failed to maintain the impressive visibility growth seen pre-pandemic, most have managed to at least not see a large drop or have even managed to keep on seeing improvements.
| Law Firm | Organic traffic 2018 (during pandemic) | Organic traffic 2020 (post-pandemic) | Organic traffic growth % (2018-2020) | Organic traffic 2022 (post-pandemic) | Organic traffic growth % (2020-2022) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DLA Piper | 1,058 | 13,903 | +1214 | 6,010 | -57 |
| Clifford Chance | 10,469 | 13,310 | +27 | 39,986 | +200 |
| Allen & Overy | 24,819 | 28,246 | +14 | 49,692 | +76 |
| Linklaters | 20,529 | 26,068 | +27 | 32,785 | +26 |
| Hogan Lovells | 22,960 | 27,208 | +19 | 23,493 | -14 |
| Freshfields Buckhaus Deringer | 20,203 | 25,620 | +27 | 20,763 | -19 |
| Norton Rose Fullbright | 0 | 13,281 | – | 16,632 | +25 |
| Herbert Smith Freehills | 20,981 | 23,544 | +12 | 23,205 | +18 |
| CMS | 0 | 20,519 | – | 27,868 | +36 |
| Ashurst | 16,535 | 25,184 | +52 | 35,564 | +41 |
The trend in organic traffic for the top 10 is fairly in line with that for visibility. Pre-pandemic, all larger law firms were experiencing significant growth in organic traffic, with DLA Piper (1) seeing the largest increase. For most of the top 10, this growth, despite largely slowing, continued throughout the pandemic. In fact, 7 out of 10 continued to see organic traffic grow slowly between 2020 and 2022.
This indicates that most larger law firms, despite seeing some impact from the pandemic, have still managed to maintain growth in the face of the changes forced upon them by Covid.
| Law Firm | Organic traffic 2018 (during pandemic) | Organic traffic 2020 (post-pandemic) | Organic traffic growth % (2018-2020) | Organic traffic 2022 (post-pandemic) | Organic traffic growth % (2020-2022) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turcan Connell | 3,921 | 2,883 | -26 | 1,925 | -33 |
| Geldards | 3,821 | 5,562 | +46 | 2,354 | -58 |
| Stevens & Bolton | 2,643 | 6,405 | +142 | 6,905 | +8 |
| DMH Stallard | 4,981 | 5,120 | +3 | 6,051 | +18 |
| Boodle Hatfield | 4,238 | 5,182 | +22 | 2,237 | -57 |
| Harper Macleod | 6,910 | 8,335 | +20 | 9,348 | +12 |
| Harbottle & Lewis | 3,849 | 4,989 | +29 | 3,688 | -26 |
| MW Solicitors | 0 | 5 | – | 191 | +3720 |
| Gordon Dadds | 0 | 1,839 | – | 9,364 | +409 |
| Sackers | 1,944 | 1,186 | -39 | 1,187 | +0.08 |
| Digby Brown | 1,944 | 7,527 | -3 | 7,986 | +6 |
Like with those more established, most smaller law firms were also seeing improvements in organic traffic pre-pandemic, with 8 out of 10 experiencing growth. Yet, this growth was much smaller than that seen for the larger businesses before the pandemic hit in 2020.
Unlike the larger law firms, however, organic traffic growth post-pandemic has been much slower for smaller law firms, with some continuing to experience a decline in traffic to their websites.
This suggests that, as with visibility, smaller brands have failed to recover from the impacts of the pandemic as well as the larger ones, struggling to attract potential clients to their websites.
Overall, the results from our analysis of visibility and organic traffic performance of the top 10 and bottom 10 law firms in the UK suggest that the larger ones have been more successful in their recovery from the impacts of the pandemic.
Despite both the larger and smaller brands both experiencing some visibility and traffic growth prior to the pandemic hitting, the smaller firms failed to maintain or improve this growth during and after the pandemic. By contrast, many of the top 10 were able to keep their visibility and traffic levels stable, while some even experienced some growth during the pandemic. This indicates that not only were larger firms able to cope with the sudden changes brought about by the pandemic, but that they have fully evolved how they work and market to maintain or continue this growth post-pandemic.
Perhaps this is a sign that the larger brands are simply able to throw more resources at the problem and come out the other side comparatively unscathed. Whether it’s marketing, training, or recruitment resources, these will have all made a massive difference in maintaining or growing their brand presence online and attracting more people to their websites.
At first glance, the legal sector doesn’t seem like the standard bearer for change and innovation. After all, the go-to marketing strategies and business models of most have remained static for over half a century.
However, the Covid-19 pandemic has turned these traditional marketing tactics on their head. Today, in this post-covid legal world, clients have more choice than ever before, so legal firms, and especially the smaller, less established ones, must do more to stand out from the crowd and articulate their competitive advantage to potential clients.
Perhaps once seemingly unnecessary in a sector that just kept on growing, digital marketing is now becoming widely recognised as essential to navigating a changing future. In fact, according to a 2018 Legal Marketing Association (LMA) report, over 60% of law firms are increasing their focus on marketing and business development. This fact contributed to 41% of them stating that acquiring or increasing marketing staff was a top investment.
A sound SEO strategy can work to boost brand awareness online by improving organic visibility. In turn, driving more website traffic and converting more potential clients. As a result, smaller players will be placed in a better position to levy their resources and adapt to the changes brought about by the pandemic, mitigating issues like remote work, recruitment, client expectations and rising costs.
For further information on the data presented above or to hear more about our SEO, content strategy, and content marketing services, feel free to contact us directly.
Most people are aware of how detrimental the Covid-19 pandemic has been to so many industries across the UK, but the legal sector, despite being one of the hardest-hit, is often overlooked. Conducting this research, I was able to highlight, not only how the legal climate has changed as a result of the pandemic, but also the disparities it has caused amongst larger law firms that were already performing well and smaller law firms that weren’t quite as established before we were hit.
What I found most interesting about this research was the extent to which the pandemic affected smaller law firms compared to larger ones. While I did expect smaller firms to have been slightly slower to adapt, it was surprising to see just how significant their drop in performance was from pre- to post-Covid.
Senior Content Writer
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Digital public relations, often shortened to digital PR, is all about showcasing your expertise, trust, and authority to Google by creating relevant news, stories, and information that the media will cover which in turn, improves your online presence and visibility.
But exactly what makes it such a crucial part of your overall strategy? Well, we’re here to tell you why your brand should be investing in digital PR and help answer any potential questions you may have!
In this guide, we will be covering:
Digital PR is a digital marketing strategy that utilises many tools and tactics to prove to your audience and Google that your brand is authoritative and trustworthy.
While it tends to be mostly associated with ‘link building’, digital PR is so much more than that. Yes, sending outreach and gaining links to improve a website’s authority still plays a role, but that’s just one part of a bigger strategy.
If implemented correctly, Digital PR is an effective way to boost your brand awareness, social engagement, online presence and so much more.
Below are some examples of the types of tactics that digital PR specialists use:
Digital PR vs traditional PR
To sum it up, traditional and digital PR strategies are both all about improving and sustaining a brand’s reputation.
However, when it comes to specific strategies, traditional PR often focuses on crisis and reputation management and promotes brand awareness through stories or events that gain social media, print, and online coverage, as well as other disciplines that will showcase brands in a positive light.
Meanwhile, digital PR strategies are informed by SEO recommendations and goals, with the focus being on gaining online coverage (links) from relevant, authoritative sources. This, in turn, increases online brand awareness and supports further SEO goals such as bringing traffic to a website, improving visibility, and ultimately, driving leads and conversions.
Maybe you’re wondering how digital PR could benefit you and your business? Well, when used effectively, some of the benefits of digital PR to your brand can include:
Backlinks, which are inbound links coming from another website, are an important ranking factor for search engines like Google. Therefore, the more high-quality backlinks you have pointing to your brand’s website, the more likely it is that you’re going to rank higher for relevant search terms. We’ll touch more on how digital supports SEO in the next section.
Securing positive media coverage will help to position your brand as an authority. Not only that but getting your name out there and mentioned in a variety of sources will raise brand awareness and ultimately build trust with potential customers.
Securing positive media coverage will help to position your brand as an authority. Not only that but getting your name out there and mentioned in a variety of sources will raise brand awareness and ultimately build trust with potential customers.
So, as you can see, if you’re a brand hoping to grow your online presence, you should be running digital PR activity as part of your organic and marketing strategies.
In fact, according to a recent blog post, various experts in the industry believe that link building is the third most important ranking factor when it comes to SEO. Back in 2021, Google’s very own John Mueller also acknowledged the importance of this when he said, “[digital PR is] just as critical as tech SEO, probably more so in many cases.”
Building links is like acquiring social proof, with digital PR helping to boost wider SEO performance. But why is this?
Well, when search engines crawl a website, having strong, authoritative backlinks pointing to your domain is a great signal that you’re trustworthy and know what you’re talking about. It’s also one of the factors that allows you to rank higher on Google when people search for relevant terms associated with your brand.
Other key benefits that PR can have on SEO performance include increased site visibility, traffic, leads, and improved keyword rankings. Through digital PR tactics, you’re also able to feature your internal experts and products, which boosts brand awareness, loyalty, and credibility.
So, whilst both on-site SEO and PR are separate practices, the benefits of marrying the two together is obvious! For more information, be sure to check out our blog on why PR and SEO are better connected.
Here at connective3, our digital PR experts have extensive experience creating and executing digital PR strategies for a range of brands across different sectors. Working collaboratively with the organic team, we’ve delivered results that have driven clear business growth.
If you’re interested in even more examples of digital PR that have proven results, be sure to check out our case studies.
So, whilst both on-site SEO and PR are separate practices, the benefits of marrying the two together is obvious! For more information, be sure to check out our blog on why PR and SEO are better connected.
The entire digital marketing industry is ever-changing thanks to new trends and tools emerging, so it’s only natural that the world of digital PR is also going to evolve and change over time.
But what exactly does this mean for your business?
Given the ever-changing digital marketing landscape, it’s obvious that the world of digital PR is going to continue to evolve and change over time. But what exactly does this mean for you and your business?
Below are some thoughts we’ve gathered from our expert PR team here at connective3.
A lot of brands that have specific products to push or want to get in front of their audience will run more large-scale, creative campaigns/stunts that’ll deliver both offline and online results that support PR, organic, and social. However, to cut through, these tactics will need to be relevant, have a strong key message, and entice audiences to take action.
If you’re curious about how we bring creative campaigns to life, we’ve got a whole case study on launching an Avon fragrance with the help of our c360 services.
Reactive PR will continue to increase in popularity, especially for sectors with quicker news cycles such as finance, travel, and fashion. This strategy continues to build impressive results, and we’ve seen huge successes across our c3 newsroom team for this.
Brands need to utilise their internal expertise on these strategies to showcase themselves as authoritative leaders in order to build trust among their audience. The content you produce also needs to be helpful; answering the questions we know audiences are seeking advice on.
This is especially important considering Google’s ‘Helpful Content Update’ which aims to promote informational content with the user in mind rather than that which has been written to rank well in the SERPs. There has actually been a number of updates to the algorithm that claim to boost helpful information and reduce the appearance of low-quality or unoriginal content.
As the world of digital PR becomes more competitive, it only makes sense that more and more brands are running PR strategies. However, this does mean that finding niche ways to build results to support overall SEO objectives has never been more crucial.
From link reclamation and partnerships to broken backlinks and employer news, there are a number of ways to achieve this, and we expect that there’s going to be a huge focus on this type of technical link building in the future. If you’re wanting to get ahead but not sure where to start, we’ve got a whole guide to technical link reclamation that goes through some of the different tactics you might want to employ.
The biggest factor which remains is relevancy. Basically, you need to ensure that all your PR content is relevant to your brand and audience/interests, relevant to keywords you want to rank for, and relevant to your target media and the general news agenda.
PR strategies should be guided by organic insights, so it’s important that you speak with your SEO teams to determine where you should be directing your backlinks on your site to have the biggest growth impact.
If you’re interested in finding out more about what our team get up to, and how we can enhance your brand’s online presence and reputation, be sure to check out all of the digital PR services we offer.
How to build a PR strategy for your brand
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Maybe you’re sold on digital PR but not sure where to start when it comes to formulating your strategy? We understand that you’ll want to get it right, which is why we’ve pulled together information on potential digital PR tactics you might want to use and steps for getting started.
In this blog, we will be discussing:
Content marketing campaigns are perhaps the most common digital PR tactic, and can include attention-grabbing stunts, interesting surveys, fun interactives, data-led studies, and more.
Regardless of the campaign framework, the end goal is always the same – creating content that is interesting to both the media and potential customers.
When ideating for content marketing campaigns, the thing that should be at the forefront of your mind is whether it will provide value to your brand’s audience. After all, they’re the people you want visiting your website, interacting with your brand, and eventually converting.
Then there’s reactive PR, which, as you might have guessed from the name, involves keeping up with current news and trends so that you can quickly jump on any opportunities that could be relevant to your brand.
The main difference here is that you can’t really plan ahead for reactive PR. Basically, in order to secure coverage, you need to respond fast and be one of the first to get in there before the media (and people) move on to the next thing of interest.
With the rise of social media, TikTok in particular, this has become an even more popular PR tactic. In fact, we’ve got our own dedicated newsroom team at connective3 so that we can ensure an ‘always on’ and ‘always there’ approach for our clients.
Whether it’s getting your products mentioned in gift guides and roundups, generating excitement around a new launch, or having your products reviewed in the media, there are various ways to create buzz through the use of product PR.
In short, product PR is a great tactic if you’re wanting to place attention on your brand’s products or an upcoming launch.
If you’ve got internal business news that you want to showcase or that might be of interest, there doesn’t always need to be another existing story in order to secure coverage.
From new openings and big hires to charity initiatives and more, internal business news is information that can be shared with the trade media to promote your brand and establish authority.
Technical link reclamation is another PR tactic that can help with building links but isn’t quite the same type of outreach. Instead, this is the process of trying to reclaim both lost and broken links or transforming existing brand mentions into links. We’ve actually got a whole guide to technical link reclamation if you’re interested in looking into this further.
To start, you need to nail down your goals and aims. This could include promoting a new product launch, increasing traffic and visibility of a particular section on the site, increasing brand awareness, and more.
Given that your PR tactics should appeal to your brand’s target audience, you need to identify who they are, including their age range, interests, and other information. From here, you can then decide what media they consume that you should be targeting.
Once you know your audience, it’s time to combine this with organic insights to inform a strategy that will be effective. This includes information on any target keywords, particular areas of the site that need focusing on, and how your competitors are performing.
To ensure your ideas are relevant, you should bring all key channels together to brainstorm ideas that will meet your goals and objectives. On top of that, you should be taking your target audience, their preferences, and the media landscape into consideration as well.
In some cases, you may have accompanying on-site content for your PR campaign which will be referenced in the press release. It’s important that this blog is also in line with your overall goal and organic insights, including internal linking opportunities and target keywords.
Before you start any outreach, it’s important to decide on a strategy which details how you’re going to make your campaign work harder. This also includes compiling an overall media list, coming up with a range of hooks and angles for different media niches, and figuring out when you’re going to outreach these angles.
Once a PR campaign is over, sit down with your team to discuss learnings for the future. This way, you can identify what worked, as well as what could be improved next time. We’ll delve further into the importance of setting KPIs and how to measure success in the following sections.
To start, you need to nail down your goals and aims. This could include promoting a new product launch, increasing traffic and visibility of a particular section on the site, increasing brand awareness, and more.
Given that your PR tactics should appeal to your brand’s target audience, you need to identify who they are, including their age range, interests, and other information. From here, you can then decide what media they consume that you should be targeting.
Once you know your audience, it’s time to combine this with organic insights to inform a strategy that will be effective. This includes information on any target keywords, particular areas of the site that need focusing on, and how your competitors are performing.
To ensure your ideas are relevant, you should bring all key channels together to brainstorm ideas that will meet your goals and objectives. On top of that, you should be taking your target audience, their preferences, and the media landscape into consideration as well.
In some cases, you may have accompanying on-site content for your PR campaign which will be referenced in the press release. It’s important that this blog is also in line with your overall goal and organic insights, including internal linking opportunities and target keywords.
Before you start any outreach, it’s important to decide on a strategy which details how you’re going to make your campaign work harder. This also includes compiling an overall media list, coming up with a range of hooks and angles for different media niches, and figuring out when you’re going to outreach these angles.
Once a PR campaign is over, sit down with your team to discuss learnings for the future. This way, you can identify what worked, as well as what could be improved next time. We’ll delve further into the importance of setting KPIs and how to measure success in the following sections.
As with any type of marketing activity, setting KPIs (aka ‘key performance indicators’) for your digital PR campaigns is crucial, as it is essentially how you value your success and see the actual impact of your work. Having KPIs in place will also help you stay focused on the main goal and allows you to report back on the performance of your campaigns with data that actually matters.
When it comes to setting these KPIs, this will depend on your overall goals and what you want to achieve to drive business performance. It’s important to bear in mind that one brand’s idea of success might look different to another, and this will then impact your KPIs and how you measure success.
Of course, when it comes to digital PR, you should be setting KPIs in relation to backlinks such as average DA, whether the links are from a new, relevant domain, etc. However, aside from backlinks, other important KPIs include:
Here at connective3, our PR strategists work closely with our organic team to map out the PR results we expect to receive over time. Measuring the success of your digital PR efforts isn’t just about link numbers on a sheet. It goes beyond this, including:
On top of that, you’ve also got other vanity metrics like reach, awareness, positive brand sentiment, and social engagement.
Good results for digital PR don’t necessarily equate to tonnes of links. Other factors, such as the relevancy and authority of the domain that provides a backlink, are just as, if not more, important when it comes to boosting organic rankings.
Ultimately, even though the number and quality of your backlinks do matter to search engines like Google, focusing on link building alone won’t lead to a boost in organic rankings. If your brand’s site is struggling technically, producing poor content, and the majority of their backlink profile is coming from sites of little relevancy, you’re not going to see the results you want. All of these different elements share the same goal and need to work together harmoniously in order to achieve true success.
Essentially, ‘quality over quantity’ couldn’t be any more accurate than when looking at the impact of your digital PR work. Taking this back to what we said right at the start, this is exactly why digital PR is so much more than just ‘link building’.
If you want to find out more about what our team get up to and how we can enhance your brand’s online presence and reputation, be sure to check out all of the digital PR services we offer.
What is digital PR & how can you use it to your advantage?
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Over the last decade, the rise of digital PR has revolutionised how brands communicate with their audience online, both in the UK and the US.
However, in recent years, more and more countries are catching on to this wave of marketing, and now France has become a fertile ground for global brands keen on earning or diversifying their backlink profiles and boosting SEO through European PR strategies.
With that being said, the French market presents several unique challenges and opportunities that are distinct from the UK, US, and other European practices, but they can be overcome.
From our experience of working in the French market, we’ve pooled our knowledge together to compile a useful guide that explores the key differences in the French media landscape, including consumption habits, popular news outlets, and social media usage.
Additionally, we’ll offer a few invaluable tips for brands seeking to navigate the French market and how to craft successful digital PR campaigns in this region.
Despite the worldwide digitisation of news, the consumption of traditional media remains imperative throughout France, with much of the population getting their news via TV, radio, or print newspapers.
Currently, television reigns supreme as the most popular medium for consuming news and entertainment in France. Thanks to flagship networks like TF1, and public broadcasters like France Televisions, television channels play a pivotal role in shaping public discourse and disseminating information.
But alongside TV, newspapers also maintain a significant presence in the French media landscape. With over 100 daily newspapers available across the country, including respected publications like Le Monde and Liberation, print media continues to serve as trusted sources of news and information for French readers.
However, recently, many digital media platforms have emerged as pivotal players in shaping news consumption behaviours in France. ‘Ouest-france.fr’ was the most visited news site in France in June 2023, with online publications like Bfmtv.com and LeFigaro.fr rounding out the top three, highlighting the increasing digitalisation of news consumption in France.
Social media has also become an integral part of the French media landscape, with platforms like Facebook, YouTube, X, and Instagram commanding a large user base. So much so that a 2023 report revealed that 80.5% of French people are active on social media1.
In fact, competition from social media influencers has become quite a contentious issue for traditional media outlets, who are increasingly seeing many of their readers move to more readily accessible content.
Based on our experience in executing PR campaigns across France, it’s important to understand there are several key differences between the French and UK media landscapes.
From differing consumption habits, content preferences, and media practices, here are some distinct characteristics that set the two media landscapes apart:
One notable difference between the UK and French markets lies in their media preferences. While UK audiences may gravitate towards tabloid-style content, the French media landscape differs significantly.
Case and point, in France, the coverage of lighter lifestyle articles commonly found in UK tabloids like The Daily Mail or The Sun, is not typically featured in mainstream media.
And while there are some French platforms dedicated to celebrity gossip, they tend to focus on different aspects of news and entertainment compared to their UK counterparts.
As a result, PR campaigns tailored to the UK tabloid audience may not resonate with many French media outlets.
In France, media stories are typically favoured when they are backed up with data, interviews, and reports from credible sources. This contrasts sharply with the UK media landscape, where shorter, less substantiated, ‘fluffy’ stories often feature heavily.
Part of this difference is due to the challenge of French media in the past years trying to promote itself as a trusted source of information that fights against fake news. So, before covering a topic, French journalists usually ask themselves three questions:
Therefore, to capture the interest of French audiences and journalists, PR campaigns should emphasise authenticity and relevance, incorporating elements such as surveys, national data, or expert interviews.
Central to effective PR in France is an understanding of the many different cultural norms, values, and communication styles present across the country. For example, French people have a different sense of humour to Brits, which could impact the success of your PR campaign.
This means that, if your PR campaign is only suited for Brit’s self-mockery and dark humour, it would not make sense to a French audience as they tend to favour irony, second-degree jokes, and cynical humour.
Surprisingly, the famous #journorequests hashtag doesn’t exist in France, so any PR professional thinking of using X as a pitching and sourcing platform should refocus their outreach efforts towards using media databases or searching manually for similar stories via search engines.
Unlike the quick turnarounds often seen in the UK, PR efforts in France typically require patience, with lead times stretching anywhere from 2 to 3 days, or even months in some cases.
This delay is influenced by various factors, including the meticulous attention to detail prevalent in French business culture and the emphasis on building relationships before transactions.
Considering this, prioritising evergreen campaigns is recommended to ensure your campaign topic is relevant not just in the present moment, but in the weeks and months to come.
Understanding and accounting for these longer lead times is essential for crafting effective PR campaigns tailored to the French market.
From data-led studies to regional campaigns with a nod to individual cultures, below are some actionable tips for crafting high-quality PR campaigns that will resonate with French audiences and most importantly, land relevant French links.
French journalists value the use of robust statistics to add credibility to their stories and will most likely conduct thorough fact-checking procedures before publication.
If you choose to implement data-driven campaigns within your French Digital PR strategy, be sure to obtain the information from reputable sources and include detailed methodologies.
Additionally, incorporating quotes from relevant industry figures can add further legitimacy and interest to your client’s data-based campaign, increasing the likelihood of coverage.
France has many regional differences which can spark creativity for crafting regionally focused PR campaigns. French culture often involves playful criticism among regions, ranging from culinary preferences to linguistic differences in describing everyday actions and objects.
A great example of a cultural debate that gets French people talking is the “Pain au Chocolat” versus “Chocolatine”2. This long-standing dispute over what to call a chocolate pastry sums up the differences in regional identity and linguistic diversity in France.
Whether it’s enjoying a “Pain au Chocolat” in the North or indulging in a “Chocolatine” in the South, this culinary debate continues to unite and divide communities across the country and could be the perfect idea for a PR campaign to settle the debate once and for all.
Having on-site content is important when developing campaigns targeting the French market.
Providing journalists with easily accessible, comprehensive resources not only increases the likelihood of media coverage but also aligns with the meticulous attention to detail valued in French culture.
Furthermore, having well-crafted on-site content adds a layer of credibility and trust, both of which are essential elements in building relationships with French journalists and audiences.
By prioritising having on-site content tailored to French audiences, brands can establish themselves as trusted sources of information, fostering stronger connections and driving greater engagement in the French market.
Properly introducing and selling your story to journalists is crucial for PR success, especially in France, where building relationships and maintaining professionalism are highly valued.
When reaching out to journalists, it’s essential to personalise your communication by using formal language, such as “Vous” instead of “Tu”. Using “Bonjour [First Name]” is becoming increasingly common, mostly when contacting journalists in their 20s or 30s. For a more experienced journalist, use “Dear Mr/Ms. [Last Name]”.
Another key point is that journalists like to see interest in their work. When outreaching a similar story they may have covered in the past, make sure to compliment them on their work. It will provide a rationale for you emailing them.
It’s recommended that, before you begin outreaching to French media, you accurately translate all infographics and landing pages into French. This will help ensure you maximise communication efforts and resonate with a broader French audience, enhancing the success of PR efforts in the region.
We have developed and executed campaigns in France for some of our clients who have already witnessed promising results.
Here are a few standout examples of our PR campaigns from a range of different sectors featured in the French media:
Sumup’s best cities to open a business
Our global financial tech client, SumUp, landed links in the popular regional publication, Nice Presse, for their best cities to open a business campaign.
The study was based on a ranking of 14 criteria, including the number of bakeries and average customer reviews on Google Maps in January 2024.
The study was also picked up by other key regional publications, including ActuMarseille, which boasts a high domain ranking of 90.
The headline followed an English PR style, beginning with ‘According to this ranking, ‘Selon ce classement, Marseille est une ville en vogue pour les commerces indépendants’ which translates as ‘According to this ranking, Marseille is a popular city for independent businesses’.
According to Buzzsumo data from the past 6 months, French media outlets have published over 100 articles featuring the headline “Selon ce classement” (according to this ranking), indicating a clear preference among French journalists for study-based content.
By leveraging robust regional data and conducting a comprehensive analysis of business-friendly factors, SumUp strategically positioned themselves to secure follow links across France, effectively amplifying their campaign’s visibility and credibility to a wider European audience.
José Mourinho interview
It’s not just study-based campaigns that land in France; our financial trading platform client, XTB, collaborated with football manager, José Mourinho, to expand their partnership and achieved high-quality links in France.
By identifying shared traits between traders and football managers, such as emotional control and handling pressure, we crafted a PR strategy targeting audiences across France.
Through interviewing José Mourinho, tips-based content was hosted onsite and segmented into courses featuring José’s tips, translated and tailored for each target market.
In France, the campaign garnered attention from sports-focused publications like goal.com and national news site lepoint.com, leveraging the interview-style strategy to bridge the gap between sports and trading, thus securing links in relevant sports media outlets.
And there you have it; by consistently following the insights and strategies outlined in this blog, you should be able to set yourself up for success in the French market and drive impactful results for your brand.
Of course, if you’d like more information on French digital PR and to see the amazing work the connective3 international team are currently doing, you can visit our c3 international page or get in touch directly!
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Over the last few years, the boom in online second-hand retailers has made it much easier to purchase high-quality used goods. And the ongoing brand marketing from leading marketplaces such as Vinted and Depop means that this trend is only going to get bigger and bigger.
According to Trustpilot1, sales of second-hand goods, including clothing, increased by 15% in 2022 which equates to a whopping £21 billion, as the cost-of-living crisis influenced personal and household economies.
Taking a closer look at the surge of second-hand retailers, we study how consumer behaviour has changed since the pandemic and amid rising inflation. Are more people buying pre-loved fashion than before?
In addition to this, we explore the retail landscape of second-hand marketplaces. What strategies are brands using to promote their offerings, and what can we learn from them?
There has been a considerable shift in second-hand purchases, with more people looking to second-hand shops and online marketplaces for goods. A study from GWI in 20222 revealed that 24% of Brits are selling things they own to cut back on spending, while one in seven (13%) are likely to buy second-hand clothing.
With awareness increasing around the ethical and sustainable risks of fashion, which according to the UN3 produces 10% of global emissions, people are turning towards greener options and pre-loved fashion to minimise their carbon footprint. But how exactly has consumer behaviour changed concerning second-hand shopping?
To understand if people are buying more second-hand clothing and other retail items, we can begin by looking at revenue from one of the largest second-hand retailers in the UK: Vinted.
According to Statista.com4, in 2018, Vinted had a revenue of 30 million Euros. In 2022, that number stood at 371.4 million, roughly an 1137% increase in just four years. Within that time, we saw the COVID-19 pandemic hit countries worldwide, and the UK experienced the emerging cost-of-living crisis.
Vinted’s huge increase in revenue shows people are choosing to buy and sell more second-hand items than ever before. According to another study by Statista.com, looking at countries purchasing second-hand, 61%5 of Brits have bought second-hand in the past year, compared to 49% in 2019.
We can also look at the online visibility of online second-hand shops. Between December 2019, right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit to May 2023, when the cost of living still affected Brits and the UK bordered on a recession, there was a 2,837.7% increase in searches for ‘Vinted’. The keyword ‘pre-loved clothes’ also experienced a 1,124% increase, from 510 to 6,343 searches.
A recent study by Statista.com6* revealed the most common second-hand purchases in the UK. Leading up to September 2023, the most common second-hand purchases were clothing (30%), while the second-most purchased items were books, movies, music & games (21%), followed by bags and accessories (17%) and shoes (16%).
In 2020, sustainable and online thrift shop, ThreadUp7, released a report saying that in the US, the second-hand market is expected to double by 2027. That means the industry will be worth over $350 billion (£276 billion*) in four years. The report also stated that the global second-hand retail market is expected to grow three times faster on average than the regular retail market worldwide.
Using the leading consumer insight tool GWI, we can take a look at the demographical differences in the UK when it comes to second-hand purchases. There are some interesting contrasts.
Women are more focused on sustainable fashion than men, according to the GWI report. 68% of the voters interested in sustainable fashion were women, while only 32% of men could say the same.
We can also look at the online visibility of online second-hand shops. Between December 2019, right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit to May 2023, when the cost of living still affected Brits and the UK bordered on a recession, there was a 2,837.7% increase in searches for ‘Vinted’. The keyword ‘pre-loved clothes’ also experienced a 1,124% increase, from 510 to 6,343 searches.
In France, media stories are typically favoured when they are backed up with data, interviews, and reports from credible sources. This contrasts sharply with the UK media landscape, where shorter, less substantiated, ‘fluffy’ stories often feature heavily.
Part of this difference is due to the challenge of French media in the past years trying to promote itself as a trusted source of information that fights against fake news. So, before covering a topic, French journalists usually ask themselves three questions:
Therefore, to capture the interest of French audiences and journalists, PR campaigns should emphasise authenticity and relevance, incorporating elements such as surveys, national data, or expert interviews.
eBay’s research states that 20% of survey respondents were buying pre-owned specifically to help keep garments out of landfill for longer. But it can’t be ignored that for many, selling second-hand is a relatively easy method to gain a secondary source of income.
With the UK in a confirmed recession, and with inflation spiralling drastically since the pandemic, tapping into second-hand markets makes a lot of sense for brands and customers alike.
As per Unidays’ brand survey, while 72% of students said they sell their clothes to make their fashion choices more sustainable, 91% said they do to make money, and 52% of women polled in eBay’s research said that making extra cash is their main focus when they’re selling second-hand.
Shoppers are more interested in sustainable and pre-loved fashion than ever, and a continued boom in the second-hand market seems likely. But how have second-hand retailers created strong brands that people choose over standard retailers?
While retailers like Zara and H&M have invested in sustainability initiatives in an attempt to market their clothing as more eco-friendly, pre-loved brands have taken a different route in marketing themselves. How have these brands positioned themselves at the forefront of the sustainable shift, and helped customers to find new methods of second-hand shopping?
Looking at second-hand retailers, we turn to the most popular second-hand online retailer in the world, Vinted. With major competitors such as eBay and Depop, and a market of fast-fashion brands to compete against, what are brands like Vinted doing to increase conversions?
Vinted created a new, free way for people to sell clothes and items they no longer use. Because they don’t put any fees on sellers, only on buyers, they appeal to people by making it easy, affordable and giving a genuine chance of making a profit.
According to Ad Intel, in 2022 Vinted spent an incredible £37 million on advertising.11 Pushing videos and ads on different channels such as Instagram and TV through a variety of marketing services, e.g., influencer marketing, paid media and more traditional routes like television and in-print articles.
A big budget is needed to change the public’s perception of second-hand clothing and remove some of the old stigma that’s attached to pre-loved retail. They’ve also utilised the principle of sustainable fashion to market their service and appeal to both consumers and the sellers.
Using social media to influence users, we’ve seen that people aren’t afraid anymore to publicly announce they’ve ‘thrifted’ an item and got it for cheaper. This, again, helps remove the stigma of second-hand clothing by people publicly speaking up about deals they’re making and being budget savvy.
Tone of voice refers to the way a brand uses language to create a unique and distinct brand tone that is easily recognised by new and old customers.
Looking at Vinted’s tone of voice, we can see a few unique distinctions that would appeal to potential customers and sellers.
One of Vinted’s larger rivals, the social e-commerce company, Depop, has accumulated a massive presence on social media and in the advertisement space. Similar to Vinted, Depop allows people to sell their pre-loved fashion, but it’s also a place for business sellers.
What are business sellers? They’re anything from indie shop owners wanting to sell online, to larger independent online retail sellers who’ve created a business out of selling clothes online.
Depop’s youth and trend-oriented positioning has led them to a slightly unusual social strategy, one that’s a lot more reactive than some others in the same space. Yoann Pavy, ex-head of Digital Marketing at Depop, has said that “if any decision has to pass by more than three people, then there are too many people involved in social marketing.” 12
This focus on spontaneity, while also building around the brand’s key content pillars, gives Depop’s social media marketing a fluid feel. Their marketing is genuinely free to post in line with the trends that their audience are already seeing – or, indeed, creating. “We just repost cool shit from our community. That’s the core of our whole strategy,” Pavy said in 2019, and indeed, forming a community has been a core part of Depop’s strategy.
Taking advantage of the power of authentic content, Depop uses influencers as a middleman between consumers and itself. With social media playing a big part in second-hand retailers’ marketing models, brands can use platforms such as TikTok to build trust and bonds with consumers.
Depop’s Director of Brand Marketing, Steve Dool, has commented on the brand’s use of influencer marketing being key: “From a brand perspective, it’s a strong starting point for us in terms of consistency, but also in terms of differentiation.”13
Depop’s influencer marketing doesn’t just encompass fashionistas or micro-influencers – major stars have used Depop as a form of marketing, with Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Sour Shop’ selling clothing from her music videos, with proceeds going to charity. With a significant overlap between Rodrigo’s young fanbase and Depop’s customer profile, this is a move that’s beneficial to both parties, boosting both brands.
Depop’s ‘I got it on Depop’ campaign combined their established strategy of using influencers with a bigger out-of-home brand activation. Depop’s brand strategy positions them as a destination for inspiration, not just for shopping.
This move towards being a hub for trends and trendsetters gives their platform a longer half-life and more of a chance to capture customers, especially Gen-Z shoppers who are already more accustomed to buying pre-loved.
Positioning themselves as both a place you can discover (or rediscover) trends and also buy into those trends, while shopping ethically, gave Depop a strong initial boost.
However, despite having a stronger sense of community and social presence (703k Instagram followers to Vinted’s 518k), Depop has suffered with the rise of Vinted from a search perspective.
Searches for ‘depop’ were well above those for ‘vinted’ up to and throughout 2019 and 2020, but by early 2021, the terms had flipped in terms of search volume. (Data source: Ahrefs search volume)
Looking at share of organic search is a little different. To get an idea, we can look at position history, where Vinted has historically dominated, only recently being challenged in a major way by Depop in the UK. Depop has largely been app-based for most of its lifetime, with less of a focus on organic search performance, but within 2023-4, Depop has seriously begun to challenge Vinted’s hold on these positions in a key SERP for both players.
Pre-loved purchasing is almost certainly a trend that’s here to stay. According to research from GlobalData, the second-hand clothing resale market in the UK grew by 149% between 2016 and 2022, and it was further forecast to grow by 67.5% from 2022 to 2026.13
But what can brands learn from some of the major players in the space? The two brands share a similar ethos – appreciating fashion, helping customers to make some extra cash, and shop sustainably. But the ways in which they’ve focused their efforts have been different.
While Depop’s original appeal to Gen-Z shoppers largely came from their agile and trend-led social strategy, from a search point of view, Vinted has held stronger positions on key SERPs for longer. This may have helped increase their brand awareness amongst more casual second-hand sellers, rather than largely targeting a highly-engaged but more niche audience like Depop.
However, Depop’s recent SEO improvements seem to have paid off, increasing their discoverability – and with a stronger brand presence, they’re not to be discounted just yet.
The key learning for any brand looking to play in the second-hand or preloved space? Don’t focus on a single niche at the risk of your overall brand awareness – but don’t completely abandon that core audience, either.
Making sure that you have a varied audience across different demographics and behaviours will set your brand up for long-term success, but appealing to your core will help you to build a community that stays loyal and becomes brand ambassadors.
If you’re looking for a partner who can deliver growth and take your brand from a challenger to a market leader, then get in touch. connective3’s brand strategies combine the best specialists from multiple disciplines for best-in-class performance and unrivalled growth.
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It’s no secret that the American marketing industry differs from that in the UK, with a considerable focus on traditional media rather than its digital counterpart. While digital PR, a subcategory of digital marketing, has become an established factor in the United Kingdom in accordance with increased digital media consumption, the same cannot be said for the nation across the Atlantic.
While continuously building and expanding on our digital PR experience in America, we’ve encountered instances where digital PR has not been a well-known practice for brands. This could be due to different factors, such as reduced trust in the media, or digital PR simply not yet being a prominent factor in American marketing practices compared to implementations of, for example, content marketing or paid media.
As a digital agency in a dynamic industry, we’ve questioned why some brands are hesitant about transitioning from traditional PR to digital in America.
Looking into factors such as trust, the digital landscape, and Americans’ media consumption, we’ve set out to answer why it’s beneficial for brands to use digital PR as a form of marketing, while maintaining credibility and increasing brand awareness.
Are brands that refuse digital PR losing out on new customers, brand awareness and visibility in a world increasingly turning digital? Most likely, yes.
With data revealing Americans’ consumer behavior, brands are reminded that most generations are transitioning from TV and print when searching for news, products, and brands online and on social media. Missing out on digital PR and other online marketing avenues could mean neglecting your target audience and reducing visibility and brand awareness.
Heritage and experience in the digital PR industry
Traditional advertising remains strikingly effective across America today, by utilizing radio, TV, and print ads. This form of advertisement is a trusted source of information, with 46% of Americans still trusting commercial advertisements on TV and print according to a 2021 study by Statista.com.1 In comparison, only 38% trust ads from search engines, and even less (30%) in websites. In the same study, less than one in five (19%) said they trusted social media.
This lack of trust in online media could be a contributing factor for why many brands choose the traditional public relations route rather than digital. While the two have much in common when it comes to enhancing brand awareness and building trust among customers, there are distinct differences.
Traditional PR is predominantly about establishing your brand, whether it be a company or a person, as a reliable source. This bracket of public relations focuses its efforts on media channels, such as TV, radio, and print. The aim is to make your brand memorable and authentic; to act as a source of information, content, or trustworthy products you’re certain will fulfil your audience’s demands.
Digital PR shares similarities with traditional PR in that its focus remains on brand awareness. The differences start to show when looking at the channels digital PR utilizes to get brands recognized, such as online news publications, social media influencers, and other digital platforms. And when digital PR is not link-building, its focus is on building relevant, top-level backlinks to your brand’s site for SEO (search engine optimization) purposes.
Knowing the differences between these two avenues of public relations can help your brand determine which strategy is the most suitable. While traditional PR builds credibility through trustworthy outlets in America, there are rising concerns about the state of print newspapers and whether it’s a reliable method of marketing in the long run.
With the rise of digital and traditional papers taking their news online, America has seen a steady decline in print news, with many media companies closing. According to Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, in just three years (2019-2022), over 360 print newspapers shut down for good. The same research estimated that since the mid-2000s, America has “lost more than one-fourth of its newspapers and is on track to lose a third by 2025”.2 Unfortunately some of these long-established print newspapers might not be able to afford the digital shift.
However, with so many print newspapers closing, would a shift from traditional to digital PR mean a higher success rate for brands? Not all newspapers will close, but the demand for online content is on the rise. In fact, in 2020, the world saw content consumption doubling due to lockdowns and the pandemic, according to Forbes.3
This means that transitioning from traditional to digital could potentially increase your brand awareness and expose your brand to new customers. By exploring channels within digital PR, such as digital newspapers or social media platforms, you can reach new audiences that might not have previously engaged with your brand.
The generations most interested in reading printed newspapers are baby boomers (1946-1964).4 Surprisingly, Gen X (1966-1982) are big digital consumers, and were the generation that saw the biggest increase in media consumption during the 2020-2022 pandemic.5 If your brand is attempting to reach this specific generation through traditional PR (e.g., TV, radio, or print), you might want to reconsider your strategic approach.
Half (50%) of Gen-Zers use social media as a source of daily news according to a study by Statista.com in 20226, while only 4% could say the same about national newspapers, and 5% for local newspapers. This suggest that, if brands refuse to explore digital options in their marketing strategy, that they risk losing out on the younger generations. Millennials, too, consume most of their news from social media (45%), streaming services (32%) and online news sites (17%).7
With the generational shift from traditional media (TV, radio, and print) to digital media (digital newspapers, social media, streaming services, and podcasts), brands should explore new avenues to appeal to a wider audience, and digital PR is one way to utilize the virtual world while still maintaining the old traditions of public relations.
Understanding your audience is the key to any PR campaign. The goal is to influence and establish yourself as a market leader in your target audience’s eyes, which is why looking at your target audience’s consumer behavior is vital.
And studies and experience show that Americans behave and consume stories differently than other English-speaking territories. Data from GWI8 revealed that 39% of Americans worry about how companies use their personal data online. That’s nearly two in five Americans who are nervous about their safety online.
For streaming services, 62% of Americans have watched Netflix at some point in the last month, over half (51%) have watched YouTube and 42% have clicked on Amazon Prime Video to stream a show or a film.
In terms of what media Americans consume, over 9 in 10 (92%) have watched live TV or a TV channel in the past month. For the rest of the world, it’s 88%. Over half (58%) of Americans spend time at least once a day on Meta (Facebook), 42% are on Instagram, 24% scroll TikTok and 22% send and view photos from friends and family on Snapchat.
The GWI study also revealed that 24% of Americans actually follow companies and brands they actively purchase from on social media, and 19% follow companies and brands they’re interested in purchasing from in the future.
Having understood your audience, it’s easier to determine which digital marketing avenue you wish to proceed with, but there are some key factors to make note of.
There are mentions in the digital PR world that the term ‘digital PR’ does not yet exist in the American market. Some insist that instead of calling it digital or online PR, the term Content Marketing should be used instead. But whilst Content Marketing can remind us of digital PR, the term digital PR does exist, especially the term public relations.
Some agencies choose to strip back on ‘traditional’ and ‘digital’ and simply call it ‘public relations’, influenced by SEO and content strategies, (which is what digital PR is all about). Simultaneously, they might switch between public relations, website traffic* and link building.
*Traffic is the number of visitors that click to your site. Driving traffic to your site is one aspect of digital PR, where we increase traffic to enhance brand awareness.
Content Marketing is defined by the Content Marketing Institute as “a marketing technique tailored towards creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and acquire a clearly defined audience – with the objective of driving profitable customer action.”9.
Digital public relations, on the other hand, is defined by the Digital Marketing Institute as “a strategy used to increase awareness of your brand using online methods. In many ways, it’s similar to traditional PR, but it offers the opportunity to reach a much broader audience that can’t be reached with only offline methods.”10.
While PR shares similarities with content marketing such as producing relevant content, public relations focuses primarily on the brand, rather than customer profit. This is an important distinction to remember when you develop marketing strategies, as they have two different outcomes.
Public Relations = increases brand awareness
Content Marketing = drives profit through customer action
Some of America’s top agencies still maintain a strong interest in creating a picture-perfect image of your brand through the means of digital PR. They’ve kept the beliefs of traditional PR and inserted it into the digital counterpart. This adapted approach offers a new way of looking at the digitalization of the American marketing industry, taking bits and pieces of previous work and inserting them into an adapted, digitized method. Perhaps that is the path to digitizing the American marketing industry and transitioning from traditional to digital PR?
While Digital PR can be used on its own, it usually achieves better results in collaboration with SEO and Content Writing. In addition to this, Digital PR can utilize Social Media Marketing in their strategy to reach a wider audience through social media channels. Digital PR on its own can help your brand:
Public relations allow a brand to connect with its audience and customer base, building and establishing credibility in a market. Building a brand into an expert in their field allows your business to develop trust and respect among customers and other brands alike. According to a study by the GWI, 67% of Americans want their brands to be reliable and 48% claimed they need the brand to be authentic11.
Digital PR is the perfect opportunity to show your strengths, achievements, and your mission as a company. For example, finance companies can offer advice, and become an expert in their field so that people recognize them as a market leader.
While Digital PR can be used on its own, it usually achieves better results in collaboration with SEO and Content Writing. In addition to this, Digital PR can utilize Social Media Marketing in their strategy to reach a wider audience through social media channels. Digital PR on its own can help your brand:
Digital PR has the power to make you a market leader, promoting your brand and its message across multiple platforms. Working closely with other teams, such as paid media, SEO, and content marketing allows you to get your message out to a variety of platforms.
Digital PR can get your brand recognized, but in combination with other marketing practices, such as SEO and content writing, you can establish yourself as a market leader.
The purpose of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is to improve your website and increase your visibility on the SERP (search engine results page). In essence, this SEO practice is designed to make you rank higher on Google, preferably on the first page so that you’ve got increased chances of people clicking on your website for information or to purchase a service or product.
Relying on SEO and Content for your digital PR strategy can help your brand find relevant keywords you can use in your content that can increase your brand’s chances of ranking highly on the SERP.
SEO and Content can also offer target niches or topics for your digital PR campaigns, which are relevant to your brand and can build credibility. Content can help your digital PR campaign by supporting relevant and educational blogs and other forms of content. This, in turn, builds trust and brand visibility.
Developing a digital PR strategy with the influence of SEO and Content can, therefore, increase brand awareness by ranking higher on the SERP. They can help nail your press release with relevant keywords and build trust and relevant, informative content, establishing your brand as a market leader within your field.
Digital PR can yield unlimited possibilities if you’ve got the budget and the means to create campaigns which are creative, purpose-driven, and insightful. One way to enhance your PR campaign strategy is
This avenue of marketing can open many doors in terms of reach, increased brand awareness, and engagements on different platforms that can drive traffic to your site. A social media team can provide a variety of insights that SEO and Content don’t have access to.
Working cross-channel with a social media team can also increase your chances of backlink success by evaluating and predicting upcoming trends. They scour platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and Meta every day looking for emerging trends.
Your digital PR campaign can benefit from a variety of platforms to increase visibility. You’re able to engage more with your intended audience than through press releases sent to national and regional journalists. You will also be able to access a variety of data and other insights that have not previously been available to you from a mere digital PR perspective.
Paid Media is one of the most well-informed avenues of digital marketing, harboring enormous amounts of data that can benefit your digital PR strategy and campaign. Paid Media can help you develop your media strategy and broaden your brand awareness to reach new audiences. One way they do this is by establishing where your existing customers and new customers spend time online.
While digital PR teams should focus on the SEO aspects of a strategy, Paid Media can help you build audience personas and learn as much as possible about your target audience. Creating audience personas for your strategy will not only help you decide on your target publications, but you’ll also be able to create content that suits your audience.
Utilizing digital PR in relation to other services can be truly beneficial for your brand if you’re moving from traditional marketing to digital. But how does digital PR operate in the digital media landscape? There are a few, distinct, key components that make up a successful digital PR campaign. One of them is backlinks.
When transitioning from traditional to digital PR, you’re in a completely new playground, one where KPIs are often measured against the number of backlinks you get from media outreach. Because you are building credibility and a brand online, brands tend to follow Google’s Ranking Factor, where backlinks are one of the top ways to gain credibility from Google.
While your brand should want backlinks, it’s not as simple as gaining coverage from any site. You want publications with high domain authority, which means the site is trusted by Google. It’s also important to distribute your stories to relevant sites. Don’t send your press release to a myriad of publications that do not write about your topic. This can sour the relationship between your brand and the journalists on the other end, resulting in missed opportunities in the future.
Domain Authority: A DA score ranges between 0-100. The higher the number, the more likely your publication is to rank on the SERP. There are platforms that track domain authority for you, such as Ahrefs and Semrush.
Examples of online publications that have high domain authority are ABC.com, which has a rating of 93, and NBC, which also has 93 in domain authority. This tells Google they’re trustworthy, credible sites, and digital PRs want to land backlinks to sites like these in order for their brand to rank higher on the SERP.
Follow links are, according to wordstream.com, “links that count as points, pushing SEO link juice and boosting the page rank of the linked-to sites, helping them go higher in the SERPs as a result”.12
Simplified, if you attain a series of follow links to your site by getting a backlink on high-value sites, Google will favor your site as reputable and trustworthy, therefore, pushing your website higher on the SERP. In the world of PR, a follow link equals gold. The more follow links your brand gains from trustworthy sites, the better it will rank on Google, which increases your visibility and improves your brand awareness online.
A website, when receiving your content, can decide to mark your backlink as no follow (rel=”nofollow” in the HTML). This tells Google that there’s no need for it to crawl it and to discredit the link. While this can seem unreasonable, there is a reason for the implementation: Preventing spam.
In America, misinformation and spam are ripe. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Statista.com reported that nearly 80% of American consumers had encountered misinformation and fake news about the pandemic13.
While it’s inevitably the news outlet that decides what backlink they will use in their articles, there are things you can do to attain a follow link instead:
While it can seem like Google penalizes you if you’ve got a no follow link, it’s not just bad things that come with a no follow link. It still drives traffic to your site, as customers can click on the link. You also get exposure from gaining a link on the websites. As previously mentioned, some publications have an editorial policy preventing them from using any other link type.
In 2020, Google also introduced two new link attributes alongside the no follow link. Google then implied they would use the no follow link as a hint to see which links they should exclude and include in Search14.
Syndicated links are links that come from websites that are hosted on the same network. In essence, syndication can look like duplication. While you don’t want duplicated content on your website, syndicated links are not problematic from an SEO perspective. Syndication has spurred many debates about its value, but it’s not worthless.
The reason why Google thinks of a syndicated as ‘less’ valuable than a follow link, is because Google prefers sites which are completely unique. The more high-authority, unique sites you attain a backlink on, the more Google will favor your site.
But syndicated links are not bad links, they’re simply not as strong as the same number of links from unique or independent sites. You can think of backlinks as a tier system:
Coverage, while not a link, helps bring attention to your brand and increases customer’s awareness of it online. Brand awareness is all about reaching the right audience, so a mention on the right site can sometimes be just as valuable as a link. This is because you’re gaining the attention of the right audience, which in turn builds trust and authority.
Knowing how to measure one element of your success is important in order to plan a digital PR strategy for your brand. Still, it’s paramount to fully develop a strategic plan of attack for media outreach. America is a vast country, with 50 unique states each requiring a niche media approach.
At connective3, we’ve carefully developed a solid structure for building your digital PR strategy and campaign in America. This strategy focuses on three strategic avenues: national, state-by-state, and hyperlocal.
These three strategies have proven effective in securing authoritative backlinks and media coverage, establishing brands as experts and thought leaders within their field.
Our national strategy involves targeting large, influential news outlets and media platforms at a national level. These are typically widely recognized publications with broad audiences and significant domain authority.
By crafting compelling, newsworthy, and relevant stories, we aim to catch the attention of these media giants. Testing out this strategy can help you reach a wide range of audiences, especially if you send your pitch to news outlets such as The New York Times, which has over 9.7 million subscribers15.
A national study also allows you to build relationships and trust within those high authority sites, becoming a leading voice in that market and hitting a larger, more professional audience demographic.
Using this strategy, the U.S. team at connective3 developed a campaign for a VPN brand. Inspired by pop and cyberculture, they ranked the celebrities most associated with fake news.
For this, they determined the most searched-for celebrities online and used social listening data to find how often their names were posted alongside the phrase “fake news” from January to October 2022.
When the data had been collated, they ranked the celebrities based on the reach (number of users exposed to the posts) of these posts, including reposts. They kept the campaign on a national level, not breaking any findings down by state, but keeping it relevant to all of America.
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DA
Engagements
Audience
Views
Our state-by-state strategy focuses on tailoring digital PR campaigns to individual states and their respective media outlets. While nationals provide broad exposure, state-by-state campaigns allow us to target local audiences, addressing their specific interests and concerns.
A state-by-state study allows you to expand on your data, and every state study can eventually be turned into a national one. While radio stations such as Town Square Media or Heart don’t have 80/90s domain authority, they do build authority with a local audience, resulting in gained trust.
An example campaign run with this approach was one for an insurance company, where the team at connective3 developed an American Retirement Index. Gathering resources from the different states, such as the cost of living, crime numbers, life expectancy and average property prices, they ranked the states by the found data attributes individually and reached out to each state’s regional news to drive campaign performance.
The results were mirrored in TV placement and backlinks on websites such as ABC, Fox LA and the Miami Herald, which provided a significant boost to brand awareness.
Backlinks
New visitors over the campaign
For our hyperlocal strategy, we take PR campaigns even further by zooming in on specific towns, cities, or neighbourhoods within one state, implementing this across several states simultaneously.
Hyperlocal campaigns narrow down on smaller communities at a hyper-targeted level. By creating content and stories that directly impact these local areas and communities, we aim to secure backlinks from niche media outlets and community blogs, thus building localized authority.
According to a 2022 study by the University of Oxford, more than one in four Americans pay for regional news subscriptions16. An important factor of the study to pay attention to is the generational gap in paid subscriptions of newspapers, with only 17% of the payees being under 30 years of age.
For a hyperlocal strategy, it’s important to understand your target audience. If your brand wishes to target millennials and the younger generations, it’s imperative you research the websites you want to outreach to find out which websites and platforms your target audience spends time on.
For a well-known iGaming brand, we conducted connective3’s hyperlocal approach and created a campaign focussing on the odds of spotting the supernatural. For this campaign, we analysed all reported UFO and ghost sightings across the 50 American states to reveal which states and cities are hotbeds for supernatural activity.
Being able to distinguish between the three strategic approaches can help your brand reach across America on a national, state, and local basis. While Americans subscribe to national newspapers online, breaking your campaign down into several levels, or developing campaigns depending on your brand’s desired reach and target audience, will help shape your goals and campaign outcome in the long run.
Understanding the reach of digital PR, both as a single avenue and in relation to other marketing strategies, like SEO and Paid Media can help inform your decision about whether your American brand should transition from a traditional to a digital PR strategy.
Links across the U.S.
Average DA
Over the campaign
Is it time for brands to switch to digital pr?
Having read and developed a deeper understanding of how digital PR works and differs from its traditional counterpart, would the transition be worth it? Looking at key components of digital PR, we now know shifting from traditional PR to digital can broaden your reach through a multitude of online channels and platforms, such as online national and regional newspapers, niche blogs, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and more.
Digital PR can help you reach a bigger audience by adapting your strategy to suit generations who are going more virtual. It can also prove to be more cost-effective, as you don’t have to spend your budget on product placements.
The practice of digital PR is to build backlinks through earned media, meaning you never pay for backlinks. They are organically picked up by the media, which builds trust.
The digital marketing world is expanding and growing, compared to the traditional marketing route, with print newspapers shutting down, and podcasts competing with radio channels. Choosing digital PR means you’ve got a chance to rank higher on the SERP, therefore building credibility through Google, which is important while competing against other brands going digital.
Recent data tells us Americans follow brands that they wish to purchase from in the future online and on social media channels. Choosing to opt out of digital PR can neglect customers and your target audience who are actively searching for your brand online.
We know from the GWI study that the majority of Americans who watch TV and read print newspapers are Baby Boomers (1946-1964), while generations from Gen-X and onwards spend their time virtually.
If you want to target Gen-X, millennials, Gen-Z or Gen-Y, the most well-informed decision would be to reach them on platforms they are utilizing, e.g., online publications, social media such as TikTok and Instagram, and streaming services.
In conclusion, depending on your target audience, transitioning from traditional to digital PR can prove hugely beneficial for your brand. This is especially applicable to businesses with a desire to develop their brand to fit current, dynamic American consumer behavior.
Campaigns which can be broken down by state and city perform well in the U.S. Make your data and pitch unique to whom you’re reaching out to – local writers want something relevant to them.
International PR Manager – connective3
The U.S. is home to thousands of unique publications. Don’t be limited to news sites, explore the likes of local radio stations. There are numerous across each U.S. state, often with strong domain authorities.
U.S. PR Lead – connective3
Make it personable. Remember, you’re sending the email to real people and PR is all about creating connections. Yes, you won’t be best friends with the journalists but being polite and actually putting in the extra effort will help you in the long run.
International PR Manager – connective3
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