What is Digital PR? Strategy, Benefits & How to Launch Your First Campaign
Traditional PR lives in newspapers, magazines, and TV interviews. The problem? That’s not where audiences are now spending the majority of their time.
Data from the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) found that over 15s spend an average of 3 hours 21 minutes per day on their mobile, which now exceeds the amount of time spent watching television.
So, with digital devices now being the dominant medium, having overtaken traditional TV broadcasts, it’s no surprise that brands are increasingly moving their advertising and marketing budgets in the same direction.
Although traditional PR still has a role in reaching large audiences and building brand awareness, for many online brands, it’s been usurped by the unrivalled benefits of investing in digital PR.
In this guide, we’ll break down what digital PR actually is, why it matters, and how to get started. Whether you’re brand new to digital PR or looking to pick up some fresh tips, there’s something in here for you.
What is digital PR?
Digital PR is the process of creating and promoting content that earns online media coverage and, importantly, high-quality backlinks. The result? Increased brand awareness and better organic performance.
High authority links from trusted sources are SEO gold dust – a signal to Google that your brand is important, trustworthy, and ultimately, worthy of ranking.
But digital PR isn’t only about links. It also helps to shape the way your audience perceives your brand. When your company name appears in relevant, respected publications, it helps build credibility. And when users trust your site, they’re more likely to click, sign up, or buy.
Some key digital PR campaign activities include:
- Pitching original data, comments, and quotes to online media outlets
- Responding to journalists’ requests with expert insight
- Creating creative campaigns that get people talking
- Building relationships with journalists (so they come back for more)
Digital PR vs traditional PR
Traditional PR gets you seen in newspapers, magazines, on the radio, or TV. Digital PR gets you noticed on websites, blogs, podcasts, and social media – although sometimes there is some crossover.
But the important question is: how do they compare?
- Measurability: With digital PR, you can see what’s working, how many links you’ve earned, how many press mentions you’ve had, and if your brand search volume has increased. These tangible KPI’s are not something that can be tracked with traditional PR mediums such as TV, radio, and in print.
- Longevity: A printed newspaper piece might be seen once and then disappear, but strong online media coverage with a backlink will theoretically last for eternity, assuming the page stays live.
- SEO impact: The big one. Digital PR helps your website rank higher in search engines by gaining valuable, high-quality backlinks. Traditional PR might boost overall brand awareness, but it doesn’t directly create a positive impact on search engine rankings in the same way high authority backlinks do. That said, traditional PR can still impact the promotion of a brand, which can drive online interest (including in LLMs and Google).
Why digital PR is important
Digital PR is one of the most valuable tools for getting your brand seen, trusted, and talked about online. Here are the key benefits of digital PR:
Strengthens SEO
Despite the hype associated with the advent of LLMs such as ChatGPT, the reality is that high-quality backlinks from trusted websites are still one of the strongest ranking signals for Google. Digital PR earns you those links naturally – and sites with stronger link profiles tend to rank higher in Google.
Builds your brand
Successful digital PR positions you (and your brand) as experienced and insightful, helping you to become a go-to voice in your industry over time. Why does that matter? Because it’s not just Google that needs to trust you – your potential customers do, too. When your brand repeatedly appears in trusted, authoritative media outlets, you’ll start to build online credibility, both with users and search engines.
Supports E-E-A-T
E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness, and it’s a super important part of what Google looks for when deciding where (or if) to rank your page. Being featured (and hopefully, linked to) in trusted publications and quoted as an expert helps Google understand that your site is a trusted source.
Creates lasting opportunities
Every journalist you help and every site that features you adds to a growing network of future contacts and opportunities. The more your name is out there, the more likely journalists will come back to you for quotes, comments, or coverage in the future.
How digital PR helps you show up in AI overviews
We all know links matter – of course they do.
But with tools like ChatGPT and Google’s SGE now summarising content directly in search, it’s no longer just about climbing the SERPs. It’s about being featured in AI overviews.
AI tools pull information from a wide range of sources, like news sites, trusted blogs, and expert roundups, and these are exactly the places digital PR gets you into. When your brand is mentioned in a relevant article on a credible site, it can shape how AI models understand your expertise and authority, even if there’s no backlink involved.
Let’s be clear, a single mention doesn’t guarantee you’ll show up in every AI answer. These tools weigh many factors such as context and relevancy. But the more high-quality coverage you earn around a specific topic, the stronger your chances of being referenced when the topic comes up in an AI-generated result.
Put simply: if someone asks a question related to your campaign, and your brand has been featured in the right places with expert quotes or original data, you’re giving AI something solid to work with. And, with more people turning to summaries instead of clicking through, that kind of visibility is only becoming more valuable.
So, when a journalist covers your story but doesn’t include a link? Don’t panic. That coverage still builds authority – not just in the eyes of Google, but in the AI-powered search landscape.
Types of digital PR campaigns
Before we jump into strategy, it helps to understand the different types of PR content that work well and are likely to earn coverage:
Data-led stories
Journalists love data. Surveys, internal insights, and publicly available data can all work really well, but competition is high, and the campaign idea has to be solid. But, with so many individuals pitching ideas on a daily basis, journalists are (quite rightly) more selective than ever about what they publish.
If you’re pitching a story with third-party data, such as a survey, often journalists will say they’ll only consider publishing it if it’s based on robust data (ideally 1,000+ responses) from a verifiable source.
Expert commentary
Journalists need to show they’re quoting trustworthy sources in their articles – and that’s where you come in.
You can create expert-led content proactively – for example, by writing a quote or short comment on a specific topic relevant to your niche – or reactively, by responding to a journalist’s request for expert insights.
Either way, always include a short, clear bio of your expert and a recent headshot with your response. And be quick. Speed really matters when journalists are on a deadline.
Creative campaigns
Creative campaigns in digital PR are standout content pieces designed to grab attention, spark conversation, and earn media coverage.
There’s no fixed format – they can be visual, interactive, data-driven, or just brilliantly original. What they all have in common is a strong hook: something surprising, entertaining, or genuinely useful that makes journalists and publishers want to cover it. These campaigns are built to be highly shareable and newsworthy, helping brands gain backlinks, boost visibility, and reach broader audiences.
Think interactive maps showing regional trends, an unexpected way to use your product, quirky lists, a tool, or a quiz. As long as it’s got a hook and feels shareable, it has digital PR potential.
Product PR & samples
Here’s the thing: digital PR isn’t sales, and simply sending out a press release about how amazing your product is won’t cut it.
That said, product PR can be effective when it’s done right. Journalists aren’t looking to instantly promote you, but they are always on the lookout for genuinely useful or interesting products to feature.
This is where seasonal gift guides, product roundups, and reviews come in. For these, you’ll often need to provide a sample, but if you’re happy to do that, it can be a simple, repeatable way to earn quality links.
When pitching, give the journalist everything they need – your aim is to make their job as easy as possible. Include a short product description, clear pricing info, high-res images (cut-outs work well), and a few words on what makes your product a good fit for their audience.
And if you can provide a sample, let them know.
Reactive PR / newsjacking
Reactive PR (sometimes called newsjacking) is about jumping on trending news stories with relevant comments, quotes, or stats/data points, ideally before everyone else does.
The key to successful reactive PR? Speed and relevance. When something breaks in the news that’s related to your business (or client), jump on it first thing.
Remember to think outside of the box, too. If you can add something fresh, there’s a good chance it’ll get picked up.
How to come up with digital PR ideas
Now you’ve seen the types of campaigns that tend to be successful, the next step is figuring out how to come up with ideas that actually work. Strong ideas are the most important part of digital PR. You need something timely, with a clear hook and relevance to your audience.
But coming up with something that’s actually interesting, relevant, and hasn’t been done a million times before takes work. Here are a few starting points to get your digital PR juices flowing:
Use what you’ve already got
Believe it or not, you’ve already got tons of ideas and content lying around that could help you make a start on your digital PR campaigns.
Do you have some interesting sales or user data? An expert within your business with an interesting take or opinion? A super successful blog? These can all be developed into great digital PR campaigns and are often quicker than starting from scratch.
Tap into the news
If you want to get ahead in digital PR, you need to get into the habit of reading the news daily, especially news within your industry. Each day, ask yourself:
“What are people talking about today – and can I add something useful to the conversation?”
That could be a quick comment, an explainer, or even a relevant statistic. You don’t need to jump on every story, but if something relevant comes up and you’ve got something helpful to say, go for it.
We find setting up Google and Talkwalker Alerts for relevant keywords and following trending topics on X (Twitter) to be super useful for this.
Watch what’s working elsewhere
While you don’t want to copy what’s already being done, there’s no shame in using successful campaigns as inspiration.
What kind of stories are your competitors getting picked up for? What types of headlines are landing at the moment? What formats (survey/map/expert-led?) keep popping up? Try to spot patterns and see what’s working at the moment.
PSA: Don’t be afraid to build on something that’s already worked well. Just don’t copy it – bring something new to the table, with a fresh angle or updated data.
Watch the calendar
Feeling stuck for ideas? Take a look at the Mail Metro Media Calendar, and we promise you’ll come away with some fresh takes.
Ultimately, there’s a PR hook in pretty much every week and month – you’ve just got to find it. Think seasonal trends, awareness days, national events, and new releases.
Planning ahead with these days, weeks, and months in mind means you can jump on them with something ready to go instead of scrambling at the last minute.
Check what journalists are asking for
Media monitoring is a brilliant source of inspiration for your own campaigns. If journalists are literally asking for a quote or stat on a topic you know about, that’s your sign it’s relevant and newsworthy right now.
Sites like ResponseSource, HARO, Qwoted, and #JournoRequest on X are digital PR goldmines. Even if you’re not responding directly, keep track of recurring themes and topics. If a particular theme keeps popping up, that’s a solid indicator it could work as a proactive idea too.
Use trend tools to spark ideas
If you’re stuck for ideas, the key is to find out what people actually care about right now. So, whether it’s rising search terms, seasonal patterns, or trending topics, trend tools are a great way to spot current hooks.
Check out Google Trends, Pinterest Trends, Exploding Topics, and AnswerThePublic. They show what people are searching for, pinning, asking about, and talking about, which is exactly the kind of knowledge you need to build a relevant digital PR angle.
Reddit can be handy for this, too. Subreddits are full of talking points and opinions, which can be brilliant for finding unusual angles and spotting what people actually care about.
Don’t be afraid of AI
ChatGPT might feel like cheating, but if used right, it can be super handy for idea generation. They’re not here to replace your creativity, but to help you explore directions you might not have thought of.
Try using ChatGPT (or other AI tools) to analyse data and generate hooks off the back of it, create headline ideas, or simply start exploring ideas around a particular theme when you need a push. For more complex tasks, consider signing up for the paid version of ChatGPT, which will allow you to use Deep Research.
How to build a media list
Once you’ve got a solid campaign idea and have created the content, you next need to figure out who you’re sending it to. This means building a strong, targeted media list that contains up-to-date contacts and is built around your angle. It’s not just a random dump of every journalist’s email you can find.
Here’s how to do it:
Consider who you’re targeting
Before you even open any tools, ask yourself where you want your piece to land. Better yet, which type of publication is most likely to cover it? Is it the nationals? Women’s titles? Regionals? Finance? Parenting? The more specific you are, the better your results.
Use the tools (but don’t rely on them blindly)
Platforms like Prowly, Roxhill, Cision, and Vuelio are great for finding contacts. The catch? We’ve found they’re not always up to date. Make sure to double-check contacts before sending.
Do some manual digging
Google recent coverage of similar topics, check bylines, and explore author bios for contact details. Reddit, X, and niche forums can also be great to spot trends and the journalists who are actively covering them. It’s free, effective, and will help you generate your list.
Record outreach and responses
It’s so important to keep track of who you’ve contacted, what you sent, and whether they replied. Otherwise, you’ll lose track fast (trust us). If you’ve invested in a tool like Prowly, you’ll be able to create lists there. Otherwise, Google Sheets is just as good.
Don’t spray and pray
Starting with a small, targeted list of 10–20 genuinely relevant journalists will consistently outperform a spray-and-pray approach. Start small, build slowly, and you’ll maintain much stronger relationships with journalists long term, rather than annoying them with irrelevant content.
When to pitch (and how to time it right)
Even if your content and media list are on point, a bad pitch can let you down. Journalists receive hundreds of emails per day, and that means they have to be selective about what they read. Your aim? Get noticed.
With that said, here’s what to keep in mind:
Start strong
Your subject line is everything – if it doesn’t tempt them to open, your campaign is done. It needs to be specific and actually tell the journalist what the story is about. In our experience, most journalists don’t care for clickbait subject lines that only tell half the story.
Sum it up
Journalists don’t want to be faced with 500 words – they want to be able to skim-read your email and know why your story is interesting, right now. Open with your angle in the first line: the statistic, the trend, the story, the facts.
And remember, your pitch shouldn’t cover the whole story. Stick to a couple of strong, short paragraphs that explain the idea and why it’s relevant to them, then copy the full press release underneath.
Make it easy for them
Copy in (or link to) everything they’d need to run the piece: the full release, expert bios, imagery, pricing (if relevant), etc. The fewer steps they need to take, the more likely they are to cover your story.
Personalise your pitch
Look, we know it’s easy to send out the same email to hundreds of journalists – but does it work? No. At best, you’ll get lucky and secure a random piece of coverage. At worst, you’ll ruin your relationship with that journalist and be sent to their sin bin (a journalist recently let us know that she actually has a specific inbox folder for her ‘bad’ PRs).
Personalise each email, even if it’s only a small tweak. You could reference a recent story they’ve written or explain why this fits their niche.
Follow up – nicely
No reply? Don’t follow up instantly. Journalists are busy, and if the story isn’t time-sensitive, give them at least a week. If you’re up against a deadline, do it sooner. But no matter how long you choose, always keep it short and polite.
Time it right
PRs will always argue about when the best time to send the pitch is. Our take? The strength of the content and the relevancy to the journalist are far more important.
Still, timing can play a role. 9–11 am can be a good bet, though we’ve found success in pitching early afternoon, too. Generally speaking, journalists won’t have their eyes on their inboxes during lunchtimes and evenings.
It’s not a one-size-fits-all, though. If you’re really keen for a particular journalist to cover your story, do some digging first. If they’re a night editor, for example, it makes sense to pitch in the evening. If they’re a weekend editor, you might want to pitch on a Friday. You get the gist!
Consider offering exclusivity
If you’ve got a dream publication in mind, it could be worth reaching out and offering your story as an exclusive.
Journalists we’ve spoken to at high-end publications have confirmed that exclusivity is super important to them. They don’t want to spend their time editing a piece that’ll show up here, there, and everywhere.
Just make sure you give them a clear deadline – if they don’t run it in time, you’re free to send it elsewhere.
Digital PR tools to help you get the job done
There are loads of digital PR tools out there, but trust us – you don’t need all of them. In fact, you don’t need any tools to get results, though they’ll certainly make it easier. Here are some of the ones we actually recommend:
Finding contacts & building press lists
Prowly, Roxhill, Vuelio, and Cision are the most popular tools for finding the right journalists (and their emails). You can search by publication, keyword, past stories, and more, and they’re ideal for building targeted media lists quickly. We use Prowly and find it effective and easy to use.
Outreach & campaign management
If you’re just starting in digital PR, there’s no harm in sending campaigns directly from your normal inbox. However, once things scale up, it can be useful to use a tool instead. This way, it’s far easier to check open rates and results.
We use Instantly for launching larger outreach campaigns. It’s great for sending pitches at scale and keeping everything trackable. Likewise, BuzzStream is amazing for bigger campaigns. It’s easier to personalise campaigns with BuzzStream than with Instantly, whilst still tracking your pitches and open rates.
Media monitoring & journalist requests
ResponseSource, HARO, Qwoted, and PressFlow are platforms where journalists go when they’re looking for a comment or quote.
Use them daily, if you can. Once you sign up, you’ll find your inbox is overflowing with emails. It’s worth the time sifting through – some of our best results come from journalists’ direct requests.
#JournoRequest on X is still useful, and still free. Loads of journalists post requests here, especially for product features and lifestyle pieces.
Research & ideation
We covered this briefly earlier, but BuzzSumo is ideal for seeing what content is landing right now. Google Trends, Pinterest Trends, Exploding Topics, AnswerThePublic, and Reddit can all help you see what people are searching for and talking about.
How to create your first digital PR strategy
Now we’ve covered list building, content types, pitching, and tools, here’s how to bring everything together and create your first digital PR campaign:
1. Know your target audience
Before you do anything, think about your target audience. What publications do they read? What sort of headlines would they click on? This will help you pinpoint which media outlets you want to target and the types of content you need to create to get in front of them.
2. Set a goal/KPI
Your goal is to land online coverage, but can you be more specific?
Are you trying to build links to a specific page? Build a link in a particular publication? Build up your founder’s profile? Raise awareness of a specific product or sales event?
That way, you’ll know whether your campaign was successful and how to improve it next time.
3. Come up with your idea
Finding the right idea is the most crucial part of digital PR, so spend plenty of time on it. Get together with your team, look at calendar hooks, use trending tools, scroll through your dream publications, consider what they’re covering… and start throwing ideas around.
4. Create your content
Once you’ve chosen your idea, it’s time to turn it into something journalists can use. Maybe it’s an expert-led comment with loads of value, a data-driven story, or a visual list. Whatever the format, it needs to be clear, engaging, and relevant.
5. Build your media list
Don’t rush this step – if you send amazing content to the wrong journalists, it won’t land. Find journalists who’ve written similar pieces, read their articles, and make sure your angle fits them. Then, grab their emails and start your list.
TIP: Google News is great for this. Search for a relevant keyword – for example, if you’re creating a piece of expert-led content about running, you might search for ‘running tips’. Use ‘Tools’ to make sure results are current by filtering out results to the past year or less.
You can also use advanced search to set the region to the UK, or wherever suits. Find the author, search for their email, and add them to your list.
6. Write your pitch
Keep it simple and skimmable – focus on a subject line that says what the story is, a punchy summary of your story, and a couple of short paragraphs.
Personalisation matters in digital PR. Even a small tweak can make a difference to a journalist and show them you’ve taken the time to look into their work.
7. Time your send
The truth is, there’s no magic time to send a digital PR campaign – strong content and a targeted pitch/list are more important. Generally, though, 9–11 am tends to work well and avoid lunchtime and evening sends.
8. Follow up (politely)
No reply? Give it a few days. If it’s not urgent, wait a week. If it’s time-sensitive, follow up when needed, but always keep it short and friendly.
And if a journalist does cover your story, thank them. The goal isn’t to just land one campaign with them – it’s to build relationships that make each campaign more successful.
9. Monitor what lands
Once you’ve hit send, keep track of what gets picked up. Log your brand mentions, backlinks, and overall coverage.
Set up Google and Talkwalker Alerts for key terms (brand name, expert’s name, product name, campaign title, etc). Paid tools like Prowly and Cision can also help you to keep on top of coverage.
Manual checking goes a long way, though – try search engine strings like:
- “your brand name”
- “expert’s name”
- “your brand name” + site:news.google.com
- intitle:”Your campaign headline”
You can also filter via date on Google, which can help to find recent mentions. A shared spreadsheet is perfect for tracking all of this.
How to tell if your digital PR strategy actually worked
For your digital PR campaigns to improve over time, you need to know what worked, what didn’t, and what to do next.
What to measure
What was the original goal of your digital PR campaign? Backlinks? Wider coverage? Boosting brand awareness amongst your target audience? Or nudging up organic traffic?
If links were the focus, track the number and quality of backlinks (look at relevance and domain rating). For brand awareness, look at the estimated readership. If SEO was your goal (for most digital PRs, it generally is), keep an eye on organic traffic – just know it can take time to shift.
Use tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and your media monitoring tool of choice to measure success over time.
Not landing? Tweak it
No coverage? It’s time to tweak your campaign. Start with small changes – your subject line, your pitch, or even just sending to a new batch of well-targeted journalists. Sometimes that’s all you need.
Still no results? Take a step back and look at the content itself. Is it relevant right now? Is it really a story? Think about how you can rework it to make it more timely, useful, or surprising.
If it still doesn’t land, don’t see it as a failure – it happens. Instead, use it elsewhere: on your blog, or even rework it into your social media marketing strategy. And don’t forget to use your learnings to improve your next digital PR campaign.
Reporting your results
Whether you’re reporting to a client, your boss, or just documenting things for next time, keep it simple. Create a report showing:
- The top pieces of coverage (with links and screenshots)
- How many links you landed and their domain authority
- Any uplift in rankings, website traffic, or visibility
Didn’t land any coverage? It’s still worth reporting – think about what didn’t work and why, and what you’d do differently next time.
Final thoughts
Now you’ve got everything you need to launch your first digital PR campaign. Just remember: it’s not only about the content you create, but getting it in front of the right people, in the right way, at the right time.
FAQs
What are the main goals of digital PR?
The ultimate goal of digital PR is usually to grow your organic traffic. It does that by getting you links and coverage on trusted websites. Those links act as a signal to Google that your site is credible and worth ranking.
But there are other benefits, too. It builds your brand, puts you in front of new audiences, and helps you become known as an expert in your space. Ultimately, the more trusted you are, the more likely people are to click, share, and buy.
Is digital PR the same as link building?
They’re closely linked, but not the same thing.
Link building is usually the goal of digital PR. But link building, in other contexts, can be quite technical or transactional (like fixing broken links or asking for mentions), while digital PR is more creative. It’s about earning links naturally by creating quality content that journalists want to cover. That might be expert quotes, interesting campaigns, or genuinely useful data.
So while both aim for links, the route to getting them is a bit different.
Is digital PR the same as content marketing?
Not quite – but they do go hand in hand. Both are about creating great content.
The difference? Content marketing focuses on your own channels, like blogs, guides, and newsletters, to attract and engage your audience. Digital PR is about getting coverage (and links) on other people’s sites to earn backlinks that boost search engine optimisation.
So while they support each other, they’re not the same thing.
What if a journalist doesn’t give me a link?
It’s annoying (we get it), but it happens. Some publications have strict no-link policies or will choose to link to affiliate partners instead.
The good news? That doesn’t mean the coverage is worthless. If the coverage is relevant, from a respected site, and mentions your brand or expert, it can still be valuable.
AI Overviews (Google’s new generative search feature) pull answers directly into the search results using content from trusted sources. And guess what? They don’t necessarily need a link to surface your brand. If your brand comes up in relevant, high-authority coverage, it can still make its way into those summaries.
That said, if the journalist used your content or quote, there’s no harm in politely asking for a link. We usually send a quick message with the correct URL, keep it friendly, and never push if they say no.
